ONLINE LEARNING AFFECTING COLLEGE EDUCATION

Mission Statement

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, schools all over the world are transitioning from physical learning to digital online learning, “currently more than 1.2 billion children in 186 countries affected by school closures due to the pandemic” (Li). This shift in education style has impacted student’s ability to learn, as well as their ability to focus during class sessions. There are a lot of challenges that come with online learning, but attention is the first and most important ingredient to learning. Lower attention spans may result in wandering attention, unmotivated academic behavior, and potentially poorer grades. Students who struggle with paying attention during their online courses should consider the following to help improve to achieve their academic goals.

Online Learning is Affecting Attention Span

☆ Significantly greater multitasking behavior in online vs. face-to-face courses

☆ Students enrolled online reported higher rates of unproductive non-class related activities

☆ Students learning online are 8% more likely to drop out after one year as opposed to students involved in on-campus learning

☆ Human minds are active 53% of the time, meaning our minds are left wandering the remaining 47%.

☆ Attention directly influences academic performance

Ways to Focus your Attention

1. Find an appropriate learning space to help focus attention in online courses. This will make-up for the lack of a classroom environment. Consider a study buddy for motivation.
2. Stay active by taking notes. This will keep your mind in learning mode to avoid getting distracted by other responsibilities.
3. Hold personal accountability for your work. Understand you are only cheating yourself when attention shifts elsewhere, perhaps reevaluate your personal goals and consider why you’re attending school.
4. Teachers could incorporate class activities, visuals, and interactive exercises to gain and maintain students’ attention. It should also be mandatory for professors to post their lectures online to make them accessible to their students at any time.
5. Create a balanced schedule and practice time management. This will prevent students from feeling overwhelmed and motivate them to create designated hours for their studying. Perhaps setting a “break time” to look forward to.
6. Take initiative by engaging and participating in class. This will promote support, diverse conversations and new ideas to keep the class interactive for the lack of physical presence. Set a goal to identify one interesting fact or come up with one question per class.
7. Consider caffeine or energy drinks (if needed) to stay alert during online class sessions.
8. Enable a “lock” software to prevent students from navigating away from schoolwork or cheating on tests. This will ensure students attention is directed to the test only and guarantee equal test-taking skills and fairness across all students.
9. Consider meditation or yoga to ease the mental stress that comes with online learning. A clear mindset will allow for clear direct attention.
10. Limit screen time. Frequently check personal screen time usage to keep track of how much time you’re using your device. This could help determine screen use for schoolwork vs. free time thus making school screen time more valuable. Make free-time screen time an incentive for your studies.

Additional Assistance	Lets Chat and Support One Another
☆ If you are a student suffering from issues regarding attention span and would like additional assistance, click here to manage your focus. ☆ Looking for more tips? Click here.	☆ Students and teachers can discuss their own experiences and solutions to this problem by clicking here

**Nikki Arbis takes full responsibility for the content posted. The information on this page represents that of Nikki Arbis, not California State University, Sacramento.