Month: September 2019

Online reading and note taking can be hard. When it is done without planning it can cause a system that has the worst of all worlds. You have some notes and books in hard copy, the notes may be well taken, but it can be time consuming to create a digital format. Online note taking and reading may not always provide the same flexibility as using a hard copy.   I’ve come up with a few solutions- Some are things I have learned over time and a few others I learned in class this week.

Reading Online: Choose your technology and be consistent.

• Apple Books- I can upload PDFs of articles into Apple Books, it is available on both my phone and tablet, and many of the textbooks are available in a digital format. I can take notes right on the material and I can search the text for key words. That has fundamentally changed how I study. If the material isn’t available in Apple Books or I am working from my laptop/desktop, then I use PDFs.
• PDFs- PDFs have much of the same functionality as Apple Books, but are more widely used. Almost any format can be converted into PDF and you can take notes for free. Most of the articles that are shared in an academic setting are done so via PDF.

Online Note Taking: Having a notebook or legal pad with me for notes, lists, etc. is something I have done every day for school for the last 10-15 years. My habits are deeply ingrained.  What I find most difficult about using online note taking is that I don’t have the freedom to take notes like I want to. I tend to use the full page as a blank canvas. I draw boxes and arrows; I don’t take notes in a linear fashion. Most of the online tools haven’t allowed me to do that. I found some success taking notes directly on my reading(referenced above), but it isn’t perfect. Below are a couple pieces of technology that have helped others overcome online note taking challenges.

• Notability- This is an app and allows the note taker to write notes with an Apple pen or stylus. If you’re like me and like to draw boxes and arrows this may be the tool for you.
• One Note- This is Microsoft’s note taking application. I don’t love it, but it is used by may organizations. If you are developing online note taking skills, I recommend becoming proficient in One Note because it is so widely used.

Bringing it all together: I have been able to learn most effectively when combining resources and using multiple screens. Below you’ll find a picture of my online learning set up. I use my tablet to play videos, for readings if I am mobile, or readings if I won’t need to take notes. I use one of my computer screens for note taking, paper writing, or to follow along with step-by step instructions.

Further Reading

• Watkins, R. (2004). Online Readings: Gaining the Most from What You Read. In G. M. Piskurich (Ed.), Getting the most from online learning: A learner’s guide (pp. 93-110). San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons.

Goal setting helps set your priorities as you are embarking on a new project. In this post I’ll share one of the strategies for setting goals, but first want to talk about measures. A measure is a way for you to quantify your progress. Like the word says- It’s how you’re going to measure your progress.

Establishing Measures

An organization called the Institute for Healthcare Improvement(IHI) has some wonderful resources on measures. What I am going to share here is taken from their work. I’ll share the pages and videos along the way in case you want to learn more.

First there are three types of measures

• Outcome- These are your end result measures. What you ultimately want to accomplish. An example, Let’s say you want to improve your grade in a course from a 85% to a 90%. Your goal would be to increase your percentage in the class by 5%. That is an outcome measure.
• Process- These are measures that help improve your process. The process should help achieve your outcome measures. Continuing from the example above, a process measure would be to increase the amount of time you are spending doing class reading each week because increasing reading will help raise your grade. The goal could be stated as- I want to increase the number of hours I read per week from two to four.
• Balancing- Measures that make sure one part of the system isn’t hurting other parts and making it more difficult to reach your outcome measures. For example, does increasing reading time cause you to have to spend less time writing the papers for the week and then result in lower scores?

IHI has a lot of free tools to help

• Establishing Measure
• Tips for Effective Measures

 

SMART Goals

SMART is a way for you to make sure that you’re writing goals that will help you meet your ultimate objective. Each letter stands for a different aspect of writing a successful goal.

S- Specific – How will you know what you have done worked?  Set an observable measure that will let you know if the change you are making is working.

M- Measurable- Some is not a number. You could set a quantity goal like a specific number or percent or a quality goal like reducing the number of grammatical errors in your papers.

A- Achievable- If you can’t see a path to victory, then you’re not setting the correct goal. Goals are meant to push you, but if it is unreasonable, then they can be discouraging.

R- Relevant- Is the goal you’re setting going to help you reach your desired outcome? It should.

T- Time bound- Soon is not a time. Specific time frame or date when it needs to be completed.

 

In many industries remotely working is becoming more popular and even if you work in brick and mortar office everyday you’re more likely to connect with people in other cities, states, or countries than ever before. The same is true for education. More classes are offered exclusively online, more complete programs are offered exclusively online, and it is important that we are equipped with the tools to be successful. In, Keys to Online Success I’ve learned

• Be deliberate about setting goals, norms, and expectations: Don’t let things just happen. When starting any new project or class take time to define success, identify the tools you will need to be successful, develop a schedule for when you will take action, and set expectations. Throughout the semester we have touched on many topics and most of them include this as a part of the strategy.
• Free online tools exist for most tasks: Each week we study a new topic and part of our study is to learn what technologies exist to facilitate online learning. I’ve listed a few below, but the most important point is that there is no magic formula for finding technologies to help. There are lots of ways to find tools the work like asking your co-workers or searching online. If you need to do something online chances are their is a tool to help you do it.
  • Scheduling Online- Trello(pictured below)- Trello is an online “to-do” list and calendar. The basics are free.

• • Digital Note Taking- I did a whole post about this that you can find here (Tips for Paperless Reading and Note Taking). I like Notability, which is an app that allows you to take notes on your devices. The app costs $11.99 on Apple devices.
  • Online Scheduling and Collaboration- My favorites? Adobe Connect is top notch, but expensive. For video/audio calls and screen sharing I recommend Zoom. Zoom is free for two person meetings and you can meet with 3 or more people for 40 minutes on the free account. If you want to go paid you can do so for just $15 a month. I’ve used both. Connect is better, but Zoom is close enough. Scheduling? Use Doodle. Free, easy to learn, and no sign in required for people to offer their availability. You can also use the plug ins for online tools like Slack.
• Our challenge isn’t connecting to information, it’s identifying accurate information: Pick a term, any term, and search in Google. I just tried searching for the composer Antonín Dvořák. I received more than 30 million results in less than two seconds. How do you find what you need, when you need it? First, some tips on creating a search to help you get the results you need, 10 Tips for smarter, more efficient internet searching How do you know if a source is valid? Below is a video we used in class with lots of tips. Think critically about your sources, look up the authors to see if they are experts, and if it looks sketchy, then find something else.

 

This is just a start, but are key points in becoming a successful online worker and learner. Be deliberate, find tools to make your experience easier, and evaluate your sources.