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This class has been more of a help than I ever thought it could be. The first thing I want to reflect on is the online resources this class has taught me. I have no idea that there were so many different online line tools. The most interesting to me was the Google Advance search that was something that I had not used before but I know it will be very helpful to me in the future. I find all the online tools this course has gave us were probably the most important for me seeing that I am always on my laptop now I can be more productive with my time with the use of those tools.

Throughout this course I have found out that I have been being very lazy. With this course introducing all these tools that are in place to make being a better student easy it looked bad on my that I was oblivious to them all. I also remember listening to some of the videos throughout the course and found myself being the exact same person they were describing when they talked about bad study habits and bad note taking. That open my eyes almost and let me know that I have not been doing all that I could be.

I think my most meaningful experience was the note taking and study skills modules. I thought of myself as a okay study when it came to those two topics. I soon found out after those modules that I was not. It was so much more that I could have been doing when taking notes and when I was studying. The Google Spread sheet was wonderful. It gave me the opportunity to actually plan out my day and have everything that needed to be done written down and it also reminded me when it needed to be accomplished by. That was very helpful for me because my day was always so miserable with class and basketball practice. I was not doing a good job of managing my time. I would always put things off thinking that I could just do them the next day or that I could just do them later and wait to do everything at the last minute. With the Google Spread sheet it put all that to an end. The reminders would pop up on my phone and allow me to see what needed to be done. To me this was the most meaningful and helpful experience throughout the course.

In the future I plan on using all of these tips from every module because they all were so helpful. I still to this day use the spread sheet for classes and all my other activities. I plan on using the research tips they gave us this week because I have to do a research paper in one of my other classes as a final. I also use the note taking skills because I want to become a better student. I will use this information to so that I can better myself and hopefully pass it on to someone else.

This week’s module was mainly about doing academic researches. It gave us tips on finding good sources for research papers. It also went into detail about finding good creditable sources for research papers. Sources from wikipedia would not be considered good primary sources but they would be good for checking your information. It gives us details on things an source should have if we plan on using it in our research papers like the authors name, credentials of author, and reputation of the publishing company or organization. For this module we also worked on doing citations. When doing any research paper the first thing that should be established is what format you are using and being consistent with thing format throughout your paper. Usually professors prefer MLA or APA. There are many different websites on the internet that can help you when using these formats one the best is Purdue OWL. Finding good sources will help you paper out tremendously because it gives you the best information possible. Another tip is using sources that have been peer reviewed because they are more likely to have good and creditable information. The module also talked about some of the searches we can use to get good information like Google search and Google advance search. These are very helpful tools.

This weeks blog post focuses on online learning strategies. Its shows how to take notes when the professor might use Power Points and other things online. The module gives us tips like using word documents to make an outline of the notes. It also states that if there is a video that we should take the time to copy down the URL and take the dates of when the notes were taken. This module also gives us different methods of taking online or audio notes. I personally use the Cornell Method a lot because it is one that I happen to be familiar with. This module is not only about online note taking it also gives some details into taking lecture notes. The module is also talks about things like podcast which was something that I never really knew anything about. Podcast can also be very help. They give you another opportunity to learn more about somethings you have already taken notes on. With technology growing so much everything and everyone is moving more towards the internet. It is no wonder that professors are doing it to. I love take notes or getting notes offline. I find it to be much easier sometimes especially when the professor outs everything on a power point it makes it easier to go back and catch things that you may not have at first.

This video is a video made for those who want to become better note takers. This video was actually based of some studies that were taken a few years ago. The video basically gives three simple steps. The first step was to not write down facts but instead write down conclusions. The second was use color when taking notes because this allows you to remember your notes visually. The last step is just to review all your notes.

This video gave me some interesting thought about note taking that I have never thought about before. I would have never thought to use color when taking notes. That seems to be a great idea. When I take notes I usually find myself getting bored so when I the color idea would be a very good tip for me to use.

In Module 4 they age us some in very important tips for working online. Reading strategies was the first topic of discussion. They gave us tips for reading “during and after” when doing an online reading. When reading an online article they told us to be sure to highlight the things you think are important. Also it would be a good idea to copy and past those things to a work doc because they can be used for notes later. The also gave us tips for after you are done with the reading like summarize what you have read, stay organized, and maintain your key thoughts.

Also in Module 4 they have gave us information on creative ways to study. They introduced me to things like mind maps, timelines, google flashcards and etc. They talked about the google spreadsheet as well which we have already learned about, but this time they gave us a way to use the spreadsheet to do flashcards. We all can study but is our studying being effective? In this module they gave us different options on ways to take advantage of our studying. When studying, it is important to use minimal text, demonstrate relationships between concepts, and organize thoughts. According to the module they work because they make you use the left and right sides of the brain.

Netiquette is a set of standards related to how people communicate with each other in online settings. Netiquette is important because your words will let others know about you and how you want to be treated. It’s very important when communicating with professors because there is no verbal communication or non-verbal cues. A few examples of netiquette is not using all caps when emailing a professor, not using slang, not using sarcasm, and etc. There are also some pro’s to emailing your professor like just being able to keep in touch with your professor and having it documented through email. Some cons include misunderstanding between the two and sometimes not receiving in time.

This module all so discussed writing effective discussion post. Some tips it gave were use spell check, add formatting, and etc. Also it talked about giving good discussion replies. The main goal of the replies is to build and our communication and comprehension skills. I believe this is very important because it is one of the things our generation lacks because all of the technology.

This Module also included ideas for collaboration. We have already used Google doc and use a Google spreadsheet. These are all tolls that have been put in place to make things a lot easier.