As my final blog post, I would like to wrap up with motivation and an app called Pocket Points. While it seemed ineffective at first, I have learned how to solely rely on getting the points for not being on my phone even though they have no actual value at this point in time. The app rewards users for not using their phones while driving or in a classroom. I learned (after six hours) that one has to be on a campus in order to get anything out of the classroom experience. However, the resource is still interesting to use when on a campus because it gives those points. I have asked my family to help encourage me and set up a point system for me at school. They agreed and now I get little breaks from babysitting or get out of chores because of this resource. I see it as a win win. This module was not as in depth as some of the others, but it was still worth reviewing. I feel as if motivation was something that had to be achieved inside before this lesson. Now I know that there are many things I can do outside my comfort zone that can help me stay on task. I encourage other students to review this app if they are n a school or on campus.

Welcome back! This week we went over how to correctly identify resources that help with research and just basic searching. It is important to note that searching has a finite answer whereas researching requires some digging and additional effort. A cite must be reliable, have good quality, and easily operated in order to be considered a good resource for either searching or researching. For researching, it is always important to fact check and cross reference sources so that information is as accurate as possible before drawing conclusions. The sites must also have information that is easily useable such as little to no ads (these can show that false information was put out just to make those sites look good) or the information is free as a public resource. These both show the best interest of the viewer in mind. The site should be elaborative when giving information. It should not be sketchy with a one sentence answer (like a magic 8-ball) and should include more on the topic that you have searched or were researching. Sites can be seen as more reliable when multiple resources to draw their own conclusions are listed below. This can also help with building ones own bibliography at the end of a paper. In the future, I plan on making sure that resources are not privately owned before putting more credit into then than they are worth.

There are many things before this week that I had failed to consider. One such idea is researching outside the course to find materials that will help farther my studies when I get stuck. While much of my time has been focused on ending my procrastination, I felt as if the resources discussed this week just could not be put off until the last moment. I decided to research more into eating disorders this week because it ties into two of my other courses. The results on my last text just from going above and beyond outside class showed that it was worth the time spent. I can now communicate effectively with both professors about my views on these disorders. The best advice I can give fellow students is to find videos that you will love while also finding them on the topic you need. Such as, I knew that Hank Green could make any scientific description interesting so I found  a few videos to help me out this week. I am excited to see how far this learning resource can take me. We also discussed note taking this week, but unfortunately, my notes were about the same as the examples given. It is still a positive to learn new note taking strategies still!

As we wrap up and reflect on this past week, I would like to introduce to you so many websites that you should be using, but also letting them help you. My favorite site of this course module has been bubbl.us. It is a life saver for anyone who cannot seem to keep their thoughts straight and just want a place to connect every dot possible. I swear I can get lost studying on this site (in a good way). I already used it once to study for my Feministic Approach on Addiction course and it made me realize where exactly I can expect the rest of the course to go. It also simplified some of the more confusing articles for me. I plan on coming back to this site as much as possible in the future. To fellow students who cannot think about just one thing at a time and want to make studying more interesting, try out this site. If you decide that you need a different site, then check out some of these: https://collegeinfogeek.com/20-useful-websites-for-students/ ! This site is composed of twenty different sites aimed at college individuals which I believe will help anyone tremulously. If you have extra cash, consider setting aside a fund to buy the premium of some of these sites, otherwise, they still are very helpful!

So as you have probably guessed from the title, this is the first blog post of six in a course designed to help Ohio State students learn more about the skills they need to survive. This week, we went over creating blog post (I know, I’m already so amazing at it) and working a little bit with Google Spreadsheets. I personally have had a lot of experience with spreadsheets such as the google platform and excel, but this week I also realized that it helps to read all directions before working on an assignment. This is because the assignment requires students to labels hours in the A column in half hour increments. I did it all by hand before going back and trying it how they explained (YouTube link posted below) and would have saved so much time. I always wondered why teachers and professors would spend so much time writing directions. If you do not understand how to work a site, please try to use it before you need it heavily in a course *ahem chem* so that you have less stress. I think this course is very effective in forcing people who are stubborn to admit that they do not know what they are actually doing so please follow this blog for other free tips at OSU!