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The lesson started out by emphasizing the importance of searching and research. Perhaps, you were to miss something in lecture and your notes were not complete, you would then have to go search for the missing information. It is extremely important to know how to search the Internet effectively. Research is important as well because it is growing on your overall understanding of the topic at hand. On slide 4 it is said that most academic papers in college are argument or inquiry driven. I have struggled with my academic writing in my college career and these tips have been helpful. I also never realized the difference between searching and researching. But on slide 9 it is said that they are two different things that should be handled in different ways. Searching requires regular questions and  typically a right or wrong answer while research requires research questions and there is typically no right answer. There is also source credibility- reliability, quality, and utility. I had never heard of this before and found it interesting because I now can go through my sources and see if they are credible. It is good to go through these steps to ensure you are using the proper sources.

In this weeks module I learned more about the benefits of note-taking and good studying strategies. In the video on slide 6 I learned that good studying strategies make you process information on a deep meaningful  level focusing on comprehension and implications while poor studying strategies focuses on a shallow level which focus on superficial, meaningless information. I also learned more about the benefit of hand writing your notes vs. typing your notes up. I personally think writing my notes down is more effective for me. It is said on slide 8 that typing your notes can lead to mindless transcription. I believe that is true because you are more focused on getting the information down rather than retaining it. We also learned more about organizing your notes electronically and paper-based notes. This was helpful because I do both type my notes and write them on paper. I thought it was a good suggestion to add audio notes to your notes because sometimes I can get confused by the material and if I were to have an audio note I would maybe understand it differently by hearing it rather than by reading it. I also learned the benefit in “Finding my own Resources” because it is up to me to take the initiative to find more resources to enhance my knowledge on subjects.

In this weeks module I learned how important it is to interact with your online readings. On slide 6 they mention how “just because something is on a screen doesn’t mean that you can’t interact with it!” And they are completely right. Sometimes when I am reading something online I do not get as focused on it like I would if it was a physical copy. Some strategies you could use to engage with your online readings include: highlighting important information, create and jot down mnemonic devices, and developing diagrams to support your understandings, and pausing to quiz yourself to test your comprehension and reinforce. I also learned about the risks on multitasking and how if can affect your overall work production. I learned that with my divided attention is it harder to understand and remember the material I am focusing on. With that being said, I am going to try to do my work in a quiet space without any distractions to see how much progress I get done studying. I also learned the benefit of working on one assignment at a time. On slide 19 it is said that going back and forth between tasks slows your comprehension and wastes time.

I learned in this weeks module about procrastination. I did not realize how much I truly do procrastinate until I read this module and found out all the ways I do. I also got a chance to look at why I sometimes procrastinate such as on slide 3 when it talks about maybe not understanding the material or being overwhelmed by commitments. In order to beat procrastination we must find the root of what is causing it to begin with. From now on, I will approach situations where I may procrastinate and sit down and think about what is causing it and then move on forward from there. I learned more about “Getting more out of 24” and how we all get the same 24 hours in the day to be great and accomplish what needs to be done. That looks different in everyones life, however we all still our provided with the same time to do things. There are ways to be productive with your time with various tools to implement when tracking your time such as creating a calendar, breaking down large tasks, and gaining control of your free time.  I also learned about ways to reduce my digital distractions and will start turning off my notifications when I am trying to be productive so I am not tempted to get distracted and can just focus on the task at hand.

Welcome to Erin’s Blog! It’s the second week of the course and I am pushing through to get all my assignments done on time. This week we learned a lot about online communication. Netiquette is very important in online communication. Julie Spira defines netiquette as internet etiquette or how we behave online not just an e-mail like years ago but also on your social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter. It is important to have netiquette so that you are communicating effectively and clearly to your audiences at hand in an appropriate manner. I also learned tips about how to e-mail professors and TA’s in an appropriate manner. I thought that this was heplful because we can sometimes get sidetracked and just e-mail them how we would normally e-mail any of our others peers but we cannot do that in a professional setting. Also, I found out how easy Google Docs is with helping people collaborate ideas for projects and papers. I have used this website but did not know the full extent to which it worked. I will be using Google Docs from now on if I have any groups projects with my peers. Overall, I think this lesson was very helpful in reminding me to always have an appropriates responses and posts in regards to whoever I am communicating with online.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/guides/about-netiquette