For practical reasons, often linked to the exercise of a professional activity, many people today turn to online training to follow their courses remotely.
But if the advantages offered by such a system are many and interest different profiles of learners (job seekers, people resuming studies, adults in professional retraining or in further training, etc.), the risks of failure are not negligible..
Whatever your situation, here are some tips to help you follow a distance training in the right conditions.
Learn to learn
At the start of your course, you may need some time to get used to the distance learning system offered to you. And before you gain new skills, you will therefore have to start by learning to be independent to "learn to learn". Some organizations like IPAG will offer you tutoring and specific modules to speed up your adaptation to digital learning .
To fix objectives
Start by estimating how much time you can devote to your training each week and estimate your ability to take class after class while maintaining your focus. Set reasonable weekly goals to keep up. At the beginning, you will probably have an annoying tendency to move too fast and to chain the hours of study. Keep in mind that you have to progress steadily and without exhausting yourself .
Organize your schedule
Distance learning offers you great freedom in managing your schedule. Apart from the few synchronous courses where your presence is essential, the replays and the many asynchronous training modules allow you to work for the day or night.
Dedicate certain time slots only learning and don't forget to give yourself regular breaks. If you have a parallel professional activity, try to compartmentalize your professional life, your personal life, and your training time .
Create a workspace dedicated to the study
Correspondence courses also allow you to train wherever you want: in transport, in the park, at the library, in a collaborative workspace or at home most often. In the latter case, create a space conducive to concentration and separate your learning space from your living space as much as possible.
Also, make sure you have a good internet connection to take part optimally in the various videoconferences that will punctuate your training course.
Exchange with other learners and teachers
At first glance, distance education does not seem to facilitate exchanges between peers or communication between the learner and the trainer. And some students can quickly feel like they are training in isolation and become discouraged. However, there are many educational tools that make interactions easier:
the virtual classroom, the chat attached to each videoconference, or the forums dedicated to your promotion. Today, most digital learning platforms allow you to access a workgroup that facilitates informal exchanges but always in the “school” space.
Choosing the right training organization
Whatever your professional project, today you will find many online courses to train you . Do not rely solely on the cost of studies, beware of too attractive offers and take the time to choose your online training. Indeed, not all of them allow you to get a diploma or to benefit from a follow-up worthy of the name.
Some online programs are more like banks of educational resources - sometimes of poor quality - than courses made up of courses specifically designed by qualified teachers or trainers, as one.
Therefore, favor an organization, a training center or an establishment that already has experience in face-to-face education, delivering recognized diplomas and appearing in the National Directory of Professional Certifications (RNCP).