I am currently volunteering as a teaching assistant for a new course at SeekersGuidance: Meccan Dawn: The Life of the Beloved Prophet Muhammad (registration is still open!) and I have just posted some study tips from which the students will hopefully be able to benefit, insha-Allah. Thought that I would post them here too :)
-------------------
Online classes are different from the usual “real-life” classes in that it is flexible—it can be done anywhere, especially in the comfort of your own home, and anytime to fit your busy schedule. However, this flexibility can easily become a disadvantage if you are not careful with developing an effective method of learning. Here are some tips (in the following chronological order) that you can keep in mind so as to benefit the most out of online courses, insha-Allah.
1) Intend
It is important to have the right intention when taking any action, so the first thing that you have to ask yourself would be, “Why am I taking this course?” If your answer is anything but along the lines of seeking knowledge that will benefit yourself in this life and the hereafter or to get closer to Allah SWT, then take a moment to reflect and rethink your intentions. If you truly seek knowledge with pure and sincere intentions (ikhlas), insha-Allah He will facilitate things for you as you embark on this jihad to seek knowledge. Having sincere intentions will also give you the motivation to be disciplined and persevere when the going gets tough, insha-Allah.
2) Listen
After ensuring that you have the right intentions, it is now time to take the right actions. Set aside a consistent time period in the week to listen to the audio lectures, so that it will be like a regular weekly class. In this way, you would not have an excuse to procrastinate and fall behind on the lessons. More importantly, don’t just be a passive listener; engage in active listening by paying attention, taking down key points, and thinking critically about what you are listening to. Active listening will not only help you to encode the information better in your memory, and hence, making it easier to retain and retrieve it when you need it, but it will also help you to formulate meaningful questions that could possibly benefit everyone when you ask the instructor, insha-Allah.
3) Participate
Active listening would be futile if you do not participate actively in your online course by asking critical questions and contributing your ideas, perspectives, and comments on the subject that you are learning. After all, just because it is an online class, it does not mean that learning has to be an individual endeavour. It is in your best interest to participate regularly in the online forums or discussions with the instructor and other students; not only is it an excellent way to ask questions and get answers, it also helps you to develop the feeling that you are part of a real class, which could help you to stay motivated and disciplined to keep on track with your learning. With active participation, everyone can gain great insights from one another, much like in a real class, insha-Allah.
Best of all, as participation is done online with an element of anonymity, you do not have to feel intimidated or upstaged by students who can think or speak faster than you like in a real-life class; you can take all of the time you need to think your ideas through and compose a response before posting your comments to your class. Thus, never hesitate to ask questions if you need clarifications about what you are learning and to participate in class discussions. Nonetheless, even with online anonymity in these forums, it is important to maintain adab, or the proper etiquette of politeness and respect when interacting with your classmates and instructors. Adab is necessary for a productive and conducive online learning environment, and you will find that your participation will be much valued by the instructor and other students, insha-Allah.
4) Review
Active listening and participation in your course means that half of the battle is won, insha-Allah. The next step would be to review consistently what you have learned as the weeks go by. This is important for several reasons: first, so that it will refresh your memory and facilitate remembering in the future what you have learned, i.e., you will not forget easily what you have learned; second, so that you will be able to spot any important issue or question that you might have overlooked in the past and bring it up to the instructor and your classmates before it is too late; and third, so that you will be able to reflect upon what you have learned. Remember, you are looking to encode the knowledge that you have learned into your long-term memory, and not just in your short-term memory; consistent reviews will help you to do that, insha-Allah.
5) Apply
Lastly, find ways to apply what you have learned to everyday life situations as this will help you to internalize what you are learning, thereby ensuring that you are truly benefiting from the knowledge that you are seeking, insha-Allah. Don’t forget to contribute and exchange ideas on such real-life applications of knowledge with your classmates via the online forums or discussions available so that everyone, including you, will be able to benefit from the experiences of one another, insha-Allah.
These tips are certainly not exhaustive and as you gain more experience with online courses, you might just come up with your own tips on achieving success with them. May Allah SWT help guide us in our efforts to seek knowledge, and as the du’a goes, fill our hearts and minds with true enlightenment, discerning intelligence, quick understanding, and knowledge, ameen.
No comments:
Post a Comment