Studying Online

This write-up is inspired by our dear Meera di’s comment on my previous post here

Even though schools are working hard conducting online classes, the network issues are depriving the students of much-needed explanations from the teachers. And subjects like maths seem more difficult than ever before. But thanks to online videos which are providing great support in these difficult times.

Let’s see how YouTube can make things a little easier for us.

Say a student of class 7 is learning addition and subtraction of fractions (chapter 2)

Now if you search for this chapter on YouTube, there will be so many videos available on this chapter.

You might consider selecting one depending on the number of views or likes or maybe the attractive title given to it, or the person presenting it looks pretty confident, etc. but you will notice that the video on the whole chapter is rather very long. The chapter might be divided into several small videos, but the total length of the entire chapter in video form is too lengthy to watch.

Now since the student is already attending school online, and the entire morning goes by staring at the mobile or laptop screen, expecting them to watch something related to their studies again in the evening can be frustrating for them. They will obviously find it tedious. Also, it is not possible for some students to enroll in online coaching for the high fees that are involved and so in these pandemic times getting help with your studies sometimes looks impossible.

1. What I advise my students is; start the chapter as they have taught it in school. Use your school book and some self-study guides for this. (I am giving an example of seventh standard chapter 2 in maths)

2. Now say as you are proceeding with the chapter and you got stuck with these questions

A)

Now, if you look at problem A you see the denominator (down number 12) is the same. So instead of viewing the whole chapter on the net, what you can do is, you check only for “addition of fractions with like denominator”

B) 

In problem B the denominators (the down numbers 6 and 12) are not the same, so you look for simply “addition of fraction with unlike denominators”.

Again there will be so many videos on this, but you will notice that the video is of a little shorter duration compared to the whole chapter video.

So instead of checking out the whole chapter online, mark only the questions which you find difficult and watch a video of only that part which you are getting stuck. Because the video will be of shorter length and you will be focusing only on things that you have not understood. And there will be no need of wasting a lot of time online.

3. You can also brush up your basics with such short videos

4. Further, just because a video has a maximum number of likes or views, or it is very attractive, it does not mean that you will understand the video. Remember each student’s capacity and way of understanding are different. So maybe you will have to invest a little time with your parents to check which channel you might understand better… 

5. Also the speed of the video can be increased or reduced according to your need.

6. If you can follow what the school teacher is teaching and if you have some self-study books, and you are sincerely doing a lot of practice with those books, it is not at all necessary to watch online videos (Some are tempted to watch just because their friends are watching). But you have to be extremely truthful with your practice.

And even after doing all the necessary hard work, if you still find things difficult, then it is always better to speak to your school teacher; I have personally noticed that school teachers are ever willing to help the students in these difficult times.

For Coaching series Part 2 Click here

For part 4 click here

image credit: Marc Thele, Pixabay