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As this course comes to an end it is time to look at all the different topics we covered and what the biggest takeaways for me were.  This class has opened my eyes to many different online resources and tools to better enhance my learning.  Using a Google Gmail account will help organize your life tremendously.  If you have a Gmail you can create calendars, tasks lists, schedules, spreadsheets, documents, and much more.  To add to that, you can also share all of this stuff with whomever you want.  If you are an active and visual learner there are many diagram generators online for help.  www.easel.ly (infographic generator), www.timtoast.com (Timeline generator), and www.bubbl.us  (Mind Map generator) are all great tools to make non visual information into visual information.  There are also study tools such as www.quizlet.com and www.memorize.com which help you memorize facts in a notecard type manner.  Looking for literature help?  Try www.cliffnotes.com or www.sparknotes.com for some great information and quizzes to help you understand novels.  Also, don’t forget about all of the resources that the Ohio State University Library provides you.  They have online scholarly articles as well as advanced technology to reserve and checkout books.  The technology available to us is infinite.  There are millions of tools for us to use online that will enhance our learning and possibly even make it fun, yes I said fun.

After trying out all of these different online study tools I have learned quite a bit about myself.  I am definitely a visual learner meaning I learn better through looking at diagrams, flowcharts, and graphs rather than taking notes.  I also learned that I like to be organized and not procrastinate.  Getting things done on time or with time to spare is important to me.  If you would like to find out what your learning style check out this website http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html.  If you would like to find out more about your procrastination check out this website http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_88.htm .

The most meaningful experience for me was creating a blog and using www.easel.ly.  Before this course I had only heard of blogs, but never looked into them very much.  When I found out we would be blogging I was really excited to finally get to experience the blogging world.  As our world becomes more and more advance the blogging world is a great way to get many different perspectives on a variety of topics.  There are a lot of small people in the world and if we all blog, we can share all or our information we know with each other.  Using the Infographic generator was extremely cool.  I had no idea that this kind of thing existed and once I found out I knew I would love it.  This website fits my learning style perfectly with me being a visual learner.

Going forward in my other classes I will have a much bigger repertoire of tools used for studying.  I will definitely continue using the infographic generator and timeline generator.  These will work well in my accounting classes.  I will also continue to update my Google calendar and task list.  The exercises we did with this opened my eyes to many weaknesses I have in my time efficiency.  Using these tools I hope to study better, use my time more efficiently, and get better grades.

I hope my blogs have helped all students in their studies.  Thank you for reading.

-Grant

Searching the internet will provide you with an unlimited amount of information that is readily available at a moments notice.  Is this information credible thought? Could you use this in a paper and not get in trouble? When looking at a website make sure it is reliable, of good quality, and useful to the topic you are working on.  In other words, make sure the author and publisher are well-known and have a good reputation.  Make sure the article is grammatically correct and up to date.  Websites such as Wikipedia.com are NOT considered credible.  While they are good for getting information quickly, you should only use that as a starting point and then continue to search for more credible documents.

The Universities library is a great way to find credible information.  They have many databases full of scholarly articles and books that can be checked out or printed off by students at any time.  When you are searching for documents in the university libraries or on any other search engine, make sure to use Boolean Logic.  Putting ‘AND,’ ‘OR,’ or  ‘NOT’ will help refine your search to include or not include words.  Also, almost every search engine has advanced searching capabilities.  If you click on advanced search you are able to add filters for publishing time frames, languages, type of documents, and much more.

Good luck on your next paper or research project and remember to implement some of these tools for a better, more credible learning experience.

Most times you will have teachers that will provide a slide deck or power point presentation prior to class which has all the topics that will be covered during that time.  It’s a great idea to print those out and take notes on the paper while the professor is lecturing.  Another idea is to take notes directly on the slides.  This will save paper and may be easier to understand later down the road.  Every once in awhile you will find those teachers who don’t hand out their presentations.  Now you’re in trouble, but not really.  Break up you’re note book into a few slides per page and get an overview of each slide.  Be careful not to get too bogged down on writing everything down.  Hit the important points and make sure to always listen during lecture.  For a good note taking example Google “Cornell Note Taking System.”

It’s inevitable that at some point during your college career you will get a professor who is terrible or teaches differently then you are used to.  Don’t get discouraged, there are plenty of online tools that will help you get through the class. Remember, you are not the only one learning this stuff so you can seek help on the internet.  Going to www.youtube.com, www.khanacademy.com , or www.academicearth.org can all help you shed light on topics you are struggling with or topics you are interested in and want to learn more about.

-Grant

This video is an interview with Warren Buffet where he describes his ways of investing.  When investing in stocks, most people immediately go to the stock market and start looking at quotes and such, but not Warren.  First thing Buffet does is read and research what the business is all about.  He looks for companies he likes and puts a price on them.  He asks himself. “If I could buy this company, how much would I pay for it?”  Once he gets his answer he then goes to the stock market and looks at prices.  If the price is lower then what he thinks the company is worth, he buys, but if it is not, then he won’t buy.  It’s a pretty simple idea when you think about it, but most investors don’t think this way and jump straight to the market before doing research.

Watching and listening to one of the all time great investors is a great way to pick up more information on how to invest your money in the correct stocks.  No one can really give you a direct answer on what to buy and what not too, but they can teach you the ways of predicting good stocks.  Warren Buffet has proven himself to be a very successful investor and is well respected by everyone.  Next time I go to invest, I will try to think like Warren does and value the company first before jumping to the stock market to get quotes.  He has numerous interviews like the one above all over the internet.  If you are ready to start investing, I recommend watching some of his interviews.  This man is amazing at what he does.

Studying is every students nightmare, unfortunately we have to do it.  There are some really great study habits you could learn and some great online study tools to help succeed in all of your classes.  First off, when you begin studying make sure you are in the right environment. It is not going to help your studying if you are sitting in front of a television.  Also, make sure you have a highlighter and pen and paper.  Take notes and highlight important facts about whatever you are studying.  This could also be done electronically by using a word dock or highlighting on PDF.

Like I was talking about in my last post, the technology these days is crazy.  You can make virtual timelines, flow charts, diagrams, and info graphics.  Just Google any one of these things and it is more then likely you will find a great one to use to help make studying fun, or at least as fun as it can get.  Remember you can Youtube ‘How To’ videos for all of these to help you out with the navigation.  If you are writing a paper try using Purdue OWL Writing Lab (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/) and NoodleTools (http://www.noodletools.com).  They both help writing formatting papers as well as creating bibliography pages. For Literature, try using sparknotes.com or cliffnotes.com for help getting through the book.

Watch out before you know it studying may become cool.

-Grant

Welcome to the 21st century where nearly all communication is done via internet or cell phones.  It’s easy right?  Just type out a quick email with some lol’s and brb’s.  While you’re at it email a professor using some slang language.  WRONG.  When using online communication sources remember to use ‘netiquette,’ also known as online etiquette.  There are many different things to know about netiquette, just Google it and millions of sites will pop up, but in short in order to sound good communicating online, just pretend you are talking to the professor in person and be yourself.  Be quick, courteous, and make sure to get your point across in a professional manner.

If you haven’t heard already, blogs are on the rise and on the rise fast.  I personally have never blogged before, until now.  It’s amazing all of the information and different insights you find on a variety of different topics.  It kind of reminds me of discussion boards on blackboard, carmen, and other online distance learning interfaces. I know most people probably hate writing on those, but have you actually ever read your peers opinion?  It can help a lot.  Take one class for example, there are 50 plus kids in some classes, all from different parts of the country and the world.  If you take a couple minutes to read their stuff, you will probably learn some things.

One more up and coming trends is Google Docs.  If you have time you should really check this stuff out.  You can create presentations, spreadsheets, documents. calendars, and so much more.  Even better, you can share all of these things with whoever you want and they can even edit it!  Give it a shot on your next group project.  I’m telling you guys, this technology stuff is really cool.

Regards,

Grant

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