The key ingredients online high school students should focus upon to build a strong academic record include effective study habits, strategic planning, and proactive engagement with the course material.
Students planning to excel in their online high school education with The Ogburn Online School can use the following key strategies to reach their academic goals:
Set SMART Academic Goals
SMART academic goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound
- Specific: Defining specific learning goals with adequate clarity is the first step. For instance, when learning a new concept or lesson, setting a goal of completing it within a particular period, followed by running self-assessments, can help.
- Measurable: What one can’t measure can’t be improved. That’s why students must ensure their learning goals are measurable. This could involve tracking progress through the MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) assessment test.
- Achievable: Academic goals need to be challenging but attainable. Goals that are too easy will kill interest while those that are too difficult will frustrate and decrease motivation. Students need to set achievable goals based on their present level of understanding and the study time they have set aside.
- Relevant: Academic goals set by online high school students need to align with their career aspirations. Someone planning to join a university course will have goals different from those planning to join a trade school or the military
- Relevant:Without a timeline, goals set are nothing more than dreams and wishful thinking. Not establishing a timeline can even make students lose focus and get sidetracked by distractions and other priorities. Establishing timelines could involve completing a specific lesson by a certain date.
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Stick to a Personalized Learning Schedule
Since every student learns differently from others, determining one’s unique learning style and personalizing a learning routine accordingly can help a student excel academically. For instance, auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners will need different learning routines that prioritize diagrams and colors, words, and 3D models respectively.
Answering questions like what time of the day is best to get most things done or when concentration suffers the most, how long students can focus on one task, or what motivates them (say, self-rewards) to complete a task can help create a study plan that fits their preferences and needs.
While many online high school students prefer the Pomodoro Technique to stick to a specific task for 25 minutes, take a 5-minute break, and return to it, a student can mold it to a 20-minute or 45-minute block followed by a 5-minute or 10-minute break. The key is to understand what works best for someone and craft a learning schedule that aligns with it.
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Stay Organized by Using Modern Technology Effectively
Being an online high school student means taking control of the learning process and acting responsibly. Effective organization is the key to academic success and students need to find ways to make the most of modern technology to enhance their organizational skills.
For instance, digital tools can make lives easier for students by helping them stay organized and focused. To track deadlines or progress on assignments, students can use online applications and tools like Notion or Trello boards. To ensure important files, referenced articles, documents, and useful videos or podcasts found online and downloaded are easily accessible from anywhere and backed up, cloud storage services like Google Drive or Dropbox can come in handy.
To understand their study patterns better, students can also use time trackers. Smartphone apps or online calendars to set reminders for important dates (say, self-assessment deadlines, MAP test dates, sessions with a teacher or instructor) can help ensure students never miss vital things. Some students typically set such reminders a day ahead of the actual date to manage their learning process better and ensure they have enough time to meet those deadlines.
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Seek Help When Needed
Feeling stuck with a part of the curriculum and failing to problem-solve? Not sure where to find practice tests to assess progress and mold the study routine accordingly? Want to discuss and seek feedback on an alternative mode of solving a problem? Need answers related to your career choices?
These are common situations where online high school students need to reach out to their teachers or advisors and seek help and guidance. Learning online doesn’t mean learning alone. Students need to understand this and ask for help when they feel stuck or unsure about how to solve a problem.
The Ogburn School’s learning platform has a Message Center integrated into the students’ online profiles, which they can use to reach a teacher, advisor, or the Help Center easily. From clearing doubts and getting answers to their questions to asking where to find additional study resources, seeking guidance on brainstorming ideas, or reviewing different perspectives, getting timely help can make the learning process faster and more effective.
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5.Focus on Self-Care and Manage Stress
A healthy body and mind is essential for academic success. Eating junk food, neglecting sleep and exercise, and excessive stress can make even the most effective study routine go to waste and not yield results.
To ensure physical and mental health, online high school students must prioritize self-care. Intake of a balanced diet, choosing healthy snacks to keep those hunger pangs away, exercising regularly, staying hydrated, and sticking to a healthy sleep routine are essential to staying healthy.
Though online high school courses offer flexibility and encourage self-paced study, students can still feel stressed when self-doubts creep up like if they are learning enough or doing it right or whether they can finish the course on time. Most of these self-doubts can be eliminated by using The Ogburn School’s Message Center and contacting teachers, academic advisors, and success coaches.
To manage stress, students can use relaxation techniques like meditation, deep breathing, or mindfulness. Increased physical activity can also help students feel less stressed.
Final Words
Online high school students need to set SMART academic goals, create and stick to a personalized learning schedule, stay organized by using modern technology effectively, seek help when needed, and focus on self-care to build a strong academic record.
