Tips from Students for More Effective Remote Learning

The National Deaf Center has collected a number of tips for being more effective learning remotely. These tips are those that students themselves have found helpful. The tips below can benefit any student.

Join an online deaf support group. There are several on Facebook!
Start a group with friends and/or classmates to motivate and support each other with being accountable to finish the term strong.
Manage your time well. Make sure your schedule has time for YOU, such as meditation, yoga, reading books, and exercise.
Use a Fitbit or similar device to remind you to get up and move.
Use blue light blocking glasses to help decrease eye strain. Be sure to schedule time away from electronics to decompress.
Set small, attainable goals and celebrate when you complete each one.
Make sure you get the sleep and nutrition you need.

For students who are D/HOH, in addition to the tips above, the NDC collection of tips includes specific tips on how to manage accommodations and communicating with instructors and the disability services office. To review those tips, visit https://www.nationaldeafcenter.org/covid19faqs.

An overarching theme of all the tips is that students will fare better if they make sure they communicate with instructors, and others to make sure they have the information they need about course expectations, assignments and other elements of the course

Using Hearing Assistive Devices at Home

With the sudden shift to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, deaf and hard of hearing college students who use hearing assistive technology (HAT) may need to shift technology gears—and perhaps even consider different communication methods—to access online classes from home.

The tip sheet below from the National Deaf Center offers five tips for using hearing assistive devices at home.

Need a Distraction-Reduced Environment? – At Home

With the transition to online instruction, you may not have an environment at home that is conducive to effective studying or is a ‘reduced distraction’ environment. This mean it may be difficult to concentrate and not be distracted, or complete assignments or tests uninterrupted.

Student support staff from schools around the country recognize this is problematic – especially for students who have the accommodation of a “distraction-reduced” environment. The University of North Texas Health Science Center, prepared a tip sheet for students. (A Word document of the tips from UNT is available at the end.)

Study Tips for Reducing Distractions

Set up an ideal study environment. Study in a location that minimizes both visual and auditory distractions. Try to find a location that you cannot see others moving around and is located in a quiet space.
Remove unnecessary items from your study space that are not needed for studying.
Use noise-cancelling headphones or listen to white noise to reduce auditory distractions. Or try using earplugs.
Remove electronic distractions. Turn your phone on silent and put it where you cannot see the screen. Turn off notifications on your laptop.
Take timed breaks. Know your threshold for focus. When you start losing focus frequently, take a timed break. This will help to remind you to return to your studying.
Reduce internal recurring thoughts. Keep a post-it note or piece of paper to write down your thoughts so you don’t forget them. You can take care of the items on your timed break or when finished studying.
Do not cram. Set a schedule to review material in a timely manner. List out specific goals/a study plan – even hour-by-hour, and use timers to try to stay on track.
Move around while studying. Get up and use the whiteboard or change positions often.
Chewing gum is sometimes helpful for focus, and having a stress ball or other fidget can help when you start to feel restless.
Some students find sitting on an exercise ball while studying helpful with focus as well.
Use mind mapping to help organize your thoughts and create a visual representation of the information.
Chunk the information. If you have a lecture to learn of review, approach the information in chunks instead of trying to learn all the information at one time. It can be helpful to organize the information by learning objectives.
Use highlighting or paraphrasing information as you read it.

More Tips

If you are receiving testing accommodations, perhaps the disability service provider would consider some of these modifications to your accommodation.

Allowing some additional time to complete the test, beyond any time extensions already in place
Allowing you, the student, to take the test at a different time, when distractions may be lessened (such as after a child has gone to bed)

If your school is using a remote proctoring service:

Relaxing testing requirements due to remote proctoring services, such as any penalty for leaving the area, looking away from the screen, etc.
Providing accommodated remote proctoring that is separate from the remote proctoring service for the rest of the class, and that has greater flexibility.

UNT Distraction Tips 2020-03-20