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This module had a lot of very good lessons in it. The one that I believe to be the most important is the lesson to take breaks. I know that many of my friends believe that the best way to study is to do it for long periods of time, completely uninterrupted. However, as was shown in this lesson, studying without breaks like that is actually detrimental to your learning. I take a five minute break every half an hour of studying. I find that this helps me maintain comprehension of the material and keeps me better focused on my current tasks.

Something that was mentioned in this module that I really need to work on is my stress management. I often find myself getting overwhelmed by the stress of school. It’s an issue I’ve been dealing with since junior year of high school. I suppose I should look into services offered by the school to help with my stress management. I will also look into meditation and relaxation techniques. These may be able to help me relax and not have to worry and stress out so much. I know meditation has worked for some of my friends and I would also encourage anyone who has issues with stress to look into meditation techniques.

I think that the most important takeaway from this module is that Wikipedia is not the be all and end all of research. As it says on slide seventeen, Wikipedia is a great source for background information and preliminary research. However, it should not be used as a source for any academic paper. That is a lesson that I think more people should really take in, I know some people in my English class would do well to learn this lesson.

Something from this module that I have already put into practice is checking the reliability of the sources. It is very important to check that all aspects of the source are credible. I am always careful to research the authors of the sources I use. You should throw out any sources where the author does not have the proper credentials for that kind of writing.

In the future, I will be sure to use Boolean logic to perform more efficient research. This was not something I had heard of before and it seems like it will be incredibly useful. I would encourage everyone to look into this method of searching. It helps narrow your searches and get to the sources that you are really looking for.

The most useful thing that I learned in this module was discussed very early on in it, it has to do with active reading. The idea that I found very important was to use the same strategies that you would use when reading a physical textbook. Just because you are reading something on a computer does mean you need to treat it any differently than a physical book. Therefore, whatever tools you use for your normal readings, just take those and apply them in this same situation. It isn’t really as different as it seems.

For helping with my memory, I always find ways to apply what I am learning in my life as soon as I can. When I learn new models in economics, I try to analyze current economic conditions using them. This helps the information stick in my head. I also like to use flashcards. These help me test my understanding of any topic that I am working on.

Slide 17 of this module was warning against multitasking. I think that this is an important lesson to always keep in mind. Many people multitask everyday. It is how many people complete all of their work. However, this tends to lead to more lackluster work. If you focus more intently on each individual assignment, then you will produce better results. But that’s just my take on this.

I think that the most useful bit of information in this module was the idea of breaking up large tasks into smaller ones. I feel like this makes things more manageable, and is then easier to focus on and complete. This is an idea that I would strongly encourage everyone to incorporate into their study plans.

I already engage in blocking distractions from my phone. Before I begin my schoolwork, I always turn my phone to do not disturb mode. This blocks many distractions from reaching me. This helps me focus more on my work, but there are still many other sources of distractions that are able to reach me. As the module says, I should look into creating a supportive environment. That would help to further limit distractions. This will help me to focus more on my work and accomplish far more in a period of time.

I definitely believe that you should turn off phone notifications before doing work. I can say that it has helped me greatly, and it is a good start to ridding yourself of distractions. From there, you can build off of that and get into other ways to remove distractions. Just start somewhere, and then you can figure everything else out.

Welcome to u.osu.edu. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!

To be honest, I’m not really sure how to begin this blog post. Seeing as it is the first one that I am writing (I don’t think the one titled “Hello World!” counts), I feel that some sort of introduction is in order. However, I have very little time so I will simply jump straight into this post and leave everyone reading this in a state of suspense. I can always make an introduction later. Anyway, this module was on the methods of communicating and collaborating online. I was interested when I was reading the presentation to discover that I already did some of the things that it said to do. For example, I write online posts the same way that I would speak them in a face to face presentation. I am sure that was apparent from how this post began. I found it pretty cool that Adam Neumann agreed with me on that point, that’s from slide number six by the way. I may not really know who Adam Neumann is, but he seems like a pretty cool guy.  I think that this is a very important piece of advice to give to people. Just act like you are having a conversation with someone that is right in front of you. This will give you a different perspective on how to communicate with them. I also believe that the first tip given in the video on slide fifteen is something to always consider. Do not just assume that someone is being lazy, they simply may not understand the system you are using. It is imperative that you always make sure to explain how everything will be done so you can prevent this issue. Once you have done that, well then you can start figuring out who is actually being lazy.