Finish Line

Well, it's time to cross the finish line in my Online Learning Class. I have really enjoyed this class. I learned a lot of things that are definitely going to help me with my future college courses and my career. We covered: the basics of studying, how to stay motivated, taking an online class, plagiarism, various learning styles, writing effectively, creating a blog, note taking, how to research, completing homework, setting goals, time management, how to ace quizzes and exams, essay writing, Shorter University's research resources, writing in APA style, and how to use PowerPoint.

I was able to use this course to refresh myself on many things that I already knew, and learned a lot of new and valuable information also. This course was extremely helpful. I hope you enjoyed my blog and following me on my Online Learning Adventure.
Thanks,
Scott

"Get over the idea that only children should spend their time in study.  Be a student so long as you still have something to learn, and this will mean all your life." 

~Henry L. Doherty~

POWER get to the POINT

I have to admit that I was glad to see that part of my Online Learning class was going to focus on PowerPoint. I like doing PowerPoint projects. I'm able to present my information and be as creative as I want to be with it.  It's fun and I enjoyed showing my 8 year old everything you can do with the program. He didn't really care, but I had fun. Seriously, this is the look he gave me......

I think PowerPoint is genius! That said, I have been forced to sit through some seriously horrible PowerPoint presentations.  I have been tortured with hours of boring slides at work and at school. For this reason, I loved Guy Kawasaki's blog about PowerPoint and the 10/20/30 rule.

He really hit the nail on the head with that one! I couldn't agree with him more. Short, simple and entertaining. Get to the point and make it interesting! I hope I get the chance to meet Mr. Kawasaki someday. I'd like to shake his hand.....and introduce him to some of the executives at my company (a.k.a, The World Champions of Extremely Long and Boring PowerPoint Presentations).

I also found Cherie Kerr's 10 dos and don'ts for presenting with PowerPoint article to be extremely helpful.

Dos and Don'ts of PowerPoint

Literature Research

No matter what class I am taking in college, I will certainly have to be able to effectively do research on the subject.  This week's focusing on how to do literature research, especially how to use Shorter University's online resources, was a big help to me. When you aren't doing research very often, or haven't been in college for a while, it's easy to forget even the basics of doing research.
You have to know what information you need and where to find it.  The internet makes this so much easier now. Don't try to tell my almost 70 year old father that though. He refuses to use a computer. He spent hours last week digging through an encyclopedia trying to identify a turtle for my young son. He finally gave up. We found it on the internet within minutes. And, nobody stole our banking information or our identity the next day. Sorry Dad, but this time, you were wrong!
I learned so much in this lesson about what is available to me through Shorter University and their online resources. I learned how to search the library and browse the various research methods they offer.

Being able to determine what you need to know, where to find it, how to use the numerous resources available, putting everything together and presenting it correctly without plagiarising is no easy task! This lesson definitely helped me with all of these topics. I will be much more prepared for my future classes. I also have to say that I really like the OWL Purdue Online Writing Lab and have used it a lot. There is so much useful information for writing there and it is very user friendly!

APA style

     If you have children you know there is a moment when you first get home from the hospital with your new baby and you suddenly realize that the baby is yours. Forever. You have to figure out everything and it is all completely foreign to you. You are completely overwhelmed. You basically start from scratch and figure it out as you go. And eventually the crazy overwhelmed feeling becomes your normal and everything starts to flow.

That is the same feeling I have about writing in APA style. It's all new to me. There is so much to learn and it feels a little overwhelming. However, I have learned A LOT this week. I never had to use APA formatting before, so I am just starting from scratch. I am working on getting the basic guidelines down.

Creating the reference list is a little complicated. That said, I think if I just focus and keep the basic rules and guidelines handy I can get it right. I'm enjoying the challenge.

So, I'm going to keep studying the guidelines and practicing. Eventually I'll get this APA stuff figured out, just like the parenting stuff. Well, most of it....



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Until then, I think www.apastyle.org/ will be my new best friend.

"Each day learn something new, and just as important, relearn something old." 

~Robert Brault~





Research Essentials



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I believe one of the most important things we can teach ourselves is how to study and learn. It is not possible to know everything. When I first started working for AT&T I felt overwhelmed by all of the information and various systems that I had to use.  After a while I realized that even the best employees and supervisors didn't know ALL of the information. However, the best did know how to find what they needed to know. They knew where to look or who to call. I find that the same theory applies to my college studies.

You have to teach yourself how to learn, study and do research. My lessons this week helped me refresh my skills on doing research online and in a library. It also really helped to go back over basic skills, like the steps in the research process....

The Research Process: A list of ten steps

• STEP 1: Formulate your question
• STEP 2: Get background information
• STEP 3: Refine your search topic
• STEP 4: Consider your resource options
• STEP 5: Select the appropriate tool
• STEP 6: Use the tool
• STEP 7: Locate your materials
• STEP 8: Analyze your materials
• STEP 9: Organize and write
• STEP 10: Compose your bibliography

Or, how to find information in Galileo.......



The Databases

Where the good stuff is...

GALILEO has a searchable databases section.
The Databases section allows you to search:

• Magazines
• Newspapers
• Scholarly journals
• Book chapters
• Conference papers
• Book reviews
• TV and radio transcripts
• Encyclopedias
• Business directories
• Government publications...

...and more from major information providers and publishers.


I learned how to find what I need when I need it, and the easiest way possible to do so. All of the information was helpful, from how to find your way around the library, to how to find your way around the internet.

I also learned about GIL, which I didn't know anything about. 

What is GIL?

A library catalog

GIL stands for GALILEO Interconnected Libraries. The catalogs of the University System of Georgia libraries are called GIL. Each library has its own GIL catalog.
The catalog of a library is where you find out what books, periodicals, government documents, audio-visual materials, maps, and other materials are in that library. Unlike GALILEO, which identifies articles that exist, but may not be available locally, GIL identifies the materials in a particular library.
Coming soon is a "Union Catalog" where you can search multiple libraries at the same time. This will allow you to quickly determine which libraries own an item for which you are searching.

I will definitely be able to apply all of this information to my school studies and work studies.

"Educated people are not those who know everything, but rather those who know where to find, at a moment’s notice, the information they desire."

The Expositor and Current Anecdotes

             



Five Day Study Plan

In my studies this week I learned about how to develop a 5 day study plan. This is a system you can establish for yourself in order to break your studying time into small chunks and use various study strategies in order to make learning easier.


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 I personally think this is a great idea. In fact, I basically already do this for myself. I had to figure this method out the hard way, once I started college years ago and realized that I didn't really know how to study.  I noticed after my first semester that I was going to have to figure out a study system that would break things down into small time periods throughout the week so that I could get everything done. Procrastination and cramming at the last minute DOES NOT WORK!

Using a five day study plan forces me to look at everything I have to accomplish for the week. I know exactly what I have to do and when I have to do it. I don't feel overwhelmed and I can create a plan that works for me. I am able to complete all of my tasks and feel prepared for my exams. Stressing out, leaving everything for the last minute and never feeling prepared just does not work for me. This lesson was a great reminder of that!

If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard,

  just keep putting off doing it. 

~Olin Miller~

Test Taking 101

  Well, this week's lesson in my online learning class is probably one of the most beneficial for me. I'll just go ahead and be honest and put it right out there......I do not like taking tests. In fact, test taking ranks right up there with going to the dentist, if you ask me! It just makes me nervous!

I'm also really not sure why I hate it so much. I usually do well. I always study and I'm always prepared.  I've never had a horrible test taking experience or dental exam! But, every time, no matter what, I tend to get anxious at test time and doubt myself. 

This weeks lesson really helped me to break everything down into easy steps. It gave me a clear-cut plan for how to study and how to prepare myself. I feel like I will be more confident when it comes to test taking now. 

I really liked all of the tips on taking different types of exams (above).  Where was this information when I was in high school?! Sometimes tests are tricky and it's nice to have some test-taking strategies to have up my sleeve if I'm ever stuck.  "An answer in the middle is probably correct, especially if it has more words." Who knew!?

I feel much more relaxed about taking tests! Now if I can just figure out what to do about that dentist thing.........