Posts

Module 7 Blog Post

I believe that this module has been one of the most beneficial for students so far. The apps suggested for blocking out distractions are quite useful. I personally like Freedom (https://freedom.to/). I think that creating a workspace that is conducive to learning is something that can sometimes be overlooked by students, especially while doing all your work at home and online. Apps like Freedom make this much easier by allowing you to block out distractions. This is a big problem I have, becasue when doing my work at home, I do all my work on the same machine that I use to play video games with friends. This make it difficult to avoid distractions and I thought this unit did a good job providing some strategies for creating a place where I can focus on my schoolwork. Anotyher piece of information from this module that I found to be useful was that I should be taking breaks when studying. Normally when I study, I will do it in blocks where I do all my work. If I do take a break its becasue of some distraction. This module suggests scheduling breaks during your study time so you can refresh yourself and retain more of the information from when you study. I will try to do this in the future rather than taking random breaks when I get bored of what I’m doing.

Module 6 Post

The most important information present in this module is the information about searching for scholarly articles. I have already taken a college writing 1 & 2 course while I was in high school, so I am pretty familiar with how to write in a college setting however I have always struggled to find good sources. The sources I would usually use in my papers were usually .com websites with a few .org websites thrown in. I was unaware of google scholar but it is a resource I will make sure to use in the future when writing academic papers (https://youtu.be/dc-vKk205c8). I also really like the criteria to judge whether or not a source is trustworthy. I used to try to get .edu or .gov websites if I wanted a really credible source. Google scholar offers a variety of different types of sources which includes relevant primary sources and greater access to books than a traditional google search offers. This is very helpful for trying to appear credible in your academic writings. Searching for scholarly article at the university library is also a very helpful way to gather credible sources for an academic assignment. This is something I did for my History final paper last semester. It is a little more difficult than using google but it still delivers good and credible results.

Module 5 Blog Post

The note taking section of this module is what I found to be most useful. I usually am a transcriber when I take notes in class. I can usually keep up with what the professor is saying but when reviewing my notes they are often sloppily written and poorly organized. My notes also tended to be a wall of text, so it was difficult to locate the main points I was looking few when reviewing for a test or exam. I have previously taken notes using the Cornell Method (https://youtu.be/Yc5qyMTjO3k) for assignments in high school but I thought that it would be to difficult to do as the professor is speaking to try to formulate my own thoughts and write them before he gets to the next point. I have never actually tried to use it in lecture but I probably will attempt after watching the video. It seems like it would be much easier to follow when reviewing my notes. It also would help me to further become an active listener. I was mostly transcribing my notes previously so I was not taking a really active role in digesting the information I was hearing. Using the Cornell method forces you to engage with the material before writing it down.

Module 4 Blog Post

The most useful thing that I learned in this module was the lesson about making the most out of memory. Sometimes when I go to class and take notes that will be the last I see of those notes until I decide to study for the test. This video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwOBQsjClo0&feature=youtu.be) helped me to better understand why I should be reviewing my material much more often. If I am not constantly exposed to material then I will not encode it, meaning that I may lose that information. In order to ensure success in the future, it would be wise for me to being to study my notes at least twice a week in an effort to encode the information so that I can recall it when I take a test.

Another important bit of information I found i the module was that multitasking severely hampers one’s ability to learn. I feel like when I do my work I will usually have music or TV on in the background. I feel like this may be one of my main contribute to the time it takes me to do assignments. I also frequently attempt to do homework for several classes at once. This likely slows my overall work because my attention is divided. Despite the fact that I’m doing more assignments I am most likely ending up less productive in the end. In the future, I will certainly think twice before trying to divide my attention between several things when doing an assignment.

Module 3 Blog Post

The most useful thing I learned during this module is that I have to create a more supportive work environment for myself. I feel like I frequently do my work in an environment that is fulled with distractions. I do most of my work on the same machine that I play video games on. While I do my work I still get notifications on my computer from people wanting to play video games. This contributes massively to the distractions that I deal with while doing my work. In order to mitigate this I will install programs such as Freedom to prevent notifications to appear on my screen that distract me. I will also inform my siblings when I plan to do my school work. When living in the dorms it was much easier to find a quiet place to work but with my siblings running around the house causing a ruckus it is much more difficult. An idea from this module that I could put into practice in the future is tracking my time more. Tracking my time this week has opened my eyes to the amount of time I spend on sleep and leisure. If I continue to track my time spent on non-productive activities, I feel I can guilt trip myself into getting more work done.

 

https://freedom.to/

Module 2 Blog Post

One of the most important things taught in this module was the concept of Netiquette. When communicating in an online space, it is easy for people to forget that their readers may not be able to interpret certain messages that they as the author are trying to convey. Teaching Netiquette to people helps to create a workspace where everyone is on the same page so to speak. This may allow for easier collaboration in online spaces for students and could help to prevent any misunderstandings that could take place without a standard of communication. Streamiling communication is important for group work which could be made especially difficult if it is an entirely online class.

Another helpful piece of advise from this section was the Email section. Teaching students how to properly use email is important and I feel like it should be given a higher priority than it currently is. I find it surprising that I was not taught how to properly write an email during my time in high school. As our world continues to move towards digital means of communication, it will be important for people to be able to effectively communicate using methods such as email in a professional way. I will put the lessons taught by this module to use when emailing professors in the future.