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Thursday 2 September 2010

Going Back to School – Using the Internet as a Study Aid

The start of the new school year may have already started for you or be just around the corner. Going back to school can be an exciting time for many students. However, having homework and exams again can also be stressful. You should not feel like this though. Here are some simple tips to take out some of the worry and stress related to studying and school.

You should use the internet to do a lot of your research. You can find information on online encyclopedias and also wikis but this ought to merely be a starting point for doing research. Use these kinds of websites to get a general idea on a topic. You should then take this research and do more in depth study. You may be surprised at the amount of information there is beyond the most popular sites.

Making use of school department sites is a great way to find accurate and up-to-date information. Many college websites offer materials that everyone can access. You should then use this information within your own research. Your lecturers will be very impressed that you refer to information from respected sources. Many teachers look down on online resources and prefer the use of academic books or journals. However, online information from colleges is often regarded as being from a respected source.

Another important tip is to use the internet for the one thing that it is famous for - communicating and socializing. The internet can also facilitate communication with experts. Question and answer networks allow you to ask experts and members of the public for answers to specific questions. Be careful that a number of of the answers may be unhelpful. Nevertheless, there will be many people who will take your question seriously. There are websites that even allow you to contact a teacher or professor for help.

Moreover, there are also plenty of discussion boards and internet communities that you can use to speak to people who are already interested in your topic. For example, if you are writing an essay on the history of Spain, then you will be able to find forums and online communities for Spain, the Spanish language, history and so on.

One thing that is very important for studying and good study habits is consistency. If you start the year focused then you will naturally get into the habit of finishing work early and discover that you are less stressed come exam time. You ought to use different folders for every class you have and file your work separately. With computers and the internet it can effortlessly become difficult to organize files and resources. This means it is normally difficult to locate information you saved weeks ago come exam time.

For each class you take, create folders on your computer. If you want, you can create folders within this folders for every topic covered etc. When you finish an essay you can save to the proper folder (and not somewhere where you will forget it). Moreover, if you use the internet for research you should definitely use bookmarks and favorites to save resources. If you use an online bookmarking program then you will be able to save bookmarks. If you are working in school and then need to go home, favorite the website online and you will be able to access them from anywhere in the world. Furthermore, online bookmarking allows everyone to quickly share favorites between classmates. Online bookmarking is a fantastic way to work collaboratively and organize your resources better.

You can make use of personalized home pages to help with studying. You can use a personalized homepage to share links with classmates. If you create an account together then everyone can use it and work together to build a directory of information. There are many services out there that enable anyone to create wikis and resource sites. You will then be able to email your classmates: "hey, why not check out my homepage" and people will be able to look at your page and also use it as a resource. Working together is a great way to enjoy the work and have people motivate you.

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