Adaptive Learning

Over the past month, our lives have changed drastically and it seems like each day comes with more change. My name is AJ and I am a Graduate Student at The University of Southern Mississippi, and just like many students across the world, I am trying to figure things out during this unsettling time. Among other things, I’ve been researching adaptive learning habits and I think some of what I’ve learned may be useful to you as well.

For a lot of us the time we would’ve spent going to class, studying at the library, working out at the gym, or visiting friends- has largely turned into shelter-in-place orders. And probably as we’ve all realized by now that comes with a lot of challenges.

If you’re anything like me, a student trying to get through this crazy semester, one of the biggest challenges will be getting used to our new normal of transitioning to an online class structure. Viewing the updated syllabus for all my classes, trying to keep track of all the new discussion post due dates and video lectures has been overwhelming to say the least. Not everyone does their best learning in an online class, that’s a fact. It’s a lot to keep track of and it doesn’t have any of the structure we’ve gotten used to with our in-person classes. Thankfully, it’s also true that there’s always something we can do to help us learn better in any circumstance.

For instance, I’ve already started putting reminders in my calendar for all the discussion board posts. I have also made a schedule for each week and noted when I will watch my online lectures. I’m using that calendar to find myself with a bit of the structure I used to have so that it feels a bit easier to be productive each day. I recommend finding a planner, a calendar app, or really anything you might find useful, so you can keep track of what you want to accomplish each day. Setting those goals for yourself can start to help your days show a stronger resemblance to the structure we used to enjoy.

Winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, John Wooden, once said “Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” Finding ways to be flexible in our learning is one of the key traits of being a successful student. Hopefully, as we try new things we discover what works best for us and we can continue to learn. Once the Coronavirus pandemic becomes a thing of the past we will have attained many new skills that will make us more adaptable to change and we will be much better off because of it. 

By AJ Qureshi - AJ is a graduate student in the Counseling Psychology program and a graduate assistant in the Division of Student Affairs at the University of Southern Mississippi