E-learning Study Skills: Caffeine
for tired college survival courses
Ryan Watkins
George Washington University
Author: E-learning Companion: A
student’s guide to online success
Welcome and House Keeping
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For Most Students…
Classroom Success
e-Learning Success
≠
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For many students…
the transition can lead to frustration and disappointment.
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Learning to e-Learn
Most learners will develop
valuable study habits for
success in the college
classroom.
But will they work online?
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The answer is YES and NO
e-Learning requires…
(a) the adaptation of old study habits,
(b) the adoption of new study skills,
(c) the development of technical skills, and
(d) the integration of all three into effective e-learning
strategies.
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Without these skills…
opportunities to learn will be lost!
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And opportunities for future
e-learning will be lost!
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What is Learning to e-Learn?
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Technical Skills
Learners today are generally skilled at…
• Sending emails
• Shopping online
• Downloading music
• Playing online video games
• Socializing
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E-Learning Study Skills
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However, learners are NOT very skilled at…
• Communicating effectively online
• Staying organized
• Comprehending online readings and discussions
• Applying critical thinking skills online
• Transferring study skills to online courses
• Taking notes while reading online
• Synthesizing information from multiple websites
• Evaluating online resources
• Learning from e-learning course components!
Where are we?
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You
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Technology Skills
Such as Facebook, text messaging,
online file sharing, etc.
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Your students
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Where are we?
1
You
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e-Learning
Study Skills
Such as note taking, critical thinking,
building relationships, communicating, etc.
1
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Your students
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Never the Less
E-learning is becoming a part of the college experience…
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56% of colleges (over 2,320 institutions) offer e-learning courses;
127,400 different e-learning courses are offered each year; and
Over 3 million course enrollments.
E-learning includes…
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Online colleges (for example, Strayer, Capella, Phoenix);
Completely online courses and degree programs at traditional colleges;
Single online courses (for example, Psychology 101);
Online summer school programs;
Hybrid-courses (some campus sessions, some online sessions); and
E-learning activities (campus courses that use some online components
– such as submitting assignments online, posting a syllabus in
BlackBoard, or online discussion boards).
Path to Online Success
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Readiness for e-learning.
Updated study skills.
Active learning strategies.
Online communication skills.
Time management techniques.
Virtual teamwork skills.
Proper e-learning environment.
Evaluation of online resources.
Readiness is Essential to Success
Take Aways
 Knowing their strengths and weaknesses is important.
 Not all e-learning courses will be a good match for their skills and
habits.
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Activity Ideas

Have students take notes while watching a short video on
www.fora.tv. Afterwards discuss what strategies worked and did
not work.

Give out a sample syllabus for an e-learning course. After students
analyze the syllabus, discuss what are the technical and study
skills necessary to be successful in the class.

Have students complete the E-learning Readiness SelfAssessment in the E-learning Companion (or online at the
Cengage website)
Time to Update Their Study Skills
Take Aways
 Study skills from high school won’t likely be enough.
– For example, the note taking techniques used for high school
lectures or readings will have to updated for new online articles,
podcasts, or streaming video presentations.
 The new classroom requires some new study skills.
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Activity Ideas

Have student submit a group paper with MS Word’s Track Changes
and Comments features being used.

Have the class read and take notes on an article for 5 minutes, half
reading online and half reading paper copies; discuss the
differences in note taking strategies.
Try Something New!

Have you tried Google Calendar yet?
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Calendar.google.com
Supports multiple color-coded calendars.
Calendars can be shared with either viewing-only
or editing privileges.
Reminders can be sent to you via text message.
Integrates with Gmail and other Google tools
(such as Google Sites).
Try Something New!
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Learning is not a passive activity…
and neither is e-learning
Take Aways

All learning requires active participation.

E-learners can be active learners by…
–
taking notes while reading online.
–
participating in all chat or discussion board conversations.
–
managing their study habits.
–
creating online study groups.
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Activity Ideas

Use an online discussion board to discuss time management
strategies. Later, in class discuss the benefits and risks of
discussion boards, and how to gain more from the experience.

Use an online “ice breaker” at the start of the semester to get
students talking online (for example, 3 websites about myself).
Try Something New!

Have you tried Google Docs yet?
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docs.google.com
Online file sharing of documents, spreadsheets, and
presentations.
Files can be shared and edited online by multiple people.
Files can be saves in numerous formats (including Word, PDF,
Excel, etc.).
Files can also be published as websites -- which is a great way
that students can submit team projects.
Microsoft offers Office Live, which is a file sharing alternative.
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Check-out, check-out system rather than real-time editing.
Requires MS Office on your computer.
Try Something New!
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Online Communications!
Take Aways

Email, text message, chat, video conference, and other
technologies all change how we communicate.

Learn and practice successful strategies for communicating
with all of these technologies.
Activity Ideas

Hand out a sample email that violates rules of professional
communications (e.g., slang, jokes, text message
abbreviations, misspelled words) and ask students to
highlight the problems.

Email communication skills handout and activity is available
at: http://sites.google.com/site/elearningstudyskills/
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Try Something New!

Have you tried Zotero yet?
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www.zotero.org
Similar to EndNotes, but free.
Captures and records reference information from
books, articles, websites, and other online resources.
Works seamlessly with most online library catalogs.
Requires students to use the Mozilla Firefox browser.
Try Something New!
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Time Management
Take Aways

Successful e-learners are generally more independent
learners, although new technologies are making this less of a
necessity.

Balance your commitments (work, e-learning, personal, etc.).
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Activity Ideas

For one week have students use Google Calendar track when
when they study. After the week, have them “publish” the
calendar as a website that they can share it with you.

Have students create a personal iGoogle page, and then add
the Listy To Do gadget to the page. For each course they are
taking, they should then create a To Do tab in iGoogle with
their upcoming assignments and activities.
Try Something New!
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Have you tried iGoogle yet?
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www.google.com/ig
Customize and organize information on your
Homepage
Gives you many tools to add to your Homepage
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Calendar
Gmail
Yahoo mail
To-do list
News feeds
Hundreds of other options
Try Something New!
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Try Something New!
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Have you tried del.icio.us yet?
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del.icio.us or delicious.com
Social bookmarking site.
Groups of students can save and share bookmarks of
interesting websites together.
You can create one for the class, and then everyone
can share their favorites together in one list.
Uses “tags” rather than folders to organize bookmarks
(much more effective and flexible).
Try Something New!
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Virtual Teams
Take Aways
 Frequent participation and carrying their weight is essential to
team success.

Virtual (online) teams are used in many e-learning courses
and require a new set of skills for most students.
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Activity Ideas

Have student teams identify 5 roles for online team members
(e.g., note taker, question asker, nay sayer, idea generator,
organizer).

Have student teams of 3 to 5 members create a short
presentation on effective team strategies using the slideshow
creator in Google Docs.
Try Something New!
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Have you tried Doodle yet?
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www.doodle.com
Quick and easy surveys.
Great for scheduling study groups or team
meetings.
Also check out www.ClickBooks.com.
Try Something New!
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Evaluating Online Resources
Take Aways
 All websites and online resources should not
equal.
 Have standard criteria for evaluating online
resources (e.g., source reliability, information
quality, & information usefulness).
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Activity Ideas

Identify a wikipedia topic and page, then ask students to
track down at least one “original source” study that verifies
the information on in wikipedia.
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Web resource evaluation handout is available at:
http://sites.google.com/site/elearningstudyskills/
Try Something New!
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Have you tried Face Book yet?
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Group for those interested in E-learning Study Skills:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=73295761809
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www.facebook.com
Social networking.
Your students are already there, so take the
information to them rather than having them come to
you looking for information.
Create a group in Facebook to “push” information to
your students.
Try Something New!
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Online Study Environment
Take Away

Task interruptions impact on both time and memory.

Both your physical (e.g., chair, lighting, noise) study environment and
your online (e.g., font size, text messaging turned off, file
organization) study environment are critical. Make sure that you are
ready to learn when you e-learn!
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Activity Ideas

Have students develop a file naming strategy for their course notes,
assignments, and files.
–
For example, 2009-4-3_HIS100_Assign_1_Notes.doc.
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For one day, ask students to track how many times they are
interrupted from their reading or studying by emails, text messages,
or phone calls. Have students report back the number of times they
were interrupted during the next class session.
Try Something New!
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Have you tried CMAP yet?
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cmap.ihmc.us
Mind-mapping or concept mapping software.
Maps can be shared with other contributors.
It is free and easy to use.
Files can also be attached to “nodes”.
Try Something New!
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Ten Tips for Your e-Learners
1. Know your short-cut keys.
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2.
3.
4.
5.
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CRTL + X
ALT + Tab
Exploit the right-click.
Download plug-ins and add-ons.
Know which search engines to use.
Use acronyms and emoticons only when
appropriate.
Ten Tips for Your e-Learners
6. Set a schedule for your e-learning.
7. Use technology to help manage your time.
8. Organize your files and keep a “clean”
computer.
9. Watch out for distractions from your studies
(e.g., emails, text messages, phone calls,
facebook)
10. Have fun and stay involved!
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Try Something New!
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Have you tried You Send It yet?
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www.yousendit.com
Free service for emailing large
files.
Great for large presentations or
reports.
Great for files with lots of images
or sounds.
Free for files up to 100mb.
Try Something New!
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Ten Tips for e-Instructors
1. Focus on learner performance by clearly
defining what e-learners will know and be able
to do at the end of the course.
2. Don’t be afraid to learn from your students.
3. Use online “ice breakers” to engage your
students (even if your class meets on-campus).
4. Model the online behaviors you want from
learners (e.g., etiquette, response time on
emails, professional writing).
5. Use the resources of your college (tech
support, librarians, colleagues, etc.).
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Ten Tips for e-Instructors
6. Intersperse online activities throughout any
course (on-campus, online, or hybrid).
7. Provide clear and specific guidelines for
participation.
8. Do not try to do everything (e.g., Second Life,
blogs, wikis, twitter, facebook).
9. Make time for individual feedback.
10. Get involved in class discussions.
Bonus: Don’t assume that your students know how
to e-learn.
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Additional information
Additional copies of slideshow and handouts are
available for download at:
http://sites.google.com/site/elearningstudyskills/
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Ryan Watkins is a professor of educational
technology at George Washington University.
In addition to the E-learning Companion, he
is the author of seven books, including
75 E-learning Activities.
Please visit: www.ryanrwatkins.com