Seminary is a great way to acquire the skills you’ll need in ministry, deepen your relationship with the Lord and enhance your Biblical knowledge. However for some, life, work, church, family, or even distance can make attending classes in a traditional classroom setting difficult, and in some cases even impossible.
Here at Dominion we understand that while your desire to learn is great, your time is also precious. Through our Distance Learning students now have the flexibility to learn and earn their degree while still maintaining their busy lives. With our online learning, as long as you have access to a computer, laptop, ipad, or phone, you can access your courses from anywhere, anyplace, at anytime.
Does life, work, church, family, or distance make attending classes in a traditional classroom setting difficult? Are you considering taking courses Online at Dominion?
If your answer is yes, we believe that online learning would be a great alternative for you. So we say…Good choice!
What Are The Benefits Of Online Learning?
You can study anytime, anywhere!
You can study wherever you are in the world and don’t have to stay in one location for the duration of your degree
Your study time is flexible!
You can create your own study schedule that best fits you. Online Learning allows you to study without interfering with your other commitments such as work, family, and/or Church.
You can take classes at Dominion from any city, country, and/or State!
You’re not confined by the choice of seminaries in your area. You can take our courses from anywhere.
Savings!
Distance learning has many saving advantages. You can save on commuting/transportation costs, school supply cost, as well as meal cost. You can also save time and maximize convenience.
You can learn while still working!
With distance learning, you can complete your studies while still working full or part-time.
Whether onsite, or online, it is our desire to see all our students succeed. Dominion understands that online learning requires the student to attain certain skills, so we decided to list some skills and tools that can help you on your Online journey……..
What Skills Do I Need for Online Learning?
1. Persistence
Persistence is key to be successful in online learning. Students must be willing to seek help when needed, work daily on every class, and keep going in spite of every challenge. When you run into a challenge, keep trying and ask for help.
2. Effective Time-Management Skills
You must be able to manage your time well. There are no set times for classes. You as an online student create your own class time. This flexibility is great, however for students that procrastinate, and/or has not created a disciplined routine study schedule, and is not able to complete assignments on time, the flexibility can work against you.
Effective time-management skills are most definitely needed. It will benefit you throughout your life, work, church, business and ministry.
In order to do this, we suggest you……
- Review the syllabus for each of your courses. Develop a plan to complete all of your assignments.
- Make a daily “To Do” list, and check things off as you complete them.
- Set up a manageable study schedule for yourself and stick to it.
- Being well-organized is paramount as you pursue your seminary studies online.
3. Effective Communication Skills
Communication skills are vital in online learning because students must seek help when they need it. Our instructors here at Dominion are willing to help students when help is needed. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your teacher via email or phone and communicate whatever area you are struggling in. Dominion is a “NO JUDGMENT ZONE “. We are here to help!
4. Motivation and Independence Skills
To be successful, an online student has to want to succeed. Online learning requires independence, self-motivation, being responsible, and a certain level of maturity. A successful distance learning student is able to motivate themselves to study, even when they don’t want to feel like it.
33 Tips for Distance Learning Students
To stay motivated Dominion Theological Seminary presents to you a few tips given by Chole Burroughs “Study Skills Training” for busy students.
Hope these tips help………..
Boast about your achievements
Feel pride in every good mark and productive study session. Share your achievements on social media or message your friends and family. Share when you’ve worked hard so others can celebrate with you.
Create a study space
Some of you may already have a desk area, others might not. If you struggle for space could you build a very simple folding desk somewhere? Buy a fold up chair and you have a desk that can almost be removed when you’re not using it.
Make sure you have support
Get your friends and family behind you and your studying decision. There will be times when you need a pep talk, some space to rant or someone to take your mind off a stressful situation. Not everyone will understand why you’re studying but as long as you have one person around that supports you it will really help.
Reward yourself
Every study session should end in a reward. This doesn’t have to be big but be intentional about celebrating your hard work.
Plan some fun treats for after a big essay, exam or end of module. Having something to look forward to can really help keep you motivated.
Define your reasons for studying
Do this simple 5 minute exercise to help get you through the tough times when your motivation is low and there’s part of you that wants to give up.
Take a sticky note or piece of paper and come up with 1 to 3 reasons why you’re studying. Why did you start studying? What are you hoping to get out of it? How will your life improve from your studying? Write these down and then keep this sheet where you can see it.
Schedule in your studying
As a distance learner you need to schedule your studies yourself and be disciplined enough to stick to it.
Every Sunday spend 5-10 minutes planning what you need to study the following week and add some study sessions to your schedule. It’s too easy to ‘wing it’ and suddenly realise a week has gone past and you haven’t done any studying.
Control procrastination
As a distance learning student you probably study along with other commitments. You may have a job, be raising a family, or both! This means you don’t have time to procrastinate. Now, I’m not saying you have to be perfect as we all procrastinate at times. What you do need is a toolkit of anti-procrastination techniques to help you make the most of your (often scarce) study time so you can get your work done and have time for your other responsibilities.
Embrace just doing it
Identify that task you have been putting off or don’t want to start and just do it! You’ll feel so much better and will gain the momentum to keep going.
“When there’s a hill to climb don’t think waiting will make it smaller”.
Stay positive!
It’s unlikely you’re a beaming, skipping unicorn every time you sit down to study. There will be times when you’re hating life and wonder why on earth you thought Seminary was a good idea. As a distance learning student it can be hard to break out of these lows. But it’s important you keep your self-talk in check. Accept that studying is hard work, you will be fed up at times and that you will sometimes wish someone would swoop in and do the work for you. But don’t let these temporary negative thoughts become your permanent identity. Develop a growth mindset – the belief your intelligence is changeable and you can become smarter over time with hard work.
Repeat this mantra when time you’re struggling.
“I am tired. This is hard. I am struggling. But I CAN do this and I WILL do this. I am persevering. I am getting stronger. I will put one foot in front of the other until I’m there”.
Record your successes
It’s easy to keep looking forward with your studies and forget to look back at how far you’ve come. As a distance learning student it can feel like as soon as you’ve submitted one assignment it’s time to start the next one. But, it’s important to recognise your progress so you can feel proud of your journey so far.
Small steps
Concentrate on your small steps and short term goals. Every day, week, month and year you study is a step towards getting your degree.