(Picture Link: https://www.google.com/search?q=online+courses&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjZ9fi1l5XmAhVrkeAKHS1nBi8Q_AUoAnoECBEQBA&biw=843&bih=497#imgrc=ky7p4JlCuMlaRM)
I have experienced a lot of trouble with reading and note-taking online. The most difficult part of online classes for me was figuring out the best way to take notes and comprehend online readings. I found myself very lost in notes that I’m taking. It was bothersome to me that I spent so much time organizing and typing up notes on Google Docs just to not retain any of the information. Like Sarah, I experience eye strain while staring at a computer for long. In addition to that, I get migraines from it.
Throughout reading a lengthy article online, I tend to lose focus and my eyes feel strained. While reading this week’s readings, I learned that as we scroll further down the page, we can often lose out place, as time passes our eyes lose focus on the materials (Watkins, 2004). A small helpful solution I found was to turn on night mode on my device, which creates warmer tones for the screen display.
To get productive notes based on readings I used active note-taking. This is helpful for me to take notes on only what is important. I find myself to be a copy-machine sometimes, so because of this, I have changed my note-taking style. It is ineffective for me to write down everything I hear. I still would like to incorporate other abbreviations to further improve my note-taking and reading skills. If I used this, I feel like I would have even shorter and to the point notes about readings.
While doing online readings, I noticed that writing down important facts that will help me study is very helpful. To further improve my note-taking and studying I will make an outline of these important facts on paper. While putting these on paper, I feel like I would prevent eye strain and migraines while studying the most important information. Personally studying hard copy is more effective for me so this should decrease the amount of screen time and increase my proficiency in online reading and note-taking.