5 Tips for Success in Online Courses

Introduction – why should you follow these tips to succeed?

Hello everyone, this is S. K. from E-newcademy!

Today, I would like to share my experience as a former student at EDHEC and LSIB, where I was able to complete a Bachelor’s degree and a Level 7 postgraduate diploma online.

With or without AI, these tips are invaluable, and I would like to share them with you to help you succeed in your online courses.

Whether you are pursuing an online degree, professional certificate, or microcredential, these tips boost your success in online learning-take note!

If I had to give you one good reason to read this blog carefully, it’s because online courses are becoming more widespread and it will be necessary to train quickly in the future, which is something that e-learning offers.

Enrolling in online courses isn’t enough-master effective methods to absorb lessons and maximize your online learning experience!

Planning to take an online course? Enjoy reading before you enroll!

1 – Have a schedule and a timetable

This is fairly standard advice, but it remains fundamental regardless of the era and technology.

Indeed, online students pursuing online degree programs include full-time and working professional!

This is where planning comes in: how many hours per week do you need to study to succeed in your program?

Do you have enough time per week?

At what time of day will you be able to study online?

Take the case of Bob, who needs to study 10 hours per week for his professional certificate.

Bob is a full-time employee, working from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and arriving home at 6 p.m.

Bob must fit his 10 hours of online courses weekly into his busy schedule!

So Bob decides to take 1 hour of classes per day during the week, which gives him 5 hours of classes completed, then 2.5 hours of classes on Saturday and Sunday mornings, which leaves him time to enjoy his afternoons with his friends and family.

Bob now has a well-organized schedule that allows him to alternate between his job, his classes, and his personal life, giving him a solid foundation for taking classes under good conditions.

On the other hand, if you commit to 10 hours of classes per week without being able to fit those hours into your schedule, you need to ask yourself some important questions.

Online classes are a success for students thanks to organization and regularity, and this is even more true for degrees with more demanding requirements!

How can I make a schedule? It’s quite simple!

Choose the method that suits you best.

If you want to immerse yourself and stimulate your intellect as if you were already in the organization, then make a planning chart by hand.

Alternatively, you can create an Excel planning chart if you prefer a digital format (which is what I did personally!).

If you’re short on time, a generative AI such as ChatGPT or Mistral can help you do it quickly and provide you with advice, provided you’ve written your prompt correctly.

In any case, you are responsible for the time you devote to your classes, so it’s up to you to determine your study hours.

2- Discipline is crucial, be prepared to commit even in difficult times.

You are not in a classroom, unless you are in blended-learning.. Therefore, you will not have either a teacher or an in-person tutor to instruct you to learn your courses, it is you who will take charge of your success.

The longer your online degree programs or diplomas, the more critical discipline becomes.

Indeed, we are all motivated to succeed in our online course at the start, it’s the euphoria effect, it’s magical and wonderful!

But over time, motivation subsides because it takes time, regularity, and discipline to get there.
You’ll face demotivation, procrastination, doubts, or fatigue to overcome in online learning!

Everyone goes through it, myself the first: I have known moments when I would have liked to play on the PlayStation or even party in my classes.. However, we must not forget that online training is valuable because it allows you to build your future. Example: you learn how to create AIs?. What is the most important thing? your part on FIFA or the fact that you could have a great job or a great company in AI by 2050?

3 – Ask your peers: tutors and classmates !

Even if you do not study physics, you can take advantage of the contacts during your course.

This is especially true for the degrees, where these courses are longer and where schools will offer you something to contact your peers easily.

I give you my example: while studying online at EDHEC in 2020, I exchanged a lot with my classmates about the different courses and projects.

It allowed me to break the feeling of loneliness of not being in a classroom.

In a period of demotivation or lack of discipline, the tutors helped us to continue the course mentally to keep a cool head

Online course teachers can also be present to give you feedback on your work in order to improve yourself and refine your knowledge.

Online courses are not just about following course modules behind a screen.

It is also people involved who can lend you a strong hand, institutions that are organized to offer you all the possible social means.

4 – Pareto’s law: 20% of course content generates 80% of results.

Whether it is during online courses or even in-class courses, we find a common point.

You will accumulate a lot of information because the course is dense.

In reality, you’ll focus on crucial online courses content to master for real benefits.

Let me give you a concrete example as a former business student.

If I talk to you about the SMART matrix, I must remember that it means specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and temporal in the context of managerial objectives.

Thus, I can easily see this matrix enables smart, concrete online learning objectives!

( I must have a CA of 100,000 euros in the years? the 100,000 euros are measurable and ‘1 year’ is temporal)

To help you, here is a simple and effective trick that can change the game.

Learn your course first and understand this one.

Afterwards, filter by words or even by theme and explain this part a little more in detail to be sure you have understood what it implies.

This is what we call ‘the review sheet’, you can also submit it in ‘mind map’ mode in order to have a mental map.

The goal is to understand online courses concepts with your cognitive skills, using 20% of key info for 80% mastery!

5-Practice and work on your memory to remember well.

Building on the fourth tip, let’s explore how online learning practice enhances retention

It is good to capture information in a structured and relevant way.

Now, you need to work on your brain and your memory.

Explore many free online courses and paid tools to boost your online learning capabilities!

Do you have a small review sheet or even a PDF document to attach to the AI?

Attach the document to the AI chatbot and ask it to question you and answer the question authentically to better practice.

Also ask him for feedback.

Practice is crucial for you because don’t forget that you are going to take exams and that’s where you will earn points, not in the ability to have memorized a lesson.

It’s by forging that we become forged.

Explore other ways to enhance your online learning skills and master your course!

– Online course platforms also offer you something to practice several times (as was the case when I was at EDHEC).

– AI specialized in quizzes like Take A quiz, Revisely or even MyMemo can help you practice.

– If possible, do not hesitate to work in a group and online to be able to memorize the course together

Conclusion for our article

As you embark on your online learning journey, applying these five tips will set you up for success and open doors to new opportunities. Whether it’s mastering a new skill or earning a recognized qualification, the key is consistency and engagement. Ready to take the next step? Explore our diverse catalog of online courses at E-newcademy.com and start building your future today!