Study Skills Connected: Using Technology to Support Your Studies

203 Pages·2012·7.708 MB·English

by  Stella Cottrell

Study Skills Connected
Using Technology to Support Your Studies
Stella Cottrell and Neil Morris
Study Skills Connected
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www.skills4study.com – the leading study skills website
Palgrave Study Skills
Other titles in this series by Stella Cottrell The International Student Handbook
Critical ThinkingSkills (2ndedn) IT Skills for Successful Study
The Exam Skills Handbook(2dedn) The Mature Student’s Guide to Writing(3rd edn)
The Palgrave StudentPlanner The Mature Student’s Handbook
Skills for Success(2ndedn) Practical Criticism
Study Skills Connected Presentation Skills for Students(2ndedn)
The Study Skills Handbook(3rd edn) The Principlesof WritinginPsychology
Teaching Study Skills and SupportingLearning Professional writing(2ndedn)
You2Uni Researching Online
Skills for Success(2ndedn)
Business Degree Success The Student’s Guideto Writing(3rd edn)
Career Skills Study Skills for International Postgraduates
Cite Them Right(8thedn) The Study Skills Handbook(3rd edn)
Critical Thinking Skills (2ndedn) Study Skills for Speakers of English as a Second
e-LearningSkills (2ndedn) Language
The Exam Skills Handbook(2ndedn) Studying History(3rd edn)
Great Ways to LearnAnatomy and Physiology Studying Law (3rd edn)
How toBeginStudyingEnglishLiterature (3rd edn) Studying Modern Drama (2ndedn)
How to Manage Your Distance andOpenLearning Studying Psychology (2ndedn)
Course The Undergraduate Research Handbook
How to Manage Your Postgraduate Course The Work-BasedLearning Student Handbook
How to Study Foreign Languages Work Placements – A Survival Guide for Students
How to Study Linguistics(2ndedn) Writeit Right (2ndedn)
How to Use Your Readingin Your Essays Writing for Engineers (3rd edn)
How to Write Better Essays(2ndedn) Writing for Law
How to Write YourUndergraduateDissertation Writing for Nursing andMidwifery Students
(2ndedn)
Improve Your Grammar
Information Skills
Pocket Study Skills
14 Days to Exam Success Referencing and Understanding Plagiarism
Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and More Reflective Writing
Brilliant Writing Tips for Students Report Writing
Completing Your PhD Science Study Skills
Doing Research Studying with Dyslexia
Getting Critical Success in Groupwork
Planning Your Essay Time Management
Planning Your PhD Writing for University
Reading and Making Notes
Palgrave Research Skills
Authoring a PhD
The Foundations of Research (2nd edn)
The Good Supervisor (2nd edn)
The Postgraduate Research Handbook (2nd edn)
Structuring Your Research Thesis
For a complete listing of all our titles in this area please visit www.palgrave.com/studyskills
9781137_019455_Text.indd 2 17/05/2012 10:59
Study Skills Connected
Using Technology to Support Your Studies
Stella Cottrell and Neil Morris
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© Stella Cottrell and Neil Morris 2012
Illustrations © Stella Cottrell and Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2012
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted
save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.
Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The authors have asserted their right to be identified
as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2012 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke,
HampshireRG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries
ISBN: 978-1-137-01945-5
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing
processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the
country of origin.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12
Printed in China
Self-evaluation sheets, planners and checklists may be photocopied by
individual students for their personal use only.
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Contents
Acknowledgements viii 2 Virtual learning environments 25
Abbreviations ix
Introduction 25
What is a virtual learning environment (VLE)? 26
Introduction x How are VLEs used to support learning? 27
Using the VLE: interaction and discussion 29
Who is the book for? xi
Using the VLE: resources and assessment 30
What is this book about? xii
Using the VLE: collaboration and links 31
Chapter outlines xiii
Using the VLE: course information and
The approach taken by the book xiv
administration 32
How to use the book xv
Case study: a student’s use of the VLE 33
Online assessment practice 34
1 Studying with new technologies 1 Making effective use of online feedback 35
Introduction 1 Using discussion boards for study 36
Self-evaluation: identify your priorities 2 Using discussion boards for assignments 37
Using new technologies at college or uni 4 Case study: discussion board thread 38
Being part of an online learning community 5 Summary 40
Basic netiquette 6
3 Managing online information
Netiquette: managing your tone 7
for academic study 41
Netiquette in academic and work contexts 8
Introduction 41
Self-evaluation: netiquette 9
Self-evaluation: what would be useful to me? 42
Your netiquette and ground rules 10
Stages in managing information for study 43
Your online presence 11
Finding suitable material for your assignments 44
Protect yourself and others 12
Locations for finding academic material online 45
Taking care of your privacy and security 13
Using the Internet for academic purposes 46
Respect for others’ online material 15
Narrowing or extending your online search 47
Plagiarism and cheating 16
The impact of your search strategy 48
Using new technologies as a student 17
Developing your search strategy 49
What equipment do I need? 19
Bibliographic databases 50
Identifying resource requirements 20
Digital repositories 51
Developing the right academic skills 21
Saving, retrieving, sharing and using
Identifying your academic skills needs 22
information 52
Basic IT skills 23
Using Google tools for study 53
Summary 24
Online tools for study: group presentations 54
Online tools for study: written group report 55
Contents v
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Case study: conducting literature 6 Wikis 101
searches for projects 56
Introduction 101
Evaluating material on YouTube for study 57
What is a wiki? 102
Using YouTube for study 58
Wikipedia: the five principles or ‘pillars’ 103
Making YouTube videos for assignments 59
Searching on Wikipedia 104
Summary 60
Understanding the Wikipedia layout 105
Finding good quality material on Wikipedia 106
4 Podcasts 61
Using Wikipedia as a source of information 107
Introduction 61
The accuracy of Wikipedia for student work 108
What are podcasts? 62
Student assignment: edit a live wiki page 109
Finding and subscribing to podcasts 63
Editing the content of a live wiki page 110
Evaluating quality for academic purposes 64
How to edit a wiki page 111
Selecting podcasts for academic use 65
Creating a wiki page or article 112
Podcasts made specially for your course 66
Collaborative writing assignments using wikis 113
Organisational skills for using podcasts 67
Checklist for writing and editing wikis 117
Making notes when using podcasts 68
How useful are wikis for students? 118
Applying critical thinking to podcasts 69
Student reflections on using wikis in their
Referencing podcasts in your work 70 studies 119
Using podcasts for exam preparation and recall 71 Summary 120
How helpful are podcasts? 72
Good podcast design 73 7 Social media 121
Producing your own podcasts 74
Introduction 121
Summary 76
Social networks and social networking sites 122
Features of key social networking sites 123
5 Blogs 77
Understanding Facebook 124
Introduction 77 Using Facebook to support academic study 125
What is a blog? 78 Using Facebook for peer support 126
What students say about blogs 79 Making Facebook work for group projects 127
Reasons for creating a blog 80 Facebook: wider considerations for study 128
Creating a blog 82 Micro-blogging and Twitter 129
Blog design: what works? 84 Getting started with Twitter 130
Good blog design 85 Using Twitter for academic purposes 131
Writing blogs for an audience 86 Students’ use of Twitter: Sarah 132
Sharing and publicising your blog 87 Students’ use of Twitter: Imran 133
Comments in blogs 88 LinkedIn: build your professional community 134
Constructive commenting 89 LinkedIn: features of interest to students 135
Creating blogs for academic assignments 90 LinkedIn: for entrepreneurial students 136
Using blogs for academic reflection 91 Case study: a student’s use of social
Blogs to support project development 92 networking tools 137
Blogs to support professional development 93 Referencing social networking sites 138
Checklist: creating blogs for academic study 94 Summary 140
Case study: blog to support a student project 95
Case study: work placement blog 96 8 Classroom and
Using other people’s blogs for academic study 97 communication technologies 141
Applying critical thinking to blogs 98 Introduction 141
Thinking critically for academic blogs 99 Exploring the terrain 142
Summary 100 Student voting handsets 143
vi Contents
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Making use of voting handset opportunities 144 9 Drawing it together 161
Lecture capture 145
Case study: combining the technologies (1) 162
Lecture capture: chat 146
Case study: combining the technologies (2) 163
Preparing to use collaborative learning tools 147
Case study: combining the technologies (3) 164
Using collaborative learning tools in class 148
Using technology to resolve study difficulties 165
Case study: collaborative tutorial 149
Self-evaluation: how well do I use the
Video conferencing tools 150 technologies available to me? 166
Using video conferencing as a student 151 Self-evaluation: achievements to date and
Case study: video conferencing for future priorities 167
research project interviews 152 Technologies not covered in this book 171
Case study: video conferencing for Closing comments 172
support on placement 153
Mobile devices 154
Glossary 173
Mobile devices: tablets and e-readers 155
Useful resources 177
Using mobile devices for study 156
References and further reading 180
Apps to support your studies 157
Feedback on activities 181
Apps for study: Android and BlackBerry 158
Index 183
Mobile devices in practical study settings 159
Summary 160
A companion website is available at www.studyskillsconnected.com and
provides:
● videos showing how to use technologies such as Google Scholar and
social media for your studies
● interactive self-evaluations to help you identify how you could use
technology more effectively for your academic work
Contents vii
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Acknowledgements
We would like to give our thanks to those who have contributed to the development
and production of this book. First of all, we would like to thank all of the staff and
students we have interacted with over the years who have inspired the contents. We
have received invaluable input from readers of the early manuscripts, for which we are
extremely grateful. These have helped us to refine our thinking and shape the content
of the book. Thanks are due to the ‘extended team’, the staff at Palgrave Macmillan:
Suzannah Burywood, the commissioning editor, Caroline Richards (copy-editor), Mark
Cooper (digital editor), Tina Graham (production controller); Jim Weaver (designer/
typesetter) and all the staff who work behind the scenes to support production,
marketing and distribution.
The author and publishers wish to thank the following for permission to reproduce
copyright material:
Dear Panda for the CourseNotes logo from www.coursenotesapp.com
Dropbox for logo from www.dropbox.com
Evernote Corp. for logo from www.evernote.com
Google Docs for logo from docs.google.com
Luminant Software Inc for the Audionote logo from Luminantsoftware.com
Mekentosj B.V for Papers logo from www.mekentosj.com
Mendeley Ltd for logo from www.mendeley.com
Omaxmedia for the MaxJournal logo from www.omaxmedia.com
Referey for logo from www.referey.web44.net
Spring2 Partners Inc. for the SPRINGPAD logo from www.springpadit.com
SPRINGPAD is a registered trademark of Spring2 Partner, Inc. Used with permission.
Urmoblife for the Life Mate logo from Urmoblife.com
Vimukti Technologies Pvt Ltd for the StudentBuddy logo from www.vimukti.com
Every effort has been made to trace rights holders, but if any have been inadvertently
overlooked the publishers would be pleased to make the necessary arrangements at the
first opportunity.
Above all, we are indebted to our partners and families who provided support in a
thousand ways over many months and without whom there would be no book.
viii Acknowledgements
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Abbreviations
app application
blog web log
CV curriculum vitae, the British term for résumé
FAQs frequently asked questions
HEI higher education institution
IT information technology
LMS learning management system
MCQ multiple choice question
NQF National Qualifications Framework
PC personal computer
PDF portable document format
PhD Doctor of Philosophy; a postgraduate research-based qualification
PIN personal identification number
pod playable on demand
RSS Really Simple Syndication
SMS short message service
TED technology, education and design
URL uniform resource locator
VLE virtual learning environment
VoIP voice over Internet protocol
Abbreviations ix
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