ESLTECH 2011 introduces important learning strategies and technologies to lead students to successful online learning experiences and academic success. This class helped students like me to achieve success in my college courses by giving tips on how to manage my time by utilizing the scheduler app to schedule study tasks that I had to get done each week. There was also other useful tools to help manage my time, which was the use of the Trello website which allows people to plan tasks ahead of time for each week, month, semester, etc. This was very useful as well as the use of setting SMART goals to help me set goals for upcoming school and work tasks that needed to get done as well. This course also helped students like me to implement the strategic note taking and studying tips that we’ve learned in the readings and to find reliable resources and how to search for the best primary resource when writing a research paper or to write a persuasive and argumentative paper.
1) Time Management/ Setting Smart Goals
Time management and setting SMART goals were two of several things that I’ve taken away from this online course. I learned that setting SMART goals and time management go hand in hand with one another which we’ve seen with the use of the scheduler app. This app allowed me and many students to set SMART goals and to schedule our goal tasks everyday each week which was a good way for me to manage my time well. According to the “SMART goals help you achieve success” article Written by Chastain is that S.M.A.R.T is an acronym that stands for having goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. When setting SMART goals for this class, I made sure my goals followed the SMART goal criteria to ensure that I was able to meet my goals successfully when scheduling them for good time management skills.
2)Strategic Note taking and Studying Tips
Taking good notes and studying was what I also took away from taking this online course. I learned that implementing effective note-taking procedures will allow for efficient and productive studying habits. One good strategy of note-taking is writing down common types of abbreviations such as acronyms (CBA = cost-benefit analysis), writing down the first letter to represent words ( P = psychology), writing down shortened words (reg= registration), and writing down symbols (1<2 showing that < means less than). One method I found useful for studying was the Cornell Method which uses 5 steps in the note taking process to help you retain information. It uses recording notes, creating questions, recitation, reflection, and review to engage students in the learning process of a material.
3)Finding Reliable Resources
Finding reliable resources was what I also took away from taking this online class. This is an important topic in college because a lot of college courses requires students to write research papers or papers in general in which they’d have to cite reliable resources in their list of references. I learned that reliable resources are journal articles, academic databases, scholarly/peer-reviewed articles or books which has no bias and provides a thorough, well-reasoned theory, argument, discussion, etc. based on strong evidence. In this class we had to find a reliable resource that backed up our belief on whether or not students learn best when they are taught through their preferred learning style, which I enjoyed doing.