The Road of a Student

Assignment research made easier!

noreply@blogger.com (Student) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:25:00 +0000

Whenever we are asked to gather information for an essay at University, our core research is conducted online. The internet is beginning to overtake all other information sources, even textbooks.

The Internet is a great resource; it allows us students to access information relating to our course anywhere and anytime. The internet is like a virtual library, offering information ranging from American History to Scientific journals.
I mentioned the technique I am about to share with you in a previous article, “How to Use Mozilla Firefox More Effectively ”. The tool allows you, as a student, the ability to edit and save web pages according to your needs. Furthermore, the application features a sidebar that allows you to categorise your saved pages. It’s a great way to source work as you can easily access the pages you want to quote to ensure accurate referencing.

Key features of Scrapbook are as follows:
-Save relevant website (in clean drop down menu).
-Categorise the website into different folders (depending on content).
-Access saved websites offline (useful if no internet connection available).
-Search the website for key words either with a quick filtering search or a full website text search.
-Add notes to website page.
-Highlight key text.

How using ‘Scrapbook’ can improve your assignment research:
Saving a website:
There should be an icon in the bottom right hand corner of the screen, click to open the scrapbook menu. When you want to save a website you can either ‘capture’ the entire page, or alternatively you can just highlight the text you want to save.

Accessing saved pages:

Press Alt+K to open the Scrapook tab.With the Scrapbook tab open you can add new folders or separators by pressing the icon (the folder and plus symbol), you can then drag and drop the web pages into the appropriate folders. This makes it easy to access any information you have saved that relates to you current assignment.

Keeping the useful information:
With Scrapbook you can edit the content of your saved webs pages, so that only the useful information is displayed. The icon on the bottom right corner of the screen opens a menu that allows you to:

Erase images or advertisements:
You can erase images and annoying advertisement banners with the ‘DOM Eraser’. The button changes the mouse pointer to a cross which will delete any items you click on the page. This can be used to delete whole blocks of unwanted information, images or irritating pop-ups.

1.Annoying advertisements(selection)

2.Erased advertisements

Erase information:
You can delete unnecessary text with the eraser icon.
1.Selection of unwanted information:

2.Erased data:

Tip: If you accidentally use either of the tools listed above to delete content you need, just press the undo button.
Attach notes to webpage:
The pencil icon opens a small text box on the page which allows you to add your own notes to the information already displayed on the web page, e.g. references, or formulas.

Highlighting key information:

There is a choice of four colours, which is useful for categorising information on the pages. I use all four for best results, this is what I do:
1. Yellow (with dash border)- for quotes
2. Green underline- for key information or points
3. Blue highlight- meaning behind the information
4. Yellow highlight- good tip or techniques e.g. increase productivity by doing …..

Once you have made the necessary alterations click the save button to capture the page and place it in the necessary folder. When you want to view the page in the future it will appear the way you have customised it.
If anyone has any other tips or suggestions on improving your research, leave your comments and I might give you a mention in my next article.

How to Increase the Speed and Clarity Of Your Reading

noreply@blogger.com (Student) — Sun, 25 May 2008 23:35:00 +0000

Everyone has busy lives, thus we find it hard to fit in the things we ‘should do.’ Reading is one of these things, however I have managed to make time for it in my busy social life through certain efficient techniques that increase your understanding of the text. These techniques can be applied to both academic and personal reading.

Why are you reading?

Whenever we do an activity that requires concentration and effort, we must ask ourselves: where is our motivation derived from? Is this book going to help us understand our course material further? Is the book just for personal enjoyment? By understanding why we are reading we can maintain motivation and continue to read effectively. If we forget our purpose for reading the book, then we tend to lack concentration and not give the book our undivided attention.

The reason I read is to gain knowledge; I don’t care if it takes me a whole week to read a hundred pages, as long as I understand the information. Skimming through a book too fast means that you only retain some of the information. So next time you are reading a book, ask yourself: what do I want to gain from reading this book? What is your motivation?

As I mentioned above, these techniques can be applied to both academic and personal reading. While they share some similarities, Academic reading and Personal reading are different. Academically, we are expected to retain information and then demonstrate our knowledge of it, for example we might be asked to quote a passage for English Literature. In contrast, when reading for our own personal gains, the main objective is to grasp the concepts from the book and learn to apply them to our everyday lives. If I was asked to name the three continents in ‘1984’ I couldn’t tell you without looking it up, but I could recall the themes, symbols and motifs explored in the book.

Read the introduction for a better understanding

When I first started reading my course books this year I skipped straight away to the first chapter of an ‘organisational behaviour’ book, only to realise at a later date that I had missed ten pages that explained what ‘organisational behaviour’ was! With no background information on the subject, it made it difficult to grasp even the basic information, let alone the more advanced ideas explored in the book.

The key component of most books is the author’s meaning and purpose, particularly classical literature. George Orwell, for example wrote ‘1984’ to illustrate the danger of a totalitarianism government. So in future do not skip those first ten pages, though they may seem useless and time consuming, they will add clarity to the main parts of the book, thus allowing you to consume the information more efficiently and effectively.

Fitting reading into your busy weekly schedule

At University we are all busy attending lectures, participating in extracurricular activities and nursing hangovers. As a result, we all feel that we have a valid excuse for being ‘too busy’ to fit reading into our schedule. Using the methods in this post, I have enabled myself to read roughly a book a week, play sports five times a week, and maintain my social life. It’s not impossible; it just requires discipline and a strategic approach.

As an example, two weeks ago I read a book called ‘Sperm Wars’ by Robin Baker. The book had a total of 333 pages including the introduction, I split the number of pages by 7 (number of days in a week), which equalled 47.5, so I read 48 pages a day and finished the book within the space of a week.

Splitting things up into manageable sections is far easier then reading a book in one sitting. If you cannot read 48 pages in one sitting per day, I recommend splitting that number into two periods a day. You can also use this approach for course books, extremely useful and productive when revising for tests.

Wikipedia explains everything

I know whenever your lecturer hears an utterance of ‘Wikipedia’ it sends a shiver up their spine, as students are usually advised to steer clear. I have to admit that I am a big fan of Wikipedia and constantly use Wikipedia as a source; nonetheless, some information is questionable. After reading a book, I usually search for the book on Wikipedia and read through the information, which explains the book in more detail. If the book is above my reading level, then it usually helps me to enhance the understanding of the book. Remember, the main aim of reading should be to grasp the ideas and concepts explored in the book, not to recall a character’s name or briefly summarise the book.

If you don't know the word, look it up
It is important to understand what you are reading, and extend your vocabulary. I used definr (recommended by Ryan Holiday's) as it gives a quick, simple definition of any word. I underline the word and write the meaning on the page somewhere, so that when I re-read the book it saves me time searching for the definition again if I forget it.

Using tabs to mark main parts
Ryan Holiday's blog introduced me to the world of ‘tabbing’. Whenever I read books now, I usually mark my favourite chapters and quotes by using a highlighter and tabs. The tabs make the information that I have marked easily accessible and saves time flicking through countless pages to find a certain passage again. I also use tabs for revision, when I have a test on certain chapters I mark the main parts, so that I can re-read these sections.

I even use them in lectures now, obviously I highlight key words, but also any information that I do not understand so that I can research it myself later on. I tab the section and then read through my text book after the lecture, whilst it is fresh in my mind.

If anyone else have any tips or techniques they use when reading books, leave a comment and I might credit you and add it to my blog.

Keep organized with Google gadgets

noreply@blogger.com (Student) — Fri, 16 May 2008 00:40:00 +0000

Google has an extensive range of gadgets available to users, which allow users to personalize their Google search engine. These are some of my favourite Google Gadgets that help me stay more organized at University on a daily basis:

My Google search engine looks something like this

1.Countdown
This gadget allows you to create a task or goal that requires completing in the future, next you are required to submit a date for the task or goals completion. Then the countdown will display the number of days you have left until you have finished the task or goal. This gadget is particular useful for assignments and checking how long you have until the deadline.

2. To Do List
This to-do list helps you keep track of all of your goals. You are also able to organize all of your goals depending on the goals priority level (low, medium or high priority). When you have completed the goal, you should remove the goal so that you do not mix completed goals with ongoing goals.Example being Exam dates.

3. Wikipedia search bar
This provides users with a more efficient way to search for information on Wikipedia.
4.Google Calendar
Google Calendar is one of the most useful gadgets available to users, as it enables users to create various tasks (events and agenda items) into a calendar, so that users can become more organized.

5. Sticky notes
This gadget is my short term memory or clip board-I use this gadget for pasting website links or important copied information if I am copying multiple items.It automatically saves everything you write into it.

6. Gmail
Small version of Google's free Mail system, which previews your inbox. This gadget allows you to see if you have any new inbox messages without clicking on the Gmail link.

7.Google Reader
View your Google Reader items and read any RSS or Atom feed. This gadget helps users stay current with what’s happening at a glance. Furthermore I recommend that you do not spend too much time on this gadget reading feeds as your time can be contributed towards more important tasks at hand.-You are now able to add The Road of a Student to your Google Reader (click link).

These are my favourite gadgets, does anyone else recommend any other Google gadgets that allow users to stay more organized if so leave a comment.Who knows I might add yours to my Google page :)

How to Use Mozilla Firefox More Effectively

noreply@blogger.com (Student) — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:17:00 +0000

Introduction
I jumped on the Mozilla band wagon several months ago. The new internet browser, Mozilla Firefox, initially started up in 2004 but was only officially established in 2008 (Wikipedia). Though Mozilla Firefox is ranked 2nd most popular web browser, after Internet Explorer, I prefer the features and add-ons for Firefox. In this article I am going show you how to get the best out of your Mozilla Firefox, with the add-ons that I use, and also some others. R.I.P Internet Explorer.

What are add-ons?
Mozilla Firefox has enabled its users to personalize their browsing experience by installing these add-ons. They can be just aesthetically pleasing, or they can increase productivity, internet safety, reduce spam; the list is endless.

How to locate add-ons?

Method 1:Menu-->Tools-->Add-ons-->Extensions-->Get extensions (located bottom corner of page)

Method 2:Search on Google for “Mozilla Firefox add ons”

My favourite add-ons:
'Adblock Plus-“ads were yesterday”

Every internet user is bombarded with spam, whether it is advertisements, offers, you name it. We face spam every direction we surf, this is why it is essential that you install Adblock Plus, it prevents banners and those annoying ads that take ages to load.

'Delicious’ Sidebar

I have recently been introduced to the world of bookmarking and I find del.icio.us a brilliant bookmarking tool. This add on makes it so much easier to tag (bookmark) websites that you like/visit, and features a sidebar that can help you access tagged sites.

'Bug Me Not’-“Bypass those tedious registration forms”.

Have you ever wanted to access a site before but have been either denied access or asked to fill out a 5 page registration form? Well, that can be a thing of the past internet surfers, with this application users can literally hack into any website that requires a user ID and Password. This is particularly useful for students that want to access an online journal that their University has not got an account with. No more ‘compulsory’ web registration forms to fill out, thank you Firefox.

Step 1:

Step 2:
'Compact Menu’
This application replaces the original menu bar boxes with a single button, making Firefox tidier.

'Cooliris Preview’ -“view even before you leave”.

This add-on allows Mozilla users to browse and share Web links and rich media faster. If a user puts the mouse over a link, a small pop-up box will display the contents of the next website; this is particularly useful when you are unaware of where the link will lead you.

Step 1:(blue icon should appear if mouse is moved over the link).

Step 2:

'Distrust’

Hide surfing trails that the browser leaves behind to enable private browsing.

'Download Statusbar’
All downloads are neatly displayed and can be accessed at the bottom of the page.

'Leechblock’
This application is one of the most effective ways to increase your productivity. It enables you to block certain websites at set times. Use it to block the websites that facilitate procrastination! Email and social websites like Facebook are good examples. With the settings I have set below my Mozilla Firefox prevents me from accessing Facebook at the times stated.

'Morning Coffee’ -“one click to open all your favourite websites”.
Are there certain websites you visit every time you access the internet? Rather than having to keep opening up new tabs and typing the different websites addresses, you will be glad to know that you now do it with just the click of a button. You can alter the settings so that certain websites open on different days of the week.

Step 1: (just logged on and clicked the Morning Coffee Item)

Step 2:(loads my favourite websites I set)

'Scrapbook’
This add-on is useful for saving Web pages and organizing the collection. Again, it is especially useful for students that need to cite an extensive range of sources. With ‘Scrapbook’ you can highlight and add notes to key points on the webpage. You don’t need to be online to view the saved webpages, so you can access your notes or highlighted content in lectures for example.

Step 1: Highlight any text on page, delete any pictures not required or make notes.

Step 2: Save the page, and access any time required

'Gmail Notifier’
I installed this add-on last week, which was recommended to me from a reader who commented on this post. This add-on allows me to know if I have any messages that I have not read in my Gmail Inbox, by updating the Gmail icon in the lower tool bar on Mozilla Firefox.

(the red envelope (Gmail icon) is the add-on).

There are new add-ons every day, so I will try and update this article every so often. If you have any Mozilla add-ons that you particularly like then please share them. Add your comments below.

Note: In the future, I will explain how to use each add-on in more detail.