The eight steps to online learning success

Leo Norris, Head of Education Delivery at Chartered Accountants Ireland, shares his eight tips to help students get the most from the Institute’s fully online education offering.

We’ve come a long way in our first full year of online Chartered education delivery and both the education team and our students we’ve learned a great deal. There are, however, tips that can help you get the most from your online education experience. Many of these are based on best practice in online education but also from observing the behaviours of successful students last year. Take these on board and discuss them with colleagues and fellow students.

1. Be proactive and committed

So, what have we learned from the last 12 months? To be successful in online education, students must take a proactive, committed approach. The student is responsible for their studies and overall time management. The Learning Hub will record your activity on the platform to ensure no-one falls behind, and you will receive email reminders to complete a session – but it is ultimately up to you to manage your progress. Remember, this is your learning journey to career success. Own it!

2. Watch the webinars

Second, you should make the most of live webinars. They are your chance to connect directly with the Institute’s team of lecturers. These webinars are available to explain the practical application of a teaching concept and demonstrate how that topic might appear in an exam. Webinars are not there to explain basic concepts – that is done in the recorded lectures.

Your attendance at live webinars will be recorded from November and will cover both your attendance and engagement. These records will be passed to the larger training firms, which are eager to monitor their students’ involvement. 

3. Practice good time management

Give yourself enough time to undertake the self-study sessions before live webinars. The pre-read material is short (e.g. a series of ten-minute lecture videos). Much of the content is “gated”, so some material will need to be viewed in sequence. For example, Management Accounting Session 1 must be completed before starting Management Accounting Session 2. It also means that students must open and engage with the preparatory materials to have access to live webinars.

4. Take care of yourself

One of the most important things we’ve learned from the past 12 months is the importance of looking after ourselves as we slowly emerge from confinement to something approaching normality. Students are balancing work with professional education and exam preparation at home, so schedule time to relax and recharge. Keep in contact with friends, take up a hobby, and make the most of your professional network. 

5. Minimise distractions

The flexibility of online education is great, but it also has some pitfalls. Do your best to minimise distractions. That could include disabling notifications on your phone or studying during typically quiet hours in your household. Time management will be a crucial element of success, so set short sprint targets. 

6. Treat yourself

Understand what motivates you and plan a reward for overcoming a particular study milestone. That way, you will stay energised and focused. And make them short-term goals! 

7. Embrace short bursts of studying

Work in short bursts and give yourself maximum windows of study time, not minimum, in order to be most focused, energised and productive. So tell yourself “I’m going to spend no more than 45 minutes attempting two questions in Session XXX”. This is useful as it more closely replicates the exam deadline experience.

8. Online education is real education

Finally, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that online education isn’t the real thing. It is as real as it gets, with real exams to prove it.

Chartered Accountants Ireland will reach out regularly with surveys to hear what’s working for you, both at a subject level and across the broader programme. Please take the time to respond, as your feedback will help us improve our teaching, education delivery, and course material throughout the academic year.

And, if you need to, contacting us couldn’t be easier. Visit the ‘Contact Us’ page on the student section of the Institute’s website. But first, please read the relevant Student FAQs as they may have the answer to your question.