Preparing for Your Online High School Courses

The fact is that online high school programs provide students with a good deal of flexibility. The student needs to be organized and good at time management.

Here are some common ways to prepare for your online high school courses:

Take your online high school course seriously
This is truly vital. And, this is the least you can do! Make sure to take your online school course seriously. As far as online classes are concerned, you need to be self-disciplined. You need to be a diligent learner and be devoted to your online learning course. Prepare a proper learning schedule and stick to it. Since online school classes are highly flexible, you might tend to get too comfortable. But, this is not a good sign, especially if you want to succeed in your online high school course. Challenge yourself whenever possible. Take part in all the activities that are brought forward by your online high school.

Make sure to follow through. Treat your online high school course as seriously as you would treat your traditional high school course. Log in regularly. Even if you end up missing a particular class, make sure to resume back as soon as possible. Take ownership of your education and reach your true potential!

Cut down distractions
This is equally important! Many of you might feel that there are zero distractions in an online learning environment. While the number of distractions is less, you would still have to fight some specific distractions. Digital distractions are pretty common here. And these distractions can derail your studies. You would have to come up with wise strategies to reduce these distractions. Make sure to set aside time to focus on your learning. You would have to show a good deal of determination and will power if you truly want to succeed. You can increase your concentration level by listening to a playlist of motivational music. You might want to switch up your learning spaces sometimes. You might go to the nearby coffee shop and work on your assignment. It might cut down boredom if any. Thus, you would have to be honest with yourself and find out ways that work for you.

Keep your study time fixed on a daily basis. During this study time, make sure to turn your cell phone off. This would help you avoid minimizing focus every time a notification pops up on your cell phone! You can even go further and get a website blocker downloaded. You can use several applications such as Cold Turkey and Freedom to help cut down distractions by blocking some apps or websites. Spend less time on social networking sites. In other words, keep a track of time. Do not waste your free time. Take short breaks only.

Identify your learning patterns
This is an important one as well. Before you choose any online high school program, you would have to identify your own learning patterns and objectives. When you have established where you would learn, think about ways to accomplish your work. You can simply put on a soothing playlist and work on your online high school course. Study diligently!

You might have some great study habits and might have some bad ones as well. Identify as to which ones are the bad ones. Procrastination can be a really bad one in this context! Make sure to work on your bad habits. Adopt healthy lifestyle habits as well as study habits. Learn as to what type of learner you are! You might be a visual learner, a kinesthetic one or an auditory one. You might even be a mixture of all! If you are a visual learner, you can print out transcripts of the video lectures for reviewing purposes. If you are a kinesthetic learner, you can listen to your online lectures while jogging or doing some exercise! Most of the online high schools make sure to provide you with the facility to learn in multiple learning formats. Thus, all you need to do is to choose the right learning format and going forward with it.

Manage time smartly
When you are an online high school student, you would have to learn wisely. For this, you would have to make good use of time. You must avail of the flexibility to create your own learning schedule. Without a proper learning schedule, you can never do your online classes properly. For this, you would need to have various time management skills. Do not procrastinate if you truly wish to succeed in an online high school course.

In order to manage your time wisely, you would have to schedule your time wisely. Make sure to be familiar with your learning style as well as personality. In order to enhance your time management skills, you would have to take a few steps.

First of all, go through the syllabus. Do this right at the start of the semester. Make sure to make note of prominent assignments. You can then mark them on a study calendar. And, you must check this calendar daily. Thus, you would be well-aware as to what type of workload is coming in the upcoming weeks. Keep your prior commitments in mind. After all, these might interfere with your daily study schedule. In such cases, make sure to give yourself additional time to finish off assignments. Make sure to create a weekly schedule and follow it. Make sure to read more, watch lectures, finish off assignments, taking part in forums and studying, etc. You can set reminders for yourself to finish off these tasks. While working on your assignments, go for time-blocking. Here, you would have to set yourself a particular amount of time for every task.

Keep a check on how you are spending your time. You must dedicate a good deal of time to course reading plus assignments. Reflect upon yourself, identify your strengths and work on your weaknesses.

Be accountable
Write down about your goals, short-term as well as long-term. Do set goals right at the beginning of the semester. You would have to set personal deadlines to stick to those. 

Life of Online High School Students vs. Traditional Students

An online high school student experiences quite a change in his daily life as well as lifestyle when switched from a traditional school to an online one. The daily route is perhaps the biggest difference between the online high school and the traditional high school.

Here is a comparison between the daily routine of an online high school student and that of a traditional high school student:

Wake-up call
Mornings for a traditional school student start with waking up early with the help of an alarm clock in general! They need to get up earlier since they need to catch the bus, van or walk on their own. If the mode of communication is feet, then the kid is real lucky to have his school near to his residence. In many cases, the child’s mom or dad might give him a ride to school.

An online high school student on the other hand needs to wake up not too early. However, if he belongs to a disciplined family, he shall wake up at around 6 or 7 a.m. He freshens up for the day and logs in to start his coursework.

As you compare the two scenarios, you can figure out that online schooling saves the time required for getting ready and commuting. The difference is more striking if the traditional school is pretty far from the child’s residential area. The child nearly has to wake up around 5a.m. in such a case when his school just starts at 7 a.m.

First half of the day
Fir a traditional student, the school hours generally start from about 7:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. The classes predominantly consist of lectures and working on assignments. Any assignment or classwork that is not completed within the school hours become part of your homework.

Online schools follow a curriculum that is as rigorous as that of a traditional school.  You at least need to invest 30-35 hours per week to complete your assignments and other work on time. The major difference here is that the students need not follow a fixed schedule or a fixed learning pace. They are also not tied to a physical classroom. However, such a high level of freedom calls for a high level of discipline.

It is crucial for online students to stay ahead of their schedules. Many of you might get scared hearing that discipline is a must for the online learners. But, in the hindsight, discipline is a must in any job environment, college environment or other higher-level study environments. So, it is beneficial for you if you start inculcating the skill early in your life. After all, old habits die hard!

All the tasks like assignments, quizzes, exams and collaborative or solo projects etc. are completed online. There might be certain tasks that you shall be needed to do offline as well. But, first you need to focus on your online tasks. In general, an online course consists of six units that are divided into five lessons each. Students need to complete at least one lesson in each class every single working day that involves the weekdays. You can do some work on your weekend as well if you wish in order to gain deeper knowledge and moving ahead of your schedule.

Online courses are usually are teacher-guided. These contain several instructional videos, educational games etc. The education is imparted with the help of multiple mediums such as audio books, visual lessons, PowerPoint presentations etc. to make it more enticing and stimulating for the kids.

Thus, online classes are vibrant and focus on variety. On the other hand, traditional classes are highly monotonous and rigid. The latter surely tends to get you real bored.

Lunch break
Whether you are in a traditional or an online school, you need to take the lunch break to rejuvenate your minds and get some fresh air. While in traditional schools, you have no choice but to depend on the cafeteria food. At home, you can afford to have a healthy diet in case you wish for it. You might even get a little nap at home before continuing further to work on specific assignments. This is applicable only for online learners.

Qualification of teachers
Teachers are employed in good schools only when they are proficient and specialized in their subjective areas. This applies both for traditional and online school faculty.

However, the difference lies in the fact that online faculty is available 24x7 for online learners. Conventional school teachers are only available during the school hours. So, in case you have queries, you are more likely to get them resolved the same day only if you are an online learner.

Socialization
Since conventional schools contain ‘live” teachers and ”live” peers, the opportunities for socialization appear to be more apparent. However, this kind of socialization is not exactly productive.

Online learning does not involve a physical classroom. Online schools provide different techniques to students for socialization. Online students connect with classmates differently. The several channels that make Interaction happen are:

•Discussion forums
•Collaborative projects
•Staff-monitored community page.
•Online student clubs or groups usually built for a specific task.

Such interactions are far more meaningful and productive. Bonding and friendship are the by-products. You tend to make more genuine friends here since you get to come across people having similar mindset and goals as you. You need not go for forced friendships under any sort of peer pressure or just to stick to a “cool” group. The friendship built here is much more genuine and natural.

Completion of the pending work
Traditional school students need to complete their pending classroom assignments at home itself. Online school students can continue with their pending assignments in the second half of the day if they wish. They can take the help of several online tools and resources to do so.

Students of an Accredited Online High School feel more at ease to complete their assignments on time. In course of time, they develop self-drive that alone motivates them to follow the ideal daily routine throughout the coursework.

Online Learning Is Misunderstood. Here's How

Here are the top myths related to online learning:

Online classes are not that effective
Many believe that online classes are not as effective as conventional school classes. This belief is so strong since there are no ‘live’ teachers and peers in an online environment. Also, there is no rigid schedule. Textbooks are usually not required. However, it is nothing but a big myth.

Though some of the online courses might be ineffective, not all are the same. If you take online school classes from an accredited online school, you are bound to experience a wholesome learning journey. This is because you are allowed to prepare your personalized learning schedule and follow it. You are also allowed to follow your own learning pace. Thus, online learning caters to your academic needs and objectives. You can slow down when you come across a difficult topic and take time to explore more on the topic. Also, you get to interact easily with your online teachers whenever you have doubts.

You have to be technologically brilliant to take an online course
Many believe that one needs to be an expert at technology in order to succeed in an online learning course. This is untrue. Yes, you do need to know the basics. But, so does any traditional school student!

You do have to know how to do basic interactions on a computer. And, many present-day students know that! There are many online educators who truly work hard to create accessible online courses. Most of these courses are student-friendly and success-driven. All the online student needs are just some basic computer skills that one needs in their daily lives.

Online classes are too easy
Some students and parents believe that online schooling is just too easy. In fact, some do enroll in an online school because of this same reason. However, they tend to suffer later! An online course is simply as challenging as any traditional school course. The syllabus is almost the same. The only difference is that an online school embraces various learning formats to keep the student engaged and stimulated. Also, since in an online learning environment, there are fewer distractions, students are able to finish off their daily online course work faster. The workload is almost the same as that of any traditional school course. However, online learning is easy since it is fun!

There is no interaction with teachers or peers
Many believe that online students are not able to talk to their teachers when they have doubts. After all, there is no direct interaction in this learning environment. However, direct interaction does not prove to be beneficial for the student all the time, does it?

An online school enables its students to interact smoothly and effectively with the online instructors as well as peers. Usually, online classes provide the opportunity for instructors to join in on certain discussion room chats. They also tend to offer webinars or conduct effective video chats with students. This benefits students who need personalized attention and guidance. One-on-one interaction is conducive to a student’s success in any learning system. Teachers provide students with genuine instant feedback after monitoring their performance in some classroom activities. Most of the feedback is provided from positive space to help the students grow personally as well as academically.

Many online schools provide students with discussion forums, group webinars, and virtual collaborative projects to facilitate online students. During an online course, students get to interact with each other easily. In fact, introverted students find it easier to open up through online platforms since they do not fear being judged.

Online school diplomas are not accepted by employers or institutions
This is one of the most common myths surrounding online schools. Many believe that diplomas from online schools are not acknowledged by universities, colleges, and employers. But, this is not true.

If you take classes from a regionally accredited online school, your diploma is bound to be accepted by colleges, universities and employers alike. Keep in mind that all online courses are not the same. So, aspiring online students ought to be cautious while choosing an online school. They should do a good deal of research and background check to determine the accreditation status and credibility of the online school course.

Online classes are not credible
It is certain that all online classes are not alike. Also, not all are credible. An online school is certainly credible if it is regionally accredited. So, aspiring online students need to make their choice wisely. They need to check the accreditation status of the online school before choosing it. One can visit the school’s credible website to check the level of accreditation. When students get enrolled in a regionally accredited online school, students and parents can rest assured that they are getting quality education as per the Standards of the state.

You can easily cheat in an online course
With the evolution of technology, the chances of cheating are reduced in the online learning environment. There are various browser blocking functions that are implemented at the time of test sessions. These are used for tracking purposes. In fact, today, most of the online school courses have great cheat-proof functions.

Also, in an online schooling environment, students are evaluated very differently from that of a traditional school. Since online school courses need interaction in classroom discussions, video presentations, and various micro-quizzes, it is not that easy to search for ways to cheat! It can be said that in an online school environment, there is less room for cheating.

Online credits are not transferrable
Some online school credits do not transfer to another school. There are some online school students who face problems while transferring credits. However, this has nothing to do with the online learning mode. The student might have been subjected to the same issues if he/she had studied in a traditional school. It can be said that credits from online school programs are as easy to transfer as conventional school credits.

Top Reasons Online High School is Perfect Option for Your career

Here are some basic reasons why an online high school is just perfect for your career:

A great variety of programs and courses
Most online high schools provide you with a high variety of study options. You can select as many electives as possible. The most important thing is that you get to choose exclusive study options in an online high school. When it comes to a traditional high school, the study options are pretty limited due to the lack of infrastructure and budget constraints. However, these factors are eliminated in an online high school.

Online students need to know their own preferences, interests, and needs before choosing a suitable online school course or program. They can also take advanced-level online courses like college-preparatory courses and AP courses if they have some specific goals. In order to score well in these online courses, they need to do a good deal of hard work as well!

Easy-to-transfer credits
Now, you might wish to take some specific summer classes. Taking online high school classes from an accredited school can make it possible for you. You get to transfer your credits easily. While enjoying your summer vacation, you can focus on your learning graph as well! Thus, you can use your summer productively.

Before you choose an online program, make sure to be aware of your personal goals and objectives. Choose an online program accordingly.

High affordability
On average, an online private high school is more affordable than a traditional private high school. Though online private high school courses are not free-of-charge, these are highly cost-effective!

In an online high school, several costs are cut down. Some of the common costs that are eliminated are commuting expenses, cost of textbooks and reference books, library fees, infrastructure-related fees, accommodation costs, food-related costs, etc. However, in order to start your online high school course, you need a good laptop or computer and a good internet connection. Without these, you cannot continue your online education. If you are not budget issues and not ready to spend a lot of money on your high-school education, do consider enrolling in an accredited online high school. Do your research well in order to find an online high school course that is effective and affordable.

A great deal of convenience and flexibility
Most accredited online courses provide students with the opportunity to plan their study time around the entire day. They need not stick to any particular learning schedule or pace. They can follow their own! However, they need to take ownership of their education in order to succeed in their online learning course. They need to identify what works for them and prepare the right learning schedule for themselves. Copying someone else’s schedule won’t help here!

Thanks to online high schools, students can study as well as work at their very own convenience. As usual, the course material is accessible online. Online students are provided with special online study resources like an online library. They can find any study material here! This enables students to expand their knowledge in a convenient manner, without having to depend on others.

Effective interaction
In an online high school class, students are required to interact effectively with their online teachers as well as online class peers. In fact, proper communication is the key to online school success. Since there is no direct communication involved in an online high school course, students are required to be self-starters and start making communications with their teachers. They need to express their doubts and worries, else he/she won’t get help!

Most importantly, online high school courses provide shy or reticent students with the opportunity to take part in class discussions easily. The communication in an online high school class is more direct than that of any traditional high school class. There are some students who tend to report higher concentration in online classes.

A nurturing learning environment
An accredited online high school makes sure to provide you with a great learning environment. This environment is highly thriving and nurturing for students. Students can learn from the safety and comfort of their homes. They can start with their lessons at any point in time. They can complete their daily online school course wearing comfortable pajamas. There are no physical class sessions here. Students are not required to attend any physical class at any fixed time. They need not fight morning traffic to attend online classes!

Advancement of career
Online schooling for high school enables students to advance in their career space. Online school students are able to take online high school courses while working in in-between jobs. They can juggle it all together. Most importantly, online courses look good on the resume. An accredited online high school degree gives an edge to high school students. An employer or a College officer is bound to notice your resume if you have scored well in some advanced online courses while doing your online high school classes.

With an online high school diploma, you are sure to have a lot of study and career options to choose from.

No commuting
There is no commutation involved when you are taking accredited online high schools. You need to travel through snowstorms or thunderstorms to visit your online classes. Also, you do not have any scope of missing important classes. In online high school courses, students are able to attend by taking part in discussion boards or chat sessions. You can attend your online school lectures at any point in time.

Enhancement of your technical skills
You get to enhance your technical skills while doing your online high school course. Keep in mind that even the most basic online school course requires the development of certain computer skills. You would have to learn to navigate various learning management systems (LMS) plus programs. This keeps you updated about technology.

Continuity in profession
Thanks to the flexibility of online school programs, you can pursue your major interests while preparing for your online high school course.

The Ogburn Online School- Providing you with more than just a second chance!

Over the years, the United States has witnessed a high rate of dropouts from school, which has been a cause for alarm in every sphere. Academicians and parents everywhere are concerned about the future of the younger generations given the rapid pace of increasing globalization. Will our future generations have jobs to look forward to? Will they be able to sustain themselves? These are valid questions very relevant to the present-day situation. A high school diploma was once considered sufficient in the United States to secure a good, well-paying job, which could sustain a family. But that no longer holds true. With more and more work being outsourced, students these days need to be prepared for a diverse range of scenarios ranging from sudden layoffs to becoming redundant in a company’s overall functional design. The Ogburn online School is an accredited online homeschool in the United States that helps students equip themselves with the skill sets they need to survive in a globalized world.

For those seeking a second shot at getting a good education, The Ogburn Online School is the perfect place to begin. They are a regionally accredited school by the Southern Association of Colleges & Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI), and also nationally accredited by Accreditation International (Ai). Making sure the online school you enroll with has all the necessary accreditation is important to your long-term progress. Higher education and employment opportunities are certainly affected by the presence of qualified credentials or the lack thereof. Students and parents who have overlooked this fact have often ended up with diplomas and degrees that have rendered them very little use, and starting from scratch in the right manner is not always feasible. In being fully accredited, The Ogburn Online School has set itself apart from the run-of-the-mill institutes in the country.

In addition to having all the right accreditation, they also provide you with a full curriculum that has been aligned and articulated to the Common Core State Standards. It is never too late to begin afresh and if a second chance is what you’re looking for then they’re that chance for you. A online high school degree is just a starting point. There’s so much more that you can do with your life if only you wish to. However, getting anywhere in the current world requires certain qualifications, and we’re ready to help you with that. Online homeschooling can offer you so many opportunities you never knew you could have. All it takes is an open mind and the willingness to learn.Traditional schools are slowly becoming a thing of the past and if we are to truly succeed in the Information Age, online learning systems are certainly the way forward. So head to day to http://www.ognburnonlineschool.com and enroll yourself. The professional counselors are available to guide you thru the process.

Tips for Using Virtual Elementary School to Homeschool

Traditional homeschooling can be a big challenge. You will have to take a lot of responsibility in this case. However, when you incorporate a good virtual elementary school program, you will have fewer responsibilities. This is because these online programs come with the pre-designed elementary virtual curriculum as well as a solid faculty to assist your child. This is enough to make sure that your child reaches his/her full potential. However, you must look for an accredited online program that supports your child.

This is why supplementing your homeschooling routine is required. If you believe that your child deserves the best right from an early stage, go for virtual elementary school programs. However, you will have to choose the most befitting one! In the present times, online elementary homeschooling can be the smartest alternative to traditional elementary schooling.

At the time of choosing to supplement your homeschooling routine, most of you go for online learning. In order to teach your elementary-school students, you might think of resorting to a virtual elementary school for homeschooling. It is required of you to research a fully online program for your child, in order to choose the right virtual elementary school program.

Keep in mind that today there are thousands of options to choose from. In present times, online learning mainly continues to grow with more advanced technologies.

When you resort to a virtual elementary school program to homeschool your kid, keep in mind that it involves immediate feedback and vibrant lessons and videos that will keep your child engaged. Also, online learning can build up the atmosphere and environment your child needs to reach his/her full academic potential.

Here are some of the top tips for using the virtual elementary school to homeschool your kid:

Go for the right fit
Choose the right online homeschool program that fits your child’s needs and learning objectives. That is why you are required to identify your child’s learning style before you choose an online elementary homeschool program.

When it comes to online elementary learning, you are bound to get multiple options. However, keep in mind that what you are drawn to might not fit your child! So, you will have to start by first finding out how your child learns best. You need to be aware of his/her learning patterns and pace. It is vital to incorporate your child’s learning style. Get to know what type of a learner is your child, whether he/she is a kinesthetic learner, a visual learner or an auditory learner. This way you will be able to use hands-on manipulatives during project-based assessments.

Keep in mind that online homeschooling should be engaging. It must be success-oriented. The virtual elementary program must have a proven success rate. It should be of high quality. It must include video lessons, immediate feedback, assessments, quizzes, fun-filled activities etc. Prior to anything, try to understand your child’s learning style.

Look into the accreditation status
It goes without saying that your online elementary homeschool program must be accredited! There are many online learning programs to choose from, today. Not all are regionally accredited though!

An accredited institution is one that opens themselves up to a 3rd party review process in every part of their program. It ranges from admissions to finance to grade reporting. If an institution is accredited, you can be sure that your homeschool partner is entirely supporting their claims. Thus, accreditation is important.

Try to put learning into action
Boredom can be a sure enemy to the growth of your child! In order to help your child thrive with online learning, learning needs to be action-oriented. Also, you must encourage breaks from online learning. Take your kids for outings. Make him/her read textbooks and get involved in hands-on projects. This is bound to keep your child engaged by every means.

Keep in mind that a good online program is one that focuses on a variety of media. This keeps your elementary-school kid engaged. He/she tends to take a genuine interest in studies this way. Most of the common formats include video lessons, online quizzes and tests, project-based learning, and note-taking guides. Most of the online resources and hands-on tools tend to meet various learning styles. Thus, these cater to every type of learner. In case the online program you’re using does not allow for work away from a computer, go for a different online elementary program.

Go for the right learning schedule
It is more than important to come up with a feasible personalized learning schedule for your elementary-age kid. Most importantly, the learning schedule must work for your child. Since your kid is small, you will have to take the responsibility to devise the entire learning schedule. You can take help of the online instructors at the time of preparing the right learning schedule. It should be attainable by your kid. Do not keep it too loaded, else it might over-burden your child! The schedule should reflect a good combination or fun and education. Online learning needs to be flexible. So, go for a flexible learning schedule as well!

Provide personalized support
When your child is taking classes online or is homeschooled, you will have to get involved in educating him/her in some way or the other. Particularly, when your child is of elementary-school age, you will need to intervene to a great extent! After all, without proper guidance, your young kid will feel lost. So, you will have to provide ample support and motivation to them.

In a virtual elementary homeschool program, your child should meet the expectations with as much accuracy as possible. At least, that should be your top aim! Choose an online program that allows you to log in and looks into your child’s progress at any time. You should also be enabled to speak with someone to get your queries answered. This is bound to provide you the assurance that your child is progressing indeed! You must monitor on a regular basis. This way you can ensure that your child is mastering the concepts.

Do More Than Just Credit Recovery With Virtual Learning Programs

With increasing high school dropout rates and the widespread use of virtual learning in the form of credit recovery programs, there have been certain people questioning the effectiveness of the entire concept of online learning. These credit recovery programs are being developed and targeted at students who have failed high school with the objective of offering them a second chance at graduating and earning their high school diplomas. There are several such students across America who are probably just a couple of credits away from graduating high school. Improving graduation rates and offering such students a second chance at college are important objectives online platforms seek to achieve. These objectives are absolutely vital to the long-term success of such students and also help them become more independent.

Most of these online programs are usually of a shorter duration than the original courses and can be completed via online learning or in person. They offer students the option of customizing their curriculum to help them grasp concepts and skills they may have missed out on the first time around. Although credit recovery isn’t all that new, providing students access to credit recovery programs via virtual learning is slowly gaining ground. Of course, along with that come apprehensions about the effectiveness of such programs and their long-term viability. Summer school is probably the oldest form of credit recovery that offers students a second chance via conventional schooling and has been used for a very long time to help students catch up on their credit scores in order to graduate. Moreover, scheduling classes via summer school programs works out to be very effective since it avoids any conflict with regular school curriculum.

However, the use of online learning programs is not limited to credit recovery. While such programs do contribute significantly to the overall development of weaker students and provide them with a second chance at completing a course they may have failed or quit, the reach of online school courses goes much beyond. They do much more than just help students catch up on their credit scores in order to graduate. The use of virtual learning in this manner is more common among high school students with the primary focus being cast upon helping students graduate. But students from middle school and elementary school have also been employing such courses to help students improve their grades and have witnessed remarkable progress in terms of their grades and overall learning capacities. While most usually connect the use of such programs with a high school diploma, in reality, they are so much more than that.

To know more about online programs, log on to www.ogburnonlineschool.com. It is time for us to work together to ensure that our children have a bright future they can look forward to.