Anyone who is familiar with the Internet will know the sheer magnitude of available learning resources. As opposed to learners of previous generations who have to go all the way to libraries and bookstores just to get a copy of research materials and make use of learning tools, today's generation seems to have a pretty easy time gaining access to learning resources via the Internet. The only work for the student to do is to choose which of these options are legitimate tools for learning. Below are some of the most popular websites and applications on the Internet to aid learning:
· Google. This search engine is probably the most popular tool for finding any kind of information on the Internet. You can practically ask any question by typing “keywords” into the information bar and you will get thousands to even millions of search results. However, this is exactly the reason why you have to figure out the exact way of typing the correct keywords and using Google's features to edit the parameters of your search in order for it to come up with relevant results.
· Wikipedia. For anyone who wants to have a quick view of any sort of information being asked without going through the hassle of choosing between many websites, Wikipedia would be your best bet. It contains almost any topic and the information contained is updated pretty fast too, especially if you are searching a very popular topic. The catch to this is that anyone can edit the entries, regardless of whether they actually know what they are doing or not. It is just like a regular printed encyclopaedia with many volumes and entries, except that it is less reliable and more prone to bias, which is why many universities do not consider entries lifted from Wikipedia as a reliable academic source.
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
The Best Traditional Study Tools for College Students
In today's online world, almost all university and college students are connected to the Internet at one time or another because of the easy access and affordable availability of an Internet connection. So it's not surprising that many studies reveal that online study tools or guides that could be obtained from various Internet websites are used by many students in helping them in studying. But today's generation of university and college students would hardly know the traditional study tools that are not just effective, but it would also not cost them a thing.
I know what I am talking about because during the second semester when I was still a freshman student, I read and followed the traditional study tools and I would swore on how effective they are in helping me in studying and learning. So now I am sharing to everyone about the traditional study tools so that other students would learn how to use them.
The best traditional study tools:
· Concentration – The action of focusing your attention and mental efforts. Concentrating is the primary foundation in which the elements of the other study tools would depend on. As I have previously learned, if you have poor concentration, you would not be able to stay focused on the task that you have to perform such as studying for an examination, researching and writing a coursework, and doing other academic tasks that require your concentration.
· Listening and taking notes – Most of the lessons we learned are obtained through the lectures conducted by our lecturers. Taking down notes are essential during class discussions given by the lecturers because through writing, you are recording the information that comes to you from the verbal discussions.
· Memory enhancement – The information to be memorized comes in two types: the general memorization and verbatim memorization. General memorization identifies information as understanding and retaining general concepts and primary ideas. Verbatim memorization identifies information as specific words, definitions, formulas and sequences.
· Highlighting – Books and reading materials are an important part of classroom learning so that using a highlighter to note down important definitions and terms are important especially if you are reading many pages of materials.
I know what I am talking about because during the second semester when I was still a freshman student, I read and followed the traditional study tools and I would swore on how effective they are in helping me in studying and learning. So now I am sharing to everyone about the traditional study tools so that other students would learn how to use them.
The best traditional study tools:
· Concentration – The action of focusing your attention and mental efforts. Concentrating is the primary foundation in which the elements of the other study tools would depend on. As I have previously learned, if you have poor concentration, you would not be able to stay focused on the task that you have to perform such as studying for an examination, researching and writing a coursework, and doing other academic tasks that require your concentration.
· Listening and taking notes – Most of the lessons we learned are obtained through the lectures conducted by our lecturers. Taking down notes are essential during class discussions given by the lecturers because through writing, you are recording the information that comes to you from the verbal discussions.
· Memory enhancement – The information to be memorized comes in two types: the general memorization and verbatim memorization. General memorization identifies information as understanding and retaining general concepts and primary ideas. Verbatim memorization identifies information as specific words, definitions, formulas and sequences.
· Highlighting – Books and reading materials are an important part of classroom learning so that using a highlighter to note down important definitions and terms are important especially if you are reading many pages of materials.
