Posts

Module 7

The most useful thing I learned in Module 7 was that taking study breaks may not seem like the best use of your time but in the end, it will benefit you due to helping yourself re focus and not get too exhausted doing the same thing for hours. Fully getting up and walking around from where you were sitting is a good refresher and will help you stay focused in the long run. I already usually take breaks when I am working on something for 1 hour plus and I knew it somehow helped but I was never sure why that actually was. Another thing I found very interesting in this module was that you shouldn’t let your class schedule determine when you wake up in the morning, which I did not do last semester. This summer I have been on a more consistent schedule when it comes to waking up and going to bed and I have noticed that I am more awake in the mornings and feel better throughout the day. Last semester I would go t bed and wake up at all different times and now that I think about it, it probably took a toll on m body and didn’t help me reach my potential.

Module 6

The most useful thing I learned in this module was a refresher on the correct and most successful way to search for information through a search engine. I had learned this back in middle school and high school but it’s been awhile since I was last taught this. I feel that it’s very important to know the best way to search for information because it helps you find the most accurate information while also saving you time in the long run. Wildly searching for information on the internet without a real searching plan can lead to inaccurate conclusions and it could take a lot longer than using the search engine the best way. Another thing I learned in this module is the difference between searching and researching. I knew they were similar but I never knew that they had specific differences. This is useful for me because I do a lot of extracurricular searching and researching when it comes to my football content hobby, along with the obvious school related searching and researching. Reliability is another important aspect of researching that goes under the radar in my opinion. Especially in today’s day and age with Twitter, anyone can post anything and people will somehow find a way to believe it.

Module 5

The most useful thing I learned in Module 5 was getting a sense of how I should take my notes, on paper or electronically. I had never really thought about which system would benefit me more I just always typed my notes since I entered college. Now that I’m thinking about it and seeing all the pros and cons of both I realize it’s all about preference. You could even have some classes where you take them on paper and some where you take them electronically, depending on the speed and content of each lecture. One specific example that has already happened to me is that taking notes electronically can provide more distractions than paper note taking. There have been occasions where I am in class note taking and messages will pop up on my screen and distract me. Having the entire internet at your fingertips doesn’t help either. Although I do prefer electronic note taking due to the fact it is all easily accessible and I don’t have to scramble through tons of papers, I do see the downsides in note taking this way. Advice I would give to students reading this is there is no right or wrong way to take notes. Figure out whatever works best for you and your memory, and you will get better and better at note taking.

Module 4

The most useful thing I learned in Module 4 was that multitasking isn’t as effective as you think! I multitask quite often while I am trying to get school work done and now that I know this I won’t be doing it as much in the future. Your skills aren’t as effective when you are multitasking which makes sense but I never really thought about it until now. In the future I plan on sticking to one thing at a time and put all my effort and attention to that one thing in hopes of it being done to the best of its ability (Source: Excerpted from page 17 in e-Learning Companion: A Student’s Guide to Online Success).  According to the slides in the lesson even if you don’t think you are giving any attention to the tv playing in the background, you are. I plan to put myself in a situation where there are limited distractions so I can put forth all my effort to the task that I’m trying to get accomplished, most likely school work. The advice I’d give to students from this module is to do your best to stay focused by putting yourself in a good environment to succeed. Distractions effect your performance even if you don’t think it is distracting you. Put yourself in a room where you can just simply focus on whatever work you need to get done and the results will show for themselves.

Module 3

The most useful thing that I learned in Module 3 is that it’s actually a lot easier to stay organized and use your time wisely than I previously thought. Making a weekly calendar is what I plan on doing from now on to help with my school work and also other life plans. I took a class during the spring semester similar to this one, where we also did a similar assignment tracking our hours of the day in hopes of keeping your life organized. I decided to not continue with the calendar approach after the assignment we did and looking back it wasn’t a great idea. There were times last semester where I forgot about an assignment or lost track of what I had planned for the future. This time I am really going to stick with it, and hopefully I begin to see it paying off in my life. Some advice that I’d give to future students especially those just entering college would be to make sure you stay organized. In college there are a lot of things going on between school, clubs, social life, etc. that you should do your best to stay organized, it will pay off.

Module 2

The most useful thing I learned in Module 2 was the correct way to email your professors. Not that I didn’t already know not to use abbreviations and act unprofessional, but the correct format of the email is what I didn’t know. Since you are writing an email and this professor may not know you personally, it is important to be very clear and concise with who you are and what the reason for the email is. If you write a sloppy email and it is known you didn’t put a lot of effort into it, your professor may not take you as serious as someone else who writes more professionally. In the future I will follow the guidelines on how to structure an email to a professor in the best way possible. “…lasting impressions will be made because of your email interactions.” This quote from the module slides made me think and it’s very true. Most of the time this is the only type of impression you get to have on a professor so make it count! There is a better chance they will remember you and help you out in the future if your first impression is a good one.

 

Student audience