We have come to the end of the semester thus the end of this online learning strategies class. I find it ironic that this is one of the last classes I am taking in my college career. It definitely should have been one of my first. However the internet was not in is current state when I started college, it has come along way. I would recommend this class to new and current students. It has provided me with insight on how technology and the tools associated can help a student’s success in a college. Technology can be a study aid and a resource from which to study. The internet brings together multiple sets of data which can help you to understand the topic from many view points. Scholarly, peer, documented research, off the cuff thoughts, and even speculation.  Technology gives you the opportunity to not just repeat material but to understand thoroughly concepts and meanings. There are numerous tools to aid in learning. Not only books and papers written on subjects, but also videos and tutorials that give other vantage points of material. There are also online classes and education that will help to understand what material faces them. The information is all at your fingertips. You can scratch the surface of some things and others never find the end of the rabbit hole. The use of technology will help a student study more efficiently and more specifically instead of being all over the place flooded with thoughts. I have learned many things about myself in this course that deal with my psyche more so than technology. There are and have always been many tools available to those who want to succeed in school. Libraries, study groups, tutors, extra time with professors, and now technology which puts things right in front of you. I have learned that it doesn’t matter what’s available if you don’t utilize what has been offered to you. I have my problems with procrastination and not planning efficiently. Through this course I figured out a little more why I suffer from these issues and how to work on getting past them. Setting attainable goals and managing my time to achieve those goals is going to be a great help to me. Using technology will help me to keep track of my progress and organize the time I have available  to complete what is on my agenda. This making my issues with not staying out in front of my work a non issue. The most meaningful experience for me was the generality of the course itself and specifically the classes and video tutorials that come with a wide range studies available. Learning about technology and how it can benefit you whether studying scholastically, recreation ally or for the workplace. This is definitely not the days of encyclopedia Britannica’s in a stuffy library. This is lightning fast age of information on demand. So at this juncture it is more about being able to manage information rather than to have a huge capacity of knowledge locked away. Knowing how to access and decipher the endless bounds of information is the new intelligence in my opinion, and those large firms who focus on data research. In the future I plan to utilize the tools that are out there to help me succeed and excel. I will directly use tools such as Google drive to organize my schedules, tasks, and share ideas with colleagues.  The video tutorials of just about any subject have already come in handy for common fixes and school work help. I am going to use teaching tools such as Kahn Academy to help teach my mother the basics of computing and utilizing the internet for accomplishing goals she may have. Creating tools for her church to keep track of upcoming events, auditing, sharing information, and organizing. I feel I have learned valuable source of information but have also just scratched the surface. I will continues to take advantage of what technology has to offer in organizing and cataloging information for school and life uses.

This weeks lesson was on searching the web for information and correctly citing articles and books for reference. I consider myself a rather savy web user and figured I knew how to find information on the web. I found the information on refining searches very helpful. I did not know that there were advanced searches, scholar searches, and specifically searching places for specific information. The web will give you millions of results on any topic but these different strategies give you the ability to refine your search to a few hundred results. This makes your time on the web much more useful and efficient. I will definitely utilize these techniques in the future.

One of the biggest problems I have had with my scholastic papers was the correct citation of sources of information. The information shared in the lesson is a relief to my previous issues with citation. The library gives multiple types of citation formats that are easily accessible. Whether APA, MLA, Chicago, or Harvard they are there for your use. You have the ability to copy and paste them directly from the cite to your paper. This takes the guess work out of correctly citing your work. The less one has to worry about the more you can focus on the content and  execution of your paper.

I can remember when people went door to door selling libraries of of encyclopedias to families with students soon to be scholars. This is where information came from for a very long time. As well at the more expansive library. Now we have the internet. It is like having and endless amount of knowledge at your finger tips and all you have to do is ask it a question, any question. One of the most used tools on the internet to me is youtube for its video enhanced presentation. I have always found it better to look at some one doing something than to just read the instructions. I use youtube for any number of tutorials on music, to cooking, to changing brakes on a car I may not be familiar with. There is such a vast wealth of knowledge there that is has become second nature to go there as a first and sometimes last resource. The specific use of youtube to further scholastic information is a no brainier. I did enjoy finding out the these ivy league professors are putting their expensive lectures online to be viewed. I will definitely begin to dive into some of the furthest reaches of my imagination and use their videos for clarification. Taking advantage of the information these scholars have to offer almost priceless.

Non Verbal communication

Lecture on non verbal communication

This is a video about non verbal communication and how we use it whether we know it or not. The lecturer summarizes that we all use keys or clues to decode the environment that is around us and non verbal communication is a tool that can aid in that process. Non verbal communication includes things like touch. The way some one speaks, tones and inflections. Also the connection one may have when speaking to you, are they looking at you, looking away, paying attention? Some people are just better observers than others but one can enhance theirs by using the clues that come from non verbal communication.

The lecture explained to me more of what non verbal communication includes and how they are not just body language. They can include touch, vocals, and optics. The lecturer’s examples of looking different places other than the audience. Also with the change in pitch and different tones in her voices further emphasized the points. The video also helped me to understand how one can enhance their mastery of their environment through use nonverbal communication.

One of the most important if not the most important tools needs when getting form point A to point B is a map. This map will guide you directly to where you are attempting to go with little to no worries. I have come across a tool called a mind map. This lets you visualize how to get to a particular goal. You start off with a subject, in a bubble. There are sub bubbles to accompany the main subject, things to help accomplish the main goal or subject. This technique allows one to think through all aspects of a goal, both visually and conceptually. The bubble will allow you to dive endlessly into the subject and sub bubbles that accompany the main subject. This is a handy technique that can be applied to any subject, goal, and problem. It can readily applied to a student looking to plan out a semester, project, or scholastic career. It would also be helpful in mapping out ones current life as compared to where they may want to be in 5 years. This would include things such as higher education, job, family, transportation, living situation, and countless other variables that would help to accomplish where you would like to be.  As I said earlier, Mind Mapping is a great tool in creating  a path to any destination you may want to get to.

I started my collegiate career at The Ohio State University in 1992. This was before the integration of technology, the world wide web and email. We did have a basic campus based email system called Eudora. This was the very beginning of what has now evolved into Carmen and Buckeye Link. I have since returned to college to find a completely different technological atmosphere, for the better.

Communicating with professors and having the ability to reference grades, financial aid, and administrative communication has greatly improved the college experience here at Ohio State. I can remember not being able to communicate directly or indirectly with professors for help on topics, keeping them informed of life situations and discussing information on exams. The advent of Carmen greatly increases the communication between student, teacher, and administration. In turn this increases the students success rate in college. Information is always helpful in life situations. If a student takes advantage of the opportunities that are now provided there is great likelihood of scholastic success.

The new advents of Carmen, buckeye link and our webmail have made the university experience much smoother. Technology has increased the success rate of students, ended the never ending lines dealing with financial aid, and created a much smaller environment within one of the largest schools in the country.

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