Tips for Online Medical Assistant Students
You find yourself sitting in the comfort of your home, your phone, tablet, or laptop resting in front of you. You pull up your online class and are presented with tons of information. You ask yourself, “What am I going to do now”.
If you’ve never done online learning before, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of information presented to you. While you may feel like you are “on your own”, the Allen School of Health Sciences provides consistent assistance and easy accessibility with a live classroom experience. Here are some tips to help you make the transition to online courses with ease.
Be Proactive
You may not be able to raise your hand to ask questions like you did when you were in a physical classroom, but in the online virtual classroom, you’ll still have a space to ask questions, as well as many resources to stay ahead of the game. Make sure you’re utilizing them.
- Take time to click through your online course. What helpful things are being offered? Online tutoring? Make-up classes?
- Start making a list of all the resources offered to you to refer to later.
- If you have unanswered questions, reach out to the instructor.
- Develop a personal calendar based on the class deadlines so you can organize yourself effectively. You can use Google Calendar, Outlook, and more.
- Make sure you have a quiet, organized place to do your work.
Be Present
Your classroom life may now be behind a screen, but that doesn’t mean you can’t breathe life into every session you attend.
- Pay attention during the live lectures. At the Allen School of Health Sciences, all classes are taught in a live-action classroom experience. In many other schools live classroom environments might be optional
- Be active on discussion boards: This is a great way to start networking with other classmates and stay connected. Introduce yourself if you haven’t already, bounce questions off each other to be supportive, and take note of any helpful tips from your professor.
- Set up your own virtual meet-up sessions with other students. You can do this through Zoom, or whichever virtual meeting platform your classroom uses. Try sending out an email to your class to see if you can get some of your peers together to discuss how things are going and to support each other along the way.
Be Purposeful
Being in a virtual classroom doesn’t mean you’re being let off easy! You must be accountable, and self-motivated to be successful in an online world.
- Minimize distractions: When you are setting yourself up for study time, make sure the TV is off, and your phone is put away (preferably in another room), and tell your family that it’s your study time and not to interrupt you unless they need to.
- Schedule break times because it can be very easy to get distracted.
- Make it fun: Listen to some study music in the background as you tackle assignments (if it helps you focus), ask a friend or family member to quiz you on your notes to allow for some personal contact, and make sure you’re comfortable.
- Take your work seriously — you may not be in a physical classroom, but you should act as if you are when you begin every study session. It’s up to you to take responsibility for your work and to appreciate the knowledge being given to you!
While transitioning to an online format can be intimidating at first, you will have many resources to ensure your success. To protect our community during the COVID-19 crisis, The Allen School of Health Sciences is offering virtual career planning sessions for enrollment for our classes starting soon. Contact the Allen School today! We cannot wait for you to become part of the Allen School family. Visit www.allenschool.edu to learn more.
-Allen School
Article updated April 5, 2024