Want to stay alive, alert, awake and enthusiastic during your online classes? If it’s difficult to focus and remain participative during face-to-face classroom discussions, the struggle is twice as hard in the virtual classroom. Whether you’re in an online College class or an online Senior High School program, you have to make a conscious effort to succeed in e-learning. Here are some tips you can follow:
1. Let there be light
Generally, lighting affects various aspects of human functions such as vision, mood, and cognition. Thus, the lighting is a big factor in helping you stay awake and alert during your online classes. Leave the dim lights in the bedroom and make sure that your home classroom is well-lit.
Ideally, natural sunlight is best for learning. A study shows that providing natural light in a learning environment can have a positive impact on the learner. In addition to the artificial light in your room, let the sunshine in by opening the windows.
Research has indicated that both natural and artificial lighting affects people’s health, mood, well-being and alertness.
2. Study in an area conducive to learning
To stay alert in an online class at home, you have to help your brain recognize the difference between study time and rest time. Since your brain associates home with rest, sleep or play, you have to gradually train your mind that online learning can also take place within your home.
Dedicate a space for learning time at home and do the following:
- Place your computer/laptop/tablet on top of a clean and organized study desk.
- Make sure your study area is well-lit.
- As much as possible, organize within your study area all your school materials such as books, notebooks, pens, and reference materials.
- To help you maintain your “study mode”, you can put up a cork or whiteboard on your study desk. Pin on it your class schedule, reminders and motivation notes.
3. Put the good pressure on
While you surely don’t want to be pressured by schoolwork, a good kind of pressure might just be what you need to make online schooling work for you. Acupressure is one of the things that can help you stay awake and energized during an online class. A study conducted by the University of Michigan Health System shows that applying pressure to certain stimulation points can increase your alertness during a class.
When you start to feel sleepy during a remote learning session, try to apply pressure to the following points :
- The top of your head
- The top of the back of your neck on both sides
- On the back of your hands, in between your thumb and forefinger
- Below both knees
- Bottom of your feet (at the center, below the balls of your feet)
Start by lightly tapping your fingers on these pressure points. Then, massage the these stimulation points with your thumbs or forefingers.
4. Make use of that power break
A study shows that microbreaks taken at 20 minute intervals can help ease discomfort brought by computer terminal work, or in your case, learning in front of a computer. So even in your virtual schooling, you deserve those microbreaks to rest your eyes, body and mind. From time to time, stand up and get out of your study area. Stretch a little bit. Walk around. Go to another area of your house and breathe. Shake your hands and feet. Get that restroom break.
5. Do deep breathing exercise
If you want to make the most out of your short breaks from online class, do a quick breathing exercise near your study area. While breathing seems a natural thing to do, many people sometimes fail to do breathe properly, especially when under pressure. Shallow breathing prevents you from getting enough oxygen, which leaves you feeling tired and makes you lose focus.
To help bring more oxygen into your cells and make you feel more energetic, regularly practice this simple 4-7-8 breathing exercise recommended by Dr. Andrew Weil. You can follow the breathing exercise in this video.
- Position the tip of your tongue behind your upper teeth.
- Let all he air out through your mouth.
- Close your mouth and breathe in through your nose quietly to a count of four.
- Hold your breath for a count of seven.
- Blow air out through your mouth for a count of eight.
- Repeat for a total of four breath cycles.
At some point in your remote learning journey, you will surely experience the challenge of staying focused, alert, and yes, awake during online discussions. Fight the distractions by following these online learning tips and a strong will to learn and reach your dreams.
One of the pioneers of online learning in the country is Informatics Philippines, which has been providing students certification courses purely online since the early 2000s. Through its internationally recognized online schooling technologies, Informatics offers Senior High School tracks, Bachelor’s Degree programs, Diploma courses and Corporate/Short courses. Know more about the school’s online programs at www.informatics.edu.ph
Our Social