How to Try Workshifting with Virtual School Students
byAllison Brubaker
4 min to read
With today’s on-the-go lifestyle, working in the same spot every day can be a challenge. As a virtual school family, you have a designated home classroom to work in most school days, but sometimes your child might work in another study location, such as in the car or on the couch.
Although moving around during the school day can affect your child’s focus, shifting work areas can have some surprising benefits.
To find out what these benefits are, take a look at these tips for studying on the go.
Shifting Work Locations: The Benefits of Studying On the Go
Our culture now allows many options for finding places to study or work. In the professional world, more and more people are working from home, working while traveling, working in cafés and rented workspaces—working essentially anywhere. This trend of working from anywhere is often called remote work, or workshifting.
Workshifting means to work from anywhere other than a traditional office setting, by using the internet and online tools to get work done. Workshifting has essentially changed the professional world—similar to how online learning has changed education!
So, how can workshifting be applied to virtual school?
Well, it can offer virtual students the same benefits that it provides the workforce. According to a career services expert, reduced stress, increased motivation, and schedule flexibility are some of the benefits of workshifting.
Benefits of Changing Study Locations
What are some reasons why students may want to try workshifting and change up where to study? A few benefits of workshifting include:
- Helps children to become more adaptable
- Keeps the learning experience fresh
- Spurs ideas and creativity
- Helps break the patterns of bad habits
- Improves moods or mindsets
- Teaches children to tune out distractions
- Allows children to find the work areas they like best
What are some options for study locations? Depending on their age, some areas where your child can study include the library, a café, a study group at a friend’s house, or a community center.
Does Workshifting Work for Virtual School Students?
For workshifting to be successful, a person has to follow good learning practices. Because setting routines is important, try to set consistent work hours or lesson lengths. If that’s not possible, then ask your child to follow the same steps every time they start a lesson. To keep everyone organized, use a learning calendar.
To see if workshifting is right for your child, make sure you evaluate your student’s experience with it. For instance, try asking the following questions:
- How does it feel to move around?
- Does it feel refreshing to work in a different spot each day?
- What are some things that help you focus, no matter where you are?
- Where do you feel most comfortable?
- Where is it easiest to focus?
- Where do you like to work the most?
Work closely with your student to try shifting work locations for a couple of weeks. Use a journal or calendar to document the different places where your child studies and does homework. After each study session, ask your child to rate their comfort, focus, and productivity on a scale from 1 to 10. At the end of the trial period, review the journal or calendar. What do you notice about the results? Is there a particular study location that your child likes best? Did changing where they study help them focus?
To help implement workshifting for your student, learn how to create an online school schedule. The schedule can stay flexible and be modified as needed, no matter where your student is working or studying.
Ready to Learn More
About Connections Academy?
Explore the benefits of attending Connections Academy, a tuition-free, accredited online public school that’s passionate about helping your child thrive.