Tools for Learning
How can technology be used to help you learn?
Content & learning objectives
We’re surrounded by technologies in our everyday life and sometimes it feels like a cacophony of information, voices, and images trying to grab our attention and making concentration and focus all that harder to achieve. However, if we take the time to discover what we know about how people learn, and about how we can best make sense of new information, then perhaps we can begin to see ways in which various technologies might be able to help us in our studies?
In this interactive, online lesson, we’ll be exploring these ideas, and looking at techniques and approaches to study which we know (from research, and experience) are effective. Click on the image to take the lesson and earn a digital badge.
Resources for learners, trainers, and developers
Are there badges available for this topic?
Yes. There is a basic knowledge badge, awarded to anyone who successfully completes the online lesson and quiz. There might also be other badges available in your own local institution on some aspects of study skills, as this approach is becoming increasingly popular. Note that there are also other badges in related areas from All Aboard (eg Presentation Skills).
How can we run a workshop or classroom session on this topic?
This topic is clearly very amenable to workshop sessions, or training courses, and indeed there are many courses on study skills and techniques available in most higher education institutions. The primary focus of the lesson has been on the importance of the education over the technology because that helps us be more discerning when we select tools and technologies for both learning and teaching. Workshop sessions that highlight and demonstrate various tools and apps would also be useful, helping students (and those who teach) see what options are available and genuinely useful.
Are there resources and materials available?
Yes. There is no shortage of infromation on these topics. Some useful links are listed on this page, but these are only a small sample of what is available. Many technology review sites also cover learning apps and are worth looking at from time to time. Of course, your local institution might well have a set of tools which have been selected, or for which there might be an available license (eg polling apps, VLE/LMS, etc).
Can I download a copy of this interactive lesson?
Yes. We provide all the materials which we have developed (or adapted, subject to licence permissions) for use under a CC BY-NC 4.0 licence. We will shortly be making downloadable SCORM versions available here.
Further information & useful links:
Cornell notes method : http://lsc.cornell.edu/study-skills/cornell-note-taking-system/
Wikipedia entry on concept maps: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concept_map
‘Freemind’, a free mind-mapping tool: http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page#Download_and_install
Student Success Toolbox (project to support flexible learners, funded by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching & Learning): http://studentsuccess.ie/the-toolbox/
‘Skills4studyCampus’ a set of online lessons and resources on study skills, from Palgrave Macmillan Publishers: http://www.skills4studycampus.com/palgrave/
Teaching & Studying Open Courses from Futurelearn: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/categories/teaching-and-studying
For those interested on the research into students’ approaches to study, this project site has many useful papers and reports: http://www.etl.tla.ed.ac.uk/publications.html