Navigating Digital Platforms: Essential Tech Skills for Online Learners

Key Infor­ma­tion:

• In 2021, approx­i­mate­ly 9.4 mil­lion under­grad­u­ates enrolled in at least one online course, show­ing how online learn­ing is becom­ing a nor­mal part of edu­ca­tion.
• Essen­tial tech skills, such as nav­i­gat­ing Learn­ing Man­age­ment Sys­tems (LMS), are crit­i­cal for suc­cess in online education.
• Flex­i­bil­i­ty and con­ve­nience are key ben­e­fits of online learn­ing, but mas­ter­ing tech­nol­o­gy is essen­tial for full engagement.
• Online learn­ers should con­tin­u­ous­ly devel­op tech skills to keep pace with the ever-evolv­ing dig­i­tal edu­ca­tion land­scape and future career demands.

Nowa­days, online learn­ing is a way of life, not an odd­i­ty. Proof: About 9.4 mil­lion under­grad­u­ates enrolled in at least one online course (Fall 2021). Around 4.4 mil­lion under­grad­u­ates enrolled in online cours­es exclu­sive­ly. These were low­er than the 2020 fig­ures when COVID-19 lock­downs occurred, but still.

With high demand comes a wide range of online learn­ing plat­forms. Cours­era, Ude­my, and edX are among the most pop­u­lar. Indeed, online learn­ing has become essen­tial in 21st-cen­tu­ry edu­ca­tion. This isn’t sur­pris­ing con­sid­er­ing the flex­i­bil­i­ty, afford­abil­i­ty, and qual­i­ty that it brings.

But online learn­ing has its chal­lenges, too. Fore­most of these chal­lenges is mas­ter­ing essen­tial tech skills for online learn­ers. These key skills are a must for full access and engage­ment in your online cours­es. Oth­er­wise, you won’t get the best learn­ing expe­ri­ences and val­ue from online learning.

If you want to know what these tech skills are, read on. We’ll also dis­cuss why these are impor­tant and how to devel­op them.

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Why Tech Skills Are Important for Online Learners

Learn­ing essen­tial tech skills for online learn­ers con­tributes to your aca­d­e­m­ic suc­cess. You can access your program’s learn­ing man­age­ment sys­tem (LMS) with ease. Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and col­lab­o­ra­tion with pro­fes­sors or peers are easy, too. You’re in the loop, so to speak, with tech skills.

Here are a few more rea­sons why you should learn essen­tial tech skills for online learners.

Changing Education Landscape

Tech­nol­o­gy con­tin­ues to trans­form the edu­ca­tion land­scape. The advent of the per­son­al com­put­er and the Inter­net was only the start. Nowa­days, tech­nol­o­gy changes the ways teach­ers teach, stu­dents learn, and col­leges operate.

• Learn­ing man­age­ment sys­tems (LMS) have changed the way col­leges deliv­er aca­d­e­m­ic programs.
• Online learn­ing plat­forms offer more online cours­es and cer­ti­fi­ca­tions. MOOCs are also chang­ing the edu­ca­tion landscape.
• Video con­fer­enc­ing apps are com­mon com­mu­ni­ca­tion tools in vir­tu­al classrooms.
• VR and AR tech­nolo­gies enable immer­sive learn­ing experiences.
• Adap­tive learn­ing tech­nolo­gies enable per­son­al­ized learn­ing experiences.

Oth­er notable tech­nolo­gies are e‑books and dig­i­tal libraries, cloud-based col­lab­o­ra­tion tools, and AI. With every new tech­nol­o­gy, online learn­ers must keep up. In doing so, you can become 100% engaged in your learn­ing experiences.

Independence in Learning

Being self-suf­fi­cient is key to suc­cess­ful­ly nav­i­gat­ing dig­i­tal plat­forms for stu­dents. You must learn the essen­tial tech skills and build advanced skills from there.

Of course, you can ask for tech sup­port from your peers, pro­fes­sors, and sup­port staff. How­ev­er, being an inde­pen­dent online learn­er is a desired trait.

The key point here is that tech skills are a must to be a suc­cess­ful online learner.

Essential Tech Skills for Online Learners

Here, we’ll dis­cuss the essen­tial tech skills that you must learn and devel­op. Keep in mind that you can add more, but these skills are the foundation.

Basic Computer Literacy

The fun­da­men­tal tech skills need­ed for online edu­ca­tion is basic com­put­er lit­er­a­cy. You can access your course mate­ri­als and make your assign­ments with these skills.

• Basic under­stand­ing of using a com­put­er, web browsers, and essen­tial software/apps
• Famil­iar­i­ty with word proces­sors, spread­sheets, and pre­sen­ta­tion tools. Microsoft Office Suite and Google Work­space are the most popular

If you’re a typ­i­cal col­lege stu­dent, you already have these skills from your high school years.

Navigating Learning Management Systems (LMS)

Learn­ing the LMS on your first day is among our fore­most online learn­ing tech­nol­o­gy tips. Why? Because it’s the cen­tral­ized plat­form for your online learn­ing expe­ri­ences. Here, you will per­form most of your online learn­ing activ­i­ties, including:

• Access­ing course mate­ri­als like read­ings and assignments
• Sub­mit­ting assign­ments like projects and essays
• Attend­ing vir­tu­al class­es, includ­ing live and record­ed lec­tures, dis­cus­sions, and webinars
• Par­tic­i­pat­ing in dis­cus­sion boards and forums
• Tak­ing quizzes and exams
• Com­mu­ni­cat­ing and col­lab­o­rat­ing with peers and professors
• Track­ing grades and feedback
• Access­ing more learn­ing resources

If your online pro­gram pro­vides an LMS ori­en­ta­tion, attend it. You can also explore the LMS on your own and ask for sup­port from others.

Communication Tools

If you want to know how to suc­ceed in online class­es, learn effec­tive com­mu­ni­ca­tion skills in the dig­i­tal age.

• Learn to use video con­fer­enc­ing tools, such as Zoom and Google Meet. Your com­mu­ni­ca­tions with peers and pro­fes­sors will be through these tools. Learn to use emails and dis­cus­sion forums, too.
• Write clear, con­cise, and pro­fes­sion­al emails. Infor­mal­i­ty is wel­come, but it has its lim­its in online communications.
• Exer­cise active lis­ten­ing skills dur­ing meet­ings and class­es. Com­mu­ni­ca­tion tools have their uses but are only tools. The best tools are your ears and brain.
• Respond to ques­tions, emails, and mes­sages ASAP.
• Prac­tice online etiquette.

Learn­ing to use the com­mu­ni­ca­tion tools is a start. How­ev­er, effec­tive com­mu­ni­ca­tion skills are still more important.

File Management and Cloud Storage

With so many files and doc­u­ments, keep­ing every­thing in order is tricky. For­tu­nate­ly, there are many dig­i­tal tools for online learn­ing for this pur­pose. Drop­box and Google Dri­ve are excel­lent dig­i­tal tools. Both are easy to learn for begin­ners and offer use­ful fea­tures for online learners.

Keep these use­ful tips in file man­age­ment and cloud stor­age, too.

• Use descrip­tive names on files, fold­ers, and documents.
• Cre­ate auto­mat­ic back­ups of files, fold­ers, and doc­u­ments on a reg­u­lar basis.
• Use ver­sion con­trol to pre­vent over­writ­ing and track changes.
• Cre­ate pass­word-pro­tect­ed links in shar­ing files.
• Use encryp­tion when­ev­er necessary.

Explore the advanced fea­tures of these dig­i­tal tools, too.

Internet Navigation and Research Skills

Among the best tech skills for stu­dents are Inter­net nav­i­ga­tion and research skills. Most of your research for assign­ments will be done through the Inter­net. It then makes sense to learn these skills.

• Learn the aca­d­e­m­ic sources rec­om­mend­ed by your pro­fes­sors and program.
• Devel­op your skills in search­ing for reli­able infor­ma­tion. Use research tools and databases.
• Assess the cred­i­bil­i­ty and accu­ra­cy of sources.

When you learn these essen­tial tech skills, you’re one step clos­er to earn­ing your col­lege credential.

Developing Tech Skills for Online Learning

Time, prac­tice, and effort are a must in devel­op­ing tech skills for online courses.

Take Free Online Tutorials and Courses

• Check out YouTube, LinkedIn Learn­ing, and Coursera.
• Strive to be an inde­pen­dent learn­er. Access resources on your own first. Ask ques­tions later.

Practice Using Learning Platforms

• Explore the online edu­ca­tion plat­forms for stu­dents before class­es start.
• Famil­iar­ize your­self with the basic fea­tures first.
• Take part in activ­i­ties, such as prac­tice quizzes and file submissions.

Seek Help When Needed

• Take advan­tage of the tech sup­port services.
• Resolve tech issues on your end before class­es start.

In many tech­nol­o­gy tips for online learn­ing suc­cess, prepa­ra­tion is always the key. Take the time to devel­op tech skills, and your online learn­ing expe­ri­ences will improve.

Common Challenges Faced by Online Learners

Tech Issues and Troubleshooting

• Learn basic trou­bleshoot­ing skills, too. Clear­ing caches and check­ing Inter­net con­nec­tions are basic.
• Be famil­iar with the tech sup­port ser­vices, includ­ing num­bers and peo­ple to call.

Time Management

• Adopt effec­tive time man­age­ment habits to avoid burnout.
• Use time man­age­ment tools like Google Cal­en­dar, too.
• Pri­or­i­tize your health.

Staying Focused

• Keep your eyes on your goal.
• Turn off dis­trac­tions, such as the TV and smartphone.
• Use tech tools, such as focus apps and site blockers.

By han­dling these chal­lenges, you can focus more on mas­ter­ing tech skills in online learning.

Additional Tools for Online Learning Success

Productivity Apps

If you’re strug­gling with pro­duc­tiv­i­ty, use pro­duc­tiv­i­ty apps. Trel­lo, Asana, and Ever­note are great exam­ples. You can keep up with assign­ments and deadlines.

Screen Recording and Video Tools

Use Loom or Screen­cas­ti­fy for record­ing pre­sen­ta­tions and lec­tures. You can review them lat­er and, thus, get more information.

Collaboration Tools

Google Docs and Microsoft Teams make it easy to col­lab­o­rate on group projects. You should con­sid­er real-time shar­ing and edit­ing, too. Every­body can then con­tribute to the group project.

Indeed, look beyond the basic tech skills and use more tech tools to enjoy a bet­ter online learn­ing journey.

Preparing for the Future of Online Learning

Importance of Lifelong Learning

Again, tech­nol­o­gy is in con­stant flux. You must adopt an atti­tude of life­long learn­ing to keep up. Even after com­plet­ing your online stud­ies, you must improve your tech skills. Doing so means stay­ing com­pet­i­tive in the dig­i­tal age.

Tech Skills for Career Readiness

While you’re an online stu­dent, con­sid­er learn­ing career-spe­cif­ic tech skills, too. You have a com­pet­i­tive edge because you were proac­tive. Earn pro­fes­sion­al cer­ti­fi­ca­tions in your field, too. Bet­ter yet, engage in ongo­ing tech edu­ca­tion rel­e­vant to your field.

This way, you’re more pre­pared to grab future career oppor­tu­ni­ties that come your way.

Conclusion

In con­clu­sion, learn­ing essen­tial tech skills can make or break online learn­ing. Think of them as your secret weapon for your aca­d­e­m­ic suc­cess. Your intel­lect and study habits mat­ter, but so do these tech skills.

But don’t stop at learn­ing these tech skills, either. Seek con­tin­u­ous learn­ing and devel­op­ment, too. Tech­nol­o­gy isn’t stag­nant, and thus, you must learn, unlearn, and relearn.