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Module 7: Maintaining Motivation Blog

Module 7 is the most beneficial module. I have learned a lot of things throughout my three years of college. However, this module was the truest and touching to me because based on my personal experience, I know for a fact that Interruption time could heavily affect my studies. I used to sit down on one assignment for hours without getting anything down. However, when I tried having a break in the middle, I feel I understand more and I absorb more knowledge into my brain and I would have the ability to study for longer periods of time.

I remember studying for my thermodynamics and engineering exam, I sat down for hours without any stop or even a coffee break and when I took the exam and I did very bad, the information did not really stick inside my brain. However, I tried having breaks every 25 minutes for like 10 minutes, and in those 10 minutes I would try to recap what I understood and I found out that my brain really absorbs more pieces of information and I even understand it easier. In addition, I was able to track my time of studying and set a limit for myself so I would study efficiently.

I would really recommend having an app or some tool to track time and have breaks for your study sessions. It would help you stay away from distractions and helps your brain focus more on the information.

Module 6: Searching and Researching blog

This module was talking about searching and researching strategies. There are a lot of websites that share false information that is opinion based or information that can be wrong but the general public would find interesting so it would just bring more traffic. One of the most common websites is Wikipedia.

Wikipedia has a lot of information and it’s considered to be a big library. However, it’s not true. Wikipedia gives the general public the ability to go on the website and be able to change the information without asking about their identity for example it could be someone without any knowledge about history and doesn’t have a degree in history would go on there and change the information. On the other hand, we can look at websites like google scholar which is a very important website that only shares reliable and trusted resources. In addition, as an Ohio State University student, I have the luxury of being able to access The Ohio State University’s library which is very reliable and has all the information that you can think of.

Based on my personal experience throughout the three years of college, I have found out that there’s always the good, the bad, and the ugly websites. The information and the data that you use for your research have to be reliable with good quality so you need to rely on trusted websites.

Module 5: Web-Enhanced Listening and Viewing strategies blog

In this module, it did a great job explaining and talking about note-taking and how it’s important, different strategies, and how our brain and memory function while we are taking notes. I have learned a great deal from the part about how our brain functions while we are taking notes and I remember myself during my freshman year when I used to suffer during my study, especially before exams. I used to take a lot of notes without any explanation and it was not organized which was the worst thing that could happen to a college student.

I remember during my freshman year, I used to either take a lot of notes without understanding anything or not take any notes at all and still understand the idea but forget about everything the next day. So, I watched a lot of videos about note-taking and it helped me a lot I started taking important notes and important ideas and examples. In addition, writing the big ideas then the small ideas or make like a map which also helped me sometimes especially with classes like history so I would understand the events.

Now, I use my iPad where I have everything in just a small device which includes: books, notes, homework. I found it very useful to use my iPad since I can write down and record the lecture notes from my professor which helped me a lot when I go back to understand or study a concept. I also found it very useful since I don’t have to run to the library to print out the lecture notes. Now, I just upload the lecture slides on the iPad and write on it which is very organized and clean.

I really recommend you find a way that would suit your needs and the type of classes that you’re taking. Also, remember having small and well-organized notes with examples would help a lot more than writing down every single word the that professor is saying without fully understanding the concepts.

Modulus 4: Web-Enhanced Reading and Study Strategies

Module 4 well explained the brain as a whole and how it functions and how different parts function during studying or like when I am trying to memorize anything important.

I believe slide 13 “making the most of the memory” including the video should be explained to all the people because it did a great job explaining the biology of our brain.

One of the useful strategies that I learned was trying to remember some information from our brain. Every now and then I would forget some stuff which I would like to improve. Also, I have been finding it really difficult trying to remember some words from my other language. I usually replace my words from Arabic to English and I would have to ask my siblings to help me remember them.

One of the examples that I started using was to write down important information by using the information after each chapter or lecture. I also started memorizing things for my history class as if it was a song and I actually remember it.

A great idea to use and put into practice make sure you break down your chapter and make sure you write down important information after each task and write down questions that I don’t understand, then after finishing the chapter, I would try to solve these questions.

There are a lot of methods that researchers and scientists have found that help us to boost our memory. Also, math and science classes would require a certain method to help memorize the information and for English and history require another method to memorize the information. Trying different methods would help you study efficiently and save time.

Module 3: Efficiency in the Digital age

Module 3 showed very important tips to help overcome procrastination which is a huge problem that I, myself, and other college students especially during the modern era since we all connect through social media. Module 3 opened my mind about having the idea of the ultimate goal is the one that I should be working on. For example, I need to raise my GPA which is my ultimate goal so I would need to get good grades which are immediate desires.

A supportive environment is a huge key to overcome procrastination. People around me might distract me from the work that I am working on which could be homework or working on a project. Having people with the same mindset and the same mentality with the same goal would help support me as a person and help motivate me to achieve my goals.

In addition, studying for long hours straight would not help at all. In fact, you would get headache and you won’t be able to connect the dots and click it in your mind because your mind would be busy trying to overcome the boredness state that you are in. So, taking a break would help a lot. Also, make sure you at least try to start working on your assignment early and make sure you study smarter not harder. Make sure you focus on big ideas and then go to small ideas. These strategies I believe would help you achieve you ultimate goal.

Module 2: Communicationg and Collaborating

I believe that this modulus has great potential in teaching online communication and collaborating with others efficiently. It showed the Netiquette which means showing etiquette but online instead of being in person. The ability to learn to communicate online is very helpful for work and schools since technology would be controlling everything in the future.

There is one person that I always look up to who is Elon Musk, I remember him saying that loves receiving emails and reading them and responding back. This is a great role model because he always on top of things and doesn’t leave people without getting a response even though he is a billionaire and he is busy.

One of the examples of online communication is making my Handshake profile looking professional and up to date. I have made it look very professional so other employers would take me seriously and consider me a strong and professional candidate.

One of the things that I have learned from this module was the importance of security and privacy. I usually don’t have any password on my phone or my computer and I share files with my teammates whenever we are working on a project through google docs or drive in general.

I would absolutely recommend sharing your files with otherS using a secure platform or app. I would also recommend having a professional profile on handshake, indeed, and glassdoor. Also, be aware of what you post on social media because it’s very important and employers always look at it. I would recommend keeping it casual while still being professional online.