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This course has been extremely helpful to me in many ways.  The course has taught me very useful ways to stay organized.  For instance, our first project where we had to use Google Calendar taught me that writing out a schedule for your current week, month, or even year is a great way to stay focused.  I now have a calendar on my phone that shows me what I am doing for the day.  I find this most convenient when people ask me to do something.  Before this class, I used to have to tell people to hold on and let me check my calendar at home.  After this class, I simply check my phone’s calendar and have an answer for them instantly!  Another great thing that I learned from this class would have to be Quizlet.  Quizlet is a website and app where you can create quizzes for yourself and study them on flash cards.  This is so awesome because I can be walking to class that I am about to take a test in and study at the same time.  I think those last minute cram sessions before an exam are so critical, and being able to do so while walking is a great usage of time.  I have even done Quizlet since taking this class while going on a jog!  This class not only taught me a lot about online resources and tools, but a lot about myself.  I did not know how big of a procrastinator I was before taking this class.  After filling out short surveys, I found out that there were many things that I could do to improve my time management and procrastination.  Google calendar also helped me improve on this aspect of my studying because I now have a set time to do so on my calendar.  My most meaningful experience in this course would most definitely be the blog posts.  I really dread writing papers.  Since I have to do a blog post every week in this class, I am able to type faster, come up with words faster, and I am actually starting to enjoy typing papers better than online quizzes.  I think that this is great because I realize that I will be typing emails frequently in my future career path. This class’s teachings will impact me a lot in the future.  I will by applying the note taking lecture in all of my future lectures!  The Cornell notes structure is the most organized and optimal note taking strategy that I have laid my eyes on.  Not only will this note structure help me take notes easier, it will also help me study better!  Many of the classes in my future may lack study guides.  I do not think that I will ever need a study guide with my Cornell notes.  One thing that I don’t think I will continue to do on this course will be blog posts.  I don’t have anything against blog posts, but I think that I would rather do physical activities in the future instead of typing about my day.

This module taught me so much about searching and citing! One of the most amazing parts about this module was the fact that I could see if a certain library had a book in stock.  This is so convenient because if you wanted to rent a book and it was already taken out, it could lead one to much disappointment.  This actually had happened to me once before and I wish I would have known about this method before to save me time.  Another amazing thing about his module would have to be that you can search online through databases to find articles.  I did not know you could do this.  I also had no idea how convenient the searching can be.  When I was searching the Malaysia Airlines flight there were many articles.  I narrowed down my search to be specifically about the flight that was lost, and it eliminated the most previous incident with Malaysia Airlines in the Ukraine.  Refining searches to the date of the post and what library it can be found out was also very interesting.  On google books, you can even search phrases inside of a book!  I used this strategy once in another class, and I didn’t even have to buy the book because of it!

I think that this module really helped me learn how to take notes.  I also found out that there are many different strategies on how to take them.  I love how the Cornell notes work.  That to me was easily the most effective way to take them.  I also think that Cornell notes are very fast and efficient.  The 5 R’s are definitely a huge key to note taking. I have noticed that recording is the hardest part while taking Cornell notes because it is time consuming prep work.  My favorite R would definitely have to be reduce because I like to get straight to the point; I do not like to beat around the bush. Reciting and reflecting are probably the most effective way to memorize some of the material, and reviewing at the end is key for long term memorization.

I also really enjoyed gaining knowledge through YouTube videos.  YouTube videos are very convenient and offer  unbelievable visuals that make it even easier to learn.  YouTube videos are also very easy to share, and you can watch them on portable devices such as your cell phone.  Finally, there is such a wide variety of teaching methods on YouTube for someone to use. If you do not like one teaching style, you can look at related videos to possibly learn another way!

This video shows how to find a derivative by definition.  Although there is a shortcut, this is a prime example on how to find a derivative.  The first thing you do is plug in “x + h” where every x is.  After that, you distribute all of the other numbers.  When you are done distributing, you add and subtract all of the common factors.  You then try and make sure there are no h’s on the denominator so you can plug in zero for “h” and be done with solving the derivative.

This video enhances my learning on this topic because the teacher explains it very well.  His writing is very neat (much neater than most math teachers I’ve ever had) and he also uses color coated numbers to show what he is doing. I also think learning this by using YouTube is great for my learning because I can pause it at parts where I am confused, rewind it, and figure out where certain aspects of the math problem came from!

The web enhancing and study strategies module has helped me learn some great new ways to study.  After reading a few students’ discussion posts, I learned that there are so many different website that I can use to boost my GPA.  I could not imagine life without these tools.  It is truly amazing that our parents completed college without the internet.  If I needed to look up everything in a book, it would take exponentially longer to write a research paper or simple homework problems.  One study tool that I noticed nearly everyone used was Quizlet.  This website makes everything so easy.  You can make flashcards, create multiple choice quizzes, short answer quizzes, and this can be easily done on a smart phone.  I also noticed that lots of people used Wolfram Alpha.  Wolfram alpha is one of the most amazing website because you can get help in any subject.  There is also a feature in it where you can pay to see the work done in a problem.  I do not think that I will end up using any of the suggested online study tools because I already have my own favorites.  Finally, I would like to point out how useful YouTube is.  It is definitely an online study tool because there are many videos with tutorials in some of the courses I am taking.

I think that the best practices for communicating and collaborating online with classmates would have to be responding to their blog posts positively.  I also think that first impressions are a huge deal! If you come off the wrong way to someone online, it could result in a very negative way since you most likely never meet face to face with them.  I also think that if you disagree with them you should try and relate to them.

I also think staying organized online is a great way to stay organized in online courses.  Creating many online folders for different online classes is a great way to organize when due dates are and stay organized.  Using spell check is also a very underrated web tool!  Spelling errors look unprofessional and can be easily prevented with the click of one button.  I also think that if you have good grammar, it helps with your first impression immensely.  Organizing your emails with the proper subject line is another great way to stay organized.  This makes finding old emails a breeze.  You don’t have to open every email if you label the subject line properly.  Finally, I would have to say that labelling your files properly helps you stay organized better.  If the files are organized, you can send them faster and the recipient of the files can save them faster!

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