How to Study Effectively During Isolation or at Home

Unsure of how to study in isolation or at home during a shutdown? Don't stress! We will give you solid advice on how to effectively study online and make sure your learning doesn't fall behind!
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In these anxious and sometimes trying times, studying from home is something that students have to face. Perhaps you have had to self-isolate or perhaps your school has needed to shut for a couple of days. A question we’ve been asked lately is how to effectively study online. In this post, we want to give you some concrete advice on how to make the most out of the Matrix online resources and learning management system.

 

How to study effectively during isolation

What we’re going to look at now are the resources you need and the sort of study plan you should follow to effectively study while your regular classroom time has been interrupted. We are going to look at:

 

What are the challenges of studying off-campus?

It can be quite difficult studying and learning outside of the classroom. While some students thrive outside of a classroom, many flounder and are easily lost. Students report that staying focused and not procrastinating is by far the greatest challenge they face.  So before we dig into how to study effectively off campus, let’s take a look at the main issues students like you face:

  • Lack of structure: Classrooms provide a structured learning environment with dedicated slots for different subjects.
  • Difficult working through content: When teachers program lessons, they break complex concepts down into digestible chunks. In addition, the lessons are often planned with an eye to the class working through the concepts as a group or individuals so you learn how things work for yourself.
  • Asking questions: When in the classroom, if you don’t understand something you can stick up your hand and ask a question. That immediate answer to your question is often lost outside of the classroom, frustrating learners who need that help.
  • Classroom discussions: Classroom discussions are one of the most important parts of the learning process. Being able to bounce ideas around a group of people not only allows you to learn an answer, but also to see how different people come to that conclusion.
  • Staying focused: Many students report that staying focused during study vacation is challenging. While they have no difficulty starting a task, staying on it or finishing it can be really hard. This is even more trying when you have to spend time out of the classroom during term.
  • Procrastination: All students struggle with procrastination. but when you don’t have a teacher to compel you into the classroom, getting started and not watching that next episode of Sabrina can be even more challenging.
  • Getting younger children to focus: In addition, to middle and senior students having to motivate themselves, parents of younger students in Year 7 and 8 will face new challenges as they help their children learn through these periods. It is very important that parents in these circumstances give their children plenty of structure and support.

 

Learning shouldn’t stop because you can’t attend class

Unfortunately, at the moment, there are periods where schools may have to shut for a day or two. Similarly, circumstances may arise where you may need to be away from school for 14 days or more. This poses a significant challenge:

If you can’t get to class, how do you continue to learn?

Fortunately, today we have plenty of technology available to support high school students when they need to study from home. Matrix has been using online delivery to support classroom learning for many years and now we are moving the rest of our delivery online so you can still achieve your learning goals. Let’s see what resources you need to successfully study when you can’t attend school.

 

What online resources do I need to study effectively off-campus?

If you cannot attend class, there are a number of online resources you need to utilise to maintain steady progress with your learning.

Online videos of classes

Most importantly, you want to take advantage of the online videos and class forums that your teachers set up. For example, at Matrix, we’ve been putting all of our lessons online in the Learning Management System (LMS). Students can watch the videos at their leisure, and also watch as teachers work through examples on screen.

How to Study Effectively During Isolation or at Home featured image of student studying alone online lesson gif image
All of our classes will be delivered online by our subject matter experts.

The videos we have produced include clear explanations as our teachers explain the subject matter in the book and teach you the content you need to know. If you have access to online workshops like the ones Matrix are running for classes, you want to ensure that you’re online at the right time so you can ask those tricky questions you’ve been struggling with!

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You will be able to workshop difficult parts of your learning with Matrix live Q&A chat

 

Online discussion groups

Hopefully, you’ll have access to online discussion groups like the ones we use in our LMS. These are an excellent resource for asking teachers questions and facilitating a discussion, just like you’d have in class. One of the advantages of online forums is the fact that you can track all the questions and replies so you never miss a word!

 

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Online Subject Guides

You want to make sure that you have access to resources which will supplement your learning outside of the classroom. The greatest benefit of being in a classroom is being able to ask questions of the teacher and get an answer then and there.

While you can always message your teacher or wait for your classes Q&A session, there are always going to be times when you need an answer but have to wait. This can be a blessing in disguise as it will force you to be resourceful and find the information for yourself and attempt to solve your own problems while you wait for a reply to your query. You want to have a good selection of online resources like the Matrix Blog or the Matrix Guides for:

English

Maths

Science

Now you know what you need to succeed when you can’t get into class, let’s show you what you need to be doing. In the next part, we discuss planning your study and maintaining your motivation.

 

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