Biology via distance Ed

[Failingvce]

I’m doing 3/4 biology this year via distance ED because my school decided not to offer biology as a subject! 
What I’ve discovered is that learning without face to face interaction is extremely boring. I feel like I took my teacher for granted last year! I also feel like this disconnected method of learning makes it extremely hard for me to actually process what I’m learning. Plus the notes they include are big slabs of information with a few outdated videos.
 Because of this I generally feel unmotivated and uninterested in my work.. The reason I selected biology in the first place was because it used to be my favourite subject in year 10, but after year 11 and 12 I feel like it’s my most hated. anyways I wanted to ask for some tips on how I can study this subject more efficiently and still get a good mark despite doing distance.

[Geoo]

Hey,
So I did Bio via VSV last year, and am still a full time student there. It can be quite the adjustment without a teacher everyday, but you do end up getting use to it. Plus, there are online lessons you can attend each week (from my memory they were on thursday's) and you can ring up you teacher and just have a conversation about work, or just have a chat. It may be a bit different now due to the current circumstances, but I believe you can send an email and confirm it with your teacher.

Some parts can definitely get a bit boring, and your right, not all of the text given in chunks is relent and goes into to much unnecessary detail. I do regret taking alot of unusable notes because of this, so as long as you are aware of this, you are already in a better position than most. To try avoid this, I would print out the study design, and use it closely as you go through the year to be more efficient.

Since you won't have a textbook and use BioZone, try doing other areas of it, it's great for getting you to think outside the square. I would high recommend getting some other resources. I unfortunately didn't do this last year, and it is something I regret. I find doing bio questions can be quite fun, as it is all about applying your skills to new areas. So have a look around for some extra questions, such as checkpoints, atarnotes topics tests or whatever you can find. Although I don't recommend neap, which is what I used and was pretty inaccurate to the study design.

I found the best way to motivate me was to knock off one week in a day. Sometimes this may be a bit hard as some weeks are huge (e.g week 3 unit 3, transcription and translation was sooooo long), but generally, I found that it gave me enough motivation to continue. You can still 100% get a good mark at distance, the SACs aren't too bad, and as long as you do well in the exam, you'll be fine. Find what works for you in order to get through it.
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask questions.

[Failingvce]

Thanks! That was helpful. 

[brothanathan]

Thanks! That was helpful. 

Make use of your VSV teacher too. I'm sure they're more than happy to reply to your emails, phone calls an hour after lunch and even schedule a few video calls as well. I did a subject at VSV for one semester and for me the slabs of information were a life-saver as they help direct your learning/teaches you how to approach the topic. I made use of this opportunity by reading and synthesising as much as I could on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays so that by Thursday I could send in questions for that week and ideas I've generated for feedback.