What Skills Do You Need for Online Learning?

Do you have a student that would benefit from taking high school courses online? Have you considered having your child(ren) complete courses through an online school? Before you register, it’s good to know what skills are needed to work well in an online setting. The following are some abilities that are needed for successfully handling online courses.

• • Self-discipline and self-motivation: In order to regularly log in, monitor deadlines and complete course work, a degree of self-discipline and self-motivation is required. 
  • Persistence is key. An online student will likely need to deal with technical problems, ask for help and manage scheduling challenges.
  • Time management and organizational ability are particularly important if a student is juggling school, a full or part-time job and family responsibilities.
  • Good communication skills are vital in online learning as students must seek help when they need it through email, chat room, text, interactive classroom, video conferencing or telephone. Self-advocacy is important for informing teachers that a student is struggling so that appropriate support can be provided.
  • Reading, writing and typing competency are important in online classes as assignments will often require reading documents and writing short or long answers on a keyboard. 
  • Basic technical skills are needed (ability to create a new document, use a word processing program, navigate the internet, download and upload assignments, convert documents to PDF files, navigate within the course site, conduct searches, install and update software).
  • An appropriate study environment: Online learning requires students to establish a quiet, well-lit place to work. Ensure that it is free of distractions (TV, computer games, family, cell phone) and contains a chair, screen, keyboard and other supplies that the student is comfortable using. 
  • An ability to stick to a routine: It’s important to set up a school-day routine. Set a schedule where the student wakes up at the same time each day and does school-related projects for a determined time. Have an activity plan for each day. 

Successful distance learning students are self-disciplined, self-motivated, persistent, good readers, excellent organizers, competent communicators and have good time management skills. If the online student is young, parents can help with the development of these skills. With a little planning, online education can be a great way to achieve academic goals.

The Centre for Learning@HOME  has online courses geared to ensure that all students achieve excellence in education throughout grades 1-12. Our students consistently achieve results above the provincial average! By adhering to the Alberta Programs of Study with a Christian-based learning environment, our certified teachers provide interactive lessons with documents that allow our students to learn any time, any place. Our students always have access to their teachers and to various learning resources. Call us at (403) 938-4119 or our toll-free number 1-800-659-1945 to learn more about getting your family set up for online learning.