EduLinks – Bad Habits, Problem Solving, Social Media…Oh, and an Election

Time for another dose of EduLinks. Happy weekend reading.

President-Elect Obama:

I hear there’s been an election in the US. That was kept quiet…

Justin Wise writes at Brazen Careerist that Obama “mobilized younger voters to actually show up at the polls”. Now Obama is in, a lot of young adults are very hopeful of what’s to come. As the Chronicle shows, online social media continues to give a hearty shout out of support to Obama. Here’s to the future!

Joongel – Internet Search Portal

This is one of the better search collaboration sites I’ve come across. It’s not perfect, but as a basic research tool, it goes miles further than Google alone. I stress the word ‘basic’ though, because it’s not an academic search portal. Good for most stuff, though. It goes through a wealth of sites, with the following categories:

Images; Music; Videos; Shopping; Social; Q&A; Health; Torrents; Gossip; Cooking; Analytics; Local; Finance; Jobs; Property; Dictionary; Reference; News; Family; Movies; Blogs; Tech; General

Bear in mind that Joongel is currently focused on the US, so some categories won’t be much use in the UK (such as Jobs, Local, Shopping, etc.). Joongel say that they are working on collaborations around the world, so it may not be long before a UK version crops up. Fingers crossed.

Zen Habits – The 7 Keys to Turning Bad Habits Into Good Habits

We usually know when we’ve got a bad habit. The problem is getting away from them. There may come a time when you want to try snapping out of unhelpful habitual routines. When that time comes along, let Zen Habits help ease you into a much happier way of life.

Leo explains, even if you slip up once, then twice, then seven time…don’t give up! He speaks from experience too.

Bangor TV @ University of Bangor

It may not be interactive, but Bangor TV is a growing set of videos to whet the appetite of prospective students to the university. I hope the output also boosts the engagement of current students and perhaps even allow them to give honest accounts of life at Bangor.

No university can offer 100% delight and it’s great for prospective students to hear from like-minded people already living a uni lifestyle, so I hope the UK can one day see their own version of Unigo, which is proving successful in the US.

Litemind – Einstein’s Secret to Amazing Problem Solving (and 10 Specific Ways You Can Use It)

If you can clearly define the problem, the solution is in easy reach. The key to solving a problem seems to be to enjoy the problem. Luciano has done a great job in highlighting ten problem-solving techniques that we’d all be wise to keep in mind when trying to figure out what’s going on.

Converstations – Social Media Success Plan for Beginners: 6 Hours for 6 Weeks

It doesn’t take long to move beyond Facebook and add a whole new dimension to your online being. Mike at Converstations urges you to spend six hours for six weeks, building up a blogging, reading, twittering, social media machine. It’s definitely worth it. And I suggest you read the comments too. For instance, Mike adds that a person who is bright-eyed and open-minded about social media should start on blogging, but a closed-minded and doubtful person should begin their quest with RSS feed reading.

Twitter How-to Links:

I use Twitter a bit. On and off. Not as much as I probably should. Nevertheless, Twitter is a great tool and it’s growing in popularity. If you’ve heard of it, but haven’t got as far as jumping in and joining the 140-character message bandwagon, these links make the process as simple as possible. You can follow me at http://twitter.com/universityboy/ and see if I get any better at posting!

TheUniversityBlog a year ago – November 2007

Essays, teamwork, spelling and study mistakes. They all had a place a year ago on TheUniversityBlog. Here’s my pick of the highlights from November 2007:

10 Commonly Misspelled Words & My Mad Memory Techniques

I have some strange ways of remembering how to spell certain words. Still, I hope they help someone else out there!

Why Your Essay Is Still Useful & Important After Handing It In

You (should have) put a lot of work in that last essay. Rather than file the paper away, never to be seen again, why not get some more use from it? Make your hard work go a bit further.

jump (photo by gozdeo)

Rehaul Your Standard University Day

You need to take control of your life at university. Nobody else is going to do it for you. Among the nuggets of advice here is, “Don’t attempt to do everything”. While I only make a brief plea to enjoy a limited schedule, it looks like Cal over at Study Hacks is writing a whole book on the matter. Good man!

Working With Others: Turning a ‘Group’ Into a Grade Winning ‘Team’

A lengthy article here. Essentially, it’s a two-parter that first concentrates on the selection of a team, then goes on to explain how it can shine. If you’re due for any groupwork soon, read this and move up a gear to ‘teamwork’.

Study traps short series:

We all make mistakes. Sometimes we don’t even realise we’re making them. Are you doing any of the things mentioned in these articles?

Girl in suitcase (photo by MaxMilli0n)

Morning Productivity Wake-up Call – Read, Review, Revive, Ready!

For some, getting up can be difficult on the best of mornings. It needn’t be if you ease into the day with a “read, review, revive, ready” session.

No point in prolonging the inevitable... (photo by tizwas01)

There’s nothing ground-breaking about it. Here’s the deal:

Read

If getting out of bed is a pain and you’re more interested in the comfy bed, at least you can wake up with a morning read. Your head may feel fuzzy, but you don’t have to read anything challenging. Maybe a chapter of an easy-going novel will wake your mind up and take you away from the happy feelings of sleep. Just something to let you set off, rather than drift off!

Review

Now you’re at least awake. At this point, a moment of review helps. What are your plans for the day? What do you need to concentrate on to make the most of your time? How would you like to develop and what do you plan to do about it?

Setting your daily goals will get your mind flowing and focus you for the day ahead. And it can still all be done in the comfort of your bed if you wish.

Revive

Now’s the time to strike. You’re wide awake, but you’re still cosy and warm. You’ve got a choice:

Jump out of bed, throw back the curtains and splash your face with cold water;
Jump out of bed, throw back the curtains and commit to a brisk exercise. Just five minutes should do it. Star jumps, running on the spot, throwing your arms through the air like a loon, whatever you like. This isn’t exercise for keeping fit, it’s exercise to make you alert and raring to go!

…you can throw back the curtains after the exercise if you’re worried somebody is going to see you. 😉

Ready

Getting out of bed is even easier when you’ve already prepared for it. I’ve long been a fan of easing into a new day by preparing the night before. I get my clothes ready and my necessary belongings organised. That way, I don’t have a last-minute scramble finding a particular book or working out what to wear. You’re ready before you’ve even started.

Far from promoting laziness, these preparations give me a morning boost, because I’m free to concentrate on more important things. The hassle of getting everything ready in the morning simply adds to your feeling of not wanting to get up. So sort out as much as you can the night before! It makes such a powerful difference that you’ll probably stop with the face-splashing and exercising. Who needs to revive if you’re already feeling perky?

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A “read, review, revive, ready” session saves a lot of time in the long run, since you’ll be less likely to make the mistake of falling back to sleep when you didn’t mean to, or pushing the snooze button for the eighth time in a row…

If sleep, or wakefulness, is proving too difficult even with this method of rising, check out my other tips on improving your slumber and staying awake. It’s the most popular post on this blog for a reason!

A Journal Journey – 10 Benefits of an Academic Journal

Keeping some sort of diary or journal isn’t restricted to your personal thoughts on how a hot date was, what you think of the stupid trick played on you by your so-called mates, and how amazing that low-key gig was last night. Just look at the range of output you get from all the blogs out there.

One powerful way to whip yourself into great study shape is to start writing an academic journal. The process can be as quick as you like and the benefits far outweigh the time you need to spend on it.

photo by lusi

An academic journal doesn’t need to follow any particular structure, but you should take it seriously. It only requires a few bullet points each day to show how you’re solving a problem, how you intend to find your voice, or what you’re doing to shape your future. Feel free to write in whatever way you feel comfortable with. It may take a few days to find a style or setup you’re happy with, but once you work through that, you’ll gain access to the bigger picture and take hold of a new perspective on your working:

You can learn about yourself on a more engaging level;
You can learn from your mistakes;
You’re more likely to pick up on the ideas that work best for you;
Your focus will remain pin-sharp;
What was just a nugget of an idea, merely throwaway at the time, can expand into an elaborate vision when you revisit that thought;
You can plan ahead with greater ease and pick up on flaws and overlaps;
It helps you with the creative and written process;
It helps you analyse at a deeper level;
Your journal is a document of past moments that may be valuable to a great future;
You should gain greater confidence through a journal, compared with just your thoughts.

I didn’t keep a journal while at university. But I now see the value in making the effort. I still don’t write a regular daily journal, but who needs to sit down with a ‘Dear Diary’ nowadays anyway? All I do is fire open a journal on the computer and get down ideas for the day, respond to what’s on my mind and allow the creative juices to flow. Often, it helps me ignore any Internal Editor sneaking around my head too. It means my ‘journal’ is often subject to change. But as it’s a personal document, it makes absolutely no difference.

In time, you’ll end up enjoying the process and realise how beneficial it’s become. And it shouldn’t take up much of your time at all. Bonus!

photo by dinny