Keys to Motivation for Online Learning

Motivation is one of the most difficult tasks in college. When it comes to ignoring distractions, getting started on an important task, or staying focused on the material or task at hand. To deal with maintaining motivation throughout the work process an individual must do some of the following things: link the topics to a personal interest, remember bite-size pieces, focus on the impact course has on long-term goals, etc.

It is also a rather great challenge to develop online learning skills. The first very important step is to develop a time-management strategy, or plan out a schedule. The secret is to actually stick to the schedule and follow it. It is also important, as one learns online, to form questions that would be useful to that learning. Online communication or discussions can also enhance one’s learning of any subject. Making connections with fellow students helps broaden what one may think about the topic. Reflection upon the material can help an individual study the information well, as well.

Online Learning Strategies and Skills

One vital skill to learn in college is how to compose a good academic paper. The skill must develop gradually, but there are ways to increase the magnitude of the paper. When sources are being used, source credibility is very important to consider. Also, source reliability, quality, and utility should always be taken into account. When writing a paper, one should always look for the best possible sources to use. This may not include such cites as Wikipedia. Though cites like these are good for general information, it should not be used as a source for it is not credible. Always remember to evaluate credibility criteria when considering usefulness of info found on wikis. When finding good sources, it is important for one to research properly, using keyword searches, category searches, and metasearches. There are multiple ways to make sure that a search on Google is specific using such things as Boolean Logic, using ‘AND’ to add more words to a search or surrounding a specific phrase with quotation marks “”. Utilizing university libraries can help one obtain very reliable sources and sources that are best for that given discipline. Once the most reliable sources are found, it is very important to create a proper bibliography for the list of sources used. Such websites as easybib.com can be used to write each citation in proper notation.

Web-Enhanced Listening and Viewing Strategies Blog Post

One immense struggle in college is learning how to take good notes. In class, one often finds themself day dreaming or distracted by social media or thoughts of other topics. While one may be able to just write down everything that leaves the professor’s mouth, it is difficult to take good notes and for the information to be sinking in at the same time. One trick to take into account is if the professor is going to use a power point, the student can print out the power point before hand to take notes on. If this is not an option, the student can divide their notes into slots for each slide and each topic covered. All notes should outline key points for future studying and reference. When establishing good and detailed notes, one should involve cues, examples, questions, and summaries of the lecture. There are multiple technologies to utilize to get the best notes possible, such as podcasts. Podcasts allow students to pause and rewind information if it has been missed. Lastly, if in lecture the student feels a little lost or did not completely understand what was covered they have complete access to websites that might explain this topic better or in a different way compared to their professor.

Educational Video

This video does not begin by saying what Criminology is, but clears up exactly what Criminology is not. It next covers a broad overview of what it is, including some opinions on the subject. Criminology is the study of the causes of crime, including time, place, and certain people. It is also why society chooses certain acts to be crimes, while others are not. The video covers where it originated and how people originally referred to crimes. He touches upon supernatural reasons for crimes, and then how it evolved to metaphysical reasons, more rational. He points out that criminology is a science. A science with independent and dependent variables: race, age, gender, time of crimes, location, etc. The topic of what makes a crime a crime is fairly interesting. This is spoken of a lot, speaking of harm that is caused by a crime, status of offender or victim, and moral judgments. There are a multitude of other topics covered. I find this lecture given on Criminology extremely fascinating.

Online Learning In College

In college students must learn to find and utilize websites that can benefit them in their academic careers. An individual must early on how to efficiently use the internet and learn how to use them to better their learning and understanding of important topics in any class. An important aspect of learning study habits in college is to properly review the important topics in the syllabi for each class and learn what websites to use to properly study. Getting the most from any website or reading material for class is to remove distractions and to slowly go through the material. Fully absorbing the material is the most important aspect of studying. Summarizing the information in a website to lessen the amount of information to be taken in is almost always a necessity and is always important. A great way to take in information and to recall what is the most important information on the page is to highlight. Highlighting key points or important information helps to organize and take in the material. Another way to remember information from an online source is by creating flashcards or a study sheet summarizing the most important facts and ideas that the online work was centered upon.