October 27th, 2008 by Learning Systems
As George-Louis Buffon said, “Genius is nothing but a great aptitude for patience.” In your pursuit of online courseware mastery, be patient with yourself. When you’re tired, distracted, or stressed out, your brain repels information rather than absorbs it. In the same way, when you get angry with yourself for forgetting information, or feel frustrated or self-critical, you waste incredible amounts of brain energy that could be spent digesting online courseware material.
Each online courseware student makes mistakes along the way. The trick is to be honest with yourself and admit to your failures, mistakes and false starts. By identifying them for what they are, you can begin to see them as learning experiences, rather than an indication of some horrible truth about your learning capability. Remember: when you learn what doesn’t work for you, you find out what does.
October 27th, 2008 by Learning Systems
Be sensitive to your own online courseware study needs and comfort. Everyone is different, and there’s no standard setting for successful learning. Do you remember the last test you studied for that you performed well on? What were the circumstances surrounding that study session?
While studying online courseware material, you might prefer a certain space. Some people need quiet and privacy. Some like to talk out loud to themselves–I know I do! Others prefer the gentle buzz of a library or cafe to study. Some people like to take short breaks, while others don’t require them. Everything from clothing, to lighting and background music, to having snacks or coffee are important considerations in creating your perfect setting for online courseware learning.
October 27th, 2008 by Learning Systems
Transferring online courseware information from the short-term memory to long-term is a process that you can aid. One way to help your brain absorb the material is repetitive review.
Though you might park your car in thousands of places throughout your lifetime, you probably remember easily enough where it is each time and just as easily forget after you no longer need the information. But if you had to walk past your car a few times that day, you might remember for days or even weeks where you’d parked it that day.
This is a simple strategy for putting online courseware content into your long term memory. When you learn something new, try to review the main points on the same day. Take notes on the online courseware material and keep them accessible.
October 27th, 2008 by Learning Systems
Online courseware study habits are in many ways like exercising and eating habits. A healthy approach to exercise is to find ways to move your body throughout the day, rather than remaining stationary but later squeezing in a jog or a trip to the gym. In the same vein, smaller, more frequent meals keep your metabolism stimulated and running smoothly, and help to prevent hunger attacks and consequent overeating.
When you’re studying online courseware material, a healthy approach is distributed learning, or breaking learning up into small, more frequent study sessions. Just like the metabolism’s response to food, the brain is stimulated by smaller installations of information. Your brain likes to recover and recharge between learning. In the periods between online courseware study sessions, the brain rests and digests learning material.
