Study Skills for Remote Learning
What are “study skills,” and who needs them?
That second question is easy to answer—everyone needs them. (At least, anyone who wants to be a better student!) The first question is more complex, though. Let me begin by painting a picture of what study skills are and why they’re more important now than ever as students adapt to remote, web-based learning environments.
Study skills comprise those habits and attributes that make students successful in the long term: goal-setting and motivation, organization and planning, time management, communication, and self-sufficiency. While students may excel in some of these areas, everyone has a weak spot. More commonly, we have multiple, interrelated weaknesses that are mutually reinforcing: we don’t plan well, so we don’t study effectively; we don’t study effectively, so we perform poorly on tests; we don’t perform well on tests, so we get discouraged. And the cycle repeats. Recognizing where breakdowns occur and building out a robust toolkit are what study skills are all about.
So how do we start to cultivate study skills? Let’s focus on one example applicable to students adjusting to distance, web-based learning—time management.
Here are five steps to start tackling time management:
Get clear about what you want done that week (not just that day). It doesn’t need to be a conventional planner, but it’s vital to have some system for identifying and organizing tasks. The general principle is to have every task in a single, easily accessed location. (This also makes a quick check-in easier for parents and tutors.) As long as your system meets these conditions, it works. Personally, I use the “Reminders” app, but I’m not above sticky notes on a blank sheet of paper (one for each day). Google has built-in task lists that also work well, given many schools make use of Google Classroom within their digital ecosystem.
Create a priority list. Apps for your phone and computer often have priority features built-in, but you can replicate this on paper by simply numbering each task. (One advantage of the sticky note approach is you can move the notes around to mirror shifting priorities during the week.)
Observe how you already use your time. For at least a few days, take a moment to chart where your time went. Note your most productive times as well as when your energy and focus start to fade.
Compare your priorities to your existing habits. Once you complete that third step, you can see if your lofty dreams or modest aspirations match reality. Where did things go right, and where did they go wrong? Be specific.
Schedule your week in blocks of optimal work-to-break ratios. Finally, make adjustments to your schedule to reflect the information you’ve gathered. Schedule blocks of work times and breaks, and set a timer for both. The advantage of using your phone as a timer is you’ll be less tempted to use it as a distraction: turn on “do not disturb,” set the clock, and get to it.
A huge part of this process is taking the time to actually consider your goals and habits. Until you have a sense of what you want to accomplish, there’s nothing to manage!
Maybe you’re a parent thinking, “this is too much for my kid.” Start simple: ask what their goals are for the week, measured in daily agendas, and compare it to what gets done at the end of each day. Instilling some accountability can be useful. Also, much of a student’s work is shareable, whether via Google Classroom, Moodle, Canvas, or some other learning management system.
Managing your time is especially valuable as schedules become more flexible and less dependent on the accountability a live classroom provides. This is an incredible opportunity to exercise a skill that will only become more important as students progress in their academic careers.