How To Ensure Academic Success With Online Studies

Due to Covid-19, most tertiary students are having to transition from the traditional lecture room to online learning. This space, combined with psychological challenges experienced by many students, is challenging to navigate. For students to successfully transition from contact to online learning, it is necessary to consider several factors including what students need, the challenges they are facing and how they can be overcome.
Margie Boosey, Academic Manager at The IIE’s Varsity College and Buyisile Mncina, a counselling Psychologist and Psychology lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand, share the challenges experienced by students and provide tips on how to overcome them for continued success.

Some of the challenges that have been identified by Boosey among the students she works with, include general anxiety related to change, limited face-to-face interaction and poor human connection. “We find that students are feeling disconnected. Some struggle to organise themselves to stay abreast of activities assigned for learning. In contrast, others show resistance to engaging with online activities,” says Boosey.
According to Mncina, what students need most during this time is support. “This support includes additional assistance from their institution and lecturers. Once students have a consistent source of academic support and guidance, their psychological needs must also be addressed.”

“As a student you should understand and accept that self-motivation is not consistent and that is alright. For the days when you do not feel up to it, I suggest that you manage the guilt well and understand that you will be required to “make up” for those days. If your anxiety persists, engage the support structures necessary to help with the anxiety and uncertainties,” continues Mncina.

“The pandemic is not one that was anticipated, and we certainly did not assign chaos to the start of 2020. Yet, here we are, and this is where we find ourselves. The changes and adjustment that each student has had to face were and are unforeseen and are outside one’s control – that is the acceptance we all need to bear as a means of truly embracing this change,” she adds.

What can institutions do to help students?

Boosey says that “to overcome some of the challenges that our students face, we trained our lecturers and equipped them with more skills to be able to support our students. In addition to this, we asked our lecturers to make the online sessions more engaging with the use of video, sound and interesting visuals. All the sessions are recorded so that students can revisit them should they miss anything. We have found that the changes we have made to the online learning space have made the experience seem less “cold” for students and is much more interactive.”

What can students do to tackle online learning effectively?

“Save on data and if you are without it find out if, how and when your institution will be supplying this to assist you. We know that in the tech era, online presence competes with work and social media – resist the urge to spend too much time on social media and meaningless browsing as this may deplete the data needed. Download videos as opposed to streaming. Be aware of the risks and inconveniences of online adaptations – back up all your work, scan USBs, avoid viruses, and understand that internet connections may be slow during the day when there is a lot of data traffic,” advises Mncina.

Mncina also recommends resting. Resting is different from sleeping as it incorporates a sense of peace, control and boundaries. She advises that students need their bodies and minds to function.

“Know what burnout signs to look out for, understand your body, stretch – we know that too much sitting and screen time can cause physical strain. Eat well. Too much sugar and carbohydrates may not be ideal for concentration,” adds Mncina.

According to Boosey: “Students must make every effort to complete the work required. What will assist with this is that students should be 100% clear on exactly how their qualification delivery takes place – will it be synchronous where the students will be expected to log in at a specific time with their classmates or asynchronous where the students will be provided with materials and where they can then work at their own pace. Or will it be a combination of the two?”

Final words of encouragement from Boosey are: “Persist – none of the above is going to be easy. Just don’t give up, let your institution know when you are struggling – and give them a chance to problem solve with you.”

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