School In Summer – Earning Last Minute Credits To Get Ahead Next Year
It’s nearly halfway through the summer. Leaves are on the trees, the sun is shining brightly and flowers are blooming. It’s a great time to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather especially after being cooped up all winter and spring.
Summer is also a great time to get some relaxation in for students, but what about the rest of the year? September often brings about a bit more stress and responsibility with a full course load, extra curricular activities, and university applications. Taking advantage of the summer and taking some summer school classes has never been easier. Technology has been developed to make online high school courses much more intuitive and interesting and although learning in the digital-first world is different, it offers many advantages.
Since online learning is more accessible than ever before, and the options for taking an online summer school course more available, we wanted to take some time to summarize some of the advantages of online learning and taking a course this late in the summer may be and how a course with Ontario eSecondary School differs from the competition.
The advantages of taking an online course
The advantages of taking an online course later in the summer can really help lessen the burden of course work overload during the school year. So, if you’re looking to get ahead in your studies, school in summer may be the answer!
If you followed our blog post from June, you’ll know that taking online courses for high school credits offer flexibility in your learning. Online courses are designed to allow students to work at their own pace. This can open up the possibility of completing a course quickly so you can get a fast credit for your university applications, or at a slower pace if you need to focus on challenging subject matter. Ontario eSecondary School offers a number of options that allow you to fast track your learning or courses for upgrading your marks.
Another advantage of summer school online is that online courses offer a customized learning experience. What does that mean? Well, everyone learns differently. Visual learners prefer to see info and visualize the relationships between ideas, while auditory learners prefer to hear info rather than reading it or seeing it displayed visually. Reading and writing learners learn best by reading and writing down content, and kinesthetic learners prefer hands-on experiential learning. They learn best by doing. This doesn’t mean people can’t learn with a mixture of these, but it does mean that with every different type of learner there is, teachers need to be flexible in how they teach. With readings, visual presentations, audio and video lessons and direct teacher and student conferences; online courses through Ontario eSecondary School offers a little bit of everything to work with a variety of learning styles as we discussed earlier in this article.
Summer is also a great opportunity to get credits if you’re a homeschooled student or an international student and need a specific credit as a prerequisite for a university or college program you’re looking to attend. As an Ontario Ministry of Education inspected private high school, all universities and colleges in Ontario will accept the credits you earn through Ontario eSecondary School. You can learn more about our accreditation in our FAQ.
Finally, they say that variety is the spice of life, and that is true for the options that online learning can provide. Variety and availability in course offerings is a third advantage of online learning. There is often more variety in online high school courses that are offered. Often we hear of students who took a course with Ontario eSecondary School simply because it wasn’t available at their current physical school. Many of the courses we have available are in science and math and this can be a huge benefit for international students, but also for students who may not have all prerequisite courses available at their physical school. You can check out our courses page to see the wide range of courses offered at Ontario eSecondary School.
Why take an online course this late in the summer?
Taking a summer course doesn’t have to happen at the start of the summer. Taking an online course can happen at any time that is convenient for you. There are many advantages to ending your summer by taking an online course. First, you can get some general requirement courses out of the way. Your school may offer some courses you want to take, but a prerequisite course is required. Taking a general course like BOH4M – Business Leadership can free up your schedule to take another course like BBB4M – International Business.
Summer school can help you get into the September school year routine more quickly. Extended periods of time off mean that it may take more time to ramp up come September. If you’re someone who is eager to be productive, taking a late-summer school course may be the right option for you. By taking summer classes you’ll already be fully in the swing of things by the time you get back to school.
Summer school also provides an opportunity to fast-track your learning. Online courses and particularly summer school courses run at a more accelerated pace. If there is a course that you’re not particularly interested in but is required to get a highschool diploma online or a prerequisite for a course you are interested in, online summer school courses offer the opportunity to get those courses out of the way. Some students actually excel at the shorter programs, so if you’re one of those students then summer classes are probably right for you. Just because a course is shorter in duration doesn’t mean that there is less learning or content though. It is still a requirement from the Ontario Ministry of Education to complete a certain number of course hours and course work.
Finally, smaller course loads are a benefit of taking an online course. Perhaps you want to focus on the courses that are critical to getting into a university or college program of your choice, but it isn’t offered in summer school. During the school year there is often more pressure with other courses in your physical school as well as extracurricular activities. School can be busy! With much lower pressure than during the school year, school in summer with OES creates a great opportunity to try a course or two if you’ve never tried to learn online.
Our blog post in February on Setting Academic Goals discussed the concept of setting S.M.A.R.T. goals, which stands for goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely.
- Specific: Make sure you are clear on what you want from your goal. It should be well defined and understood by anyone who sees it written down.
- Measurable: You want to be able to show you’ve accomplished the goal, and therefore you need to create some way to verify whether or not you are on track to achieving your goal.
- Achievable: Make sure your goal is realistic. If you set something that is not really possible for you, it may be too challenging and therefore something you may not want to work on.
- Realistic or Results-Focused: Always ensure you have a focus on a measurable outcome.
- Timely or Time-Bound: Set a timeline for your goal. It should have a start and an end date. This ensures that your goal doesn’t linger or take too long.
One of the things that makes your goals achievable and realistic is having enough time. An online summer course will free up the time in the school year to allow you to accomplish your academic goals.
How online learning can help you achieve your goals
We’ve covered the advantages of taking a course for school in summer, but how exactly does summer school work? We have covered this topic in some of our other blog posts.All you need is a computer and a reliable internet connection. Some students without reliable internet access or technology struggle to participate in digital learning.This is a completely understandable challenge. However, for those with access to the necessary technology, research has shown that that students retain 25-60% more material when learning online compared to only 8-10% in a classroom. Students are able to learn faster online and online learning requires 40-60% less time to learn than in a traditional classroom. Students can learn at their own pace, going back and re-reading, skipping, or accelerating through concepts as they choose. Online learning can be more effective because you can learn at your own pace so you can take the time you need on content you find more challenging and spend less time on content you find less challenging. This allows you to break up your learning, which is something that is not possible in a structured classroom.
In our post Six Effective Study Habits, we discussed how earning high school credits online is easy and effective. Many online courses break up their lessons into very digestible content. This is partially out of necessity to ensure our courses are consistent for all students and creates a positive and streamlined experience. Although you still need to follow the order that our instructors provide as many courses have a flow that helps to introduce concepts to students that make sense. Therefore skipping ahead to unit three of a course if you haven’t completed unit one or unit two, can make the learning experience less ideal. Regardless you can learn at your own pace when you take an online course.
If you need Ontario eSecondary School offers a number of different options for self-evaluation in our courses. If you’re taking an Ontario eSecondary School course, you can set goals by working directly with your instructor during a Student/Teacher Conference at the end of a unit. Some of our units even offer self reflection and goal setting assignments.
How OES works?
Ontario eSecondary School was purpose built to be a high school, online. Our instructors are experienced in teaching students online and our courses are structured in a clear and concise manner to make it easier for you to guide your learning. As an accredited Ontario online high school, we structure our courses per the Ontario Ministry of Education standards and break up our lessons into very intentional and digestible content that ensures our courses are consistent for all students and creates a positive and streamlined experience so you can earn Ontario high school credits online.
If you’re currently attending high school in Ontario, or if you’re looking for an adult high school in order to upgrade your marks as an international student, OES has a wide range of courses available. From SBI4U to MHF4U, the amazing teachers at OES are ready to support you and help you meet your goals all over the world.
Online learning can be scary for many people who have never tried it before and we understand that some courses and learning is different for everyone. Taking a course with Ontario eSecondary School gives you access to experienced, Ontario College of Teachers certified instructors, however if you’re having trouble with ant concepts, we offer tutoring services that are provided by a third party known as GradeSlam. Students enrolled in an OES course have free access to tutoring via OES’ learning platform. The service is online, unlimited, on-demand, and instantly available 24/7 for most subject areas and includes features such as live essay editing and support in English and French.
The Ontario eSecondary School has been inspected and accredited by the Ontario Ministry of Education. What does this mean? As a virtual school, all of our courses are recognized by and can be used toward an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) and are also recognized as part of your OUAC application. This makes OES a great partner for upgrading Ontario high school credits online and is also perfect for adult students or international students looking to earn credits for post-secondary.
Learn more about our courses at oeshighschool.com/