L9 Learning technology and self management planning and organising.pptx

Learning skills

1. FYA008-0 Skills for work and personal development Lecture 9: Learning Technology and Self management: Planning and Organising Lynne Reynolds

2. What are we doing today? Time management Reviewing the way you spend your time Ways to improve your time management Planning and organising your self. How self management relates to employability

3. Time Management Planning Procrastination Perfectionism 3 Big Issues – 3P’s

4. Planning Useful Provides clear plan, realistic goals Who benefits? Everyone No experience time management No sense time Problem with self motivation Studying in second language Difficulties juggling other commitments .

5. Procrastination: Avoiding starting a task (Moore et al., 2010) Habitual for some students Others doing something more exciting/interesting Struggling to make sense of topic/etc. Overwhelming fear of failure Boredom Think that you work better under pressure – remember what we were discussing last week.

6. Perfectionism (adapted from Moore et al., 2010) Healthy to have a certain amount of perfectionism When is it unhealthy? Compulsive – detrimental to health and work Living up to others expectations (parents/peers/tutors). Fear of making mistakes Dislike of criticism.

7. Control? Time management strategies allow us to feel in control and to avoid: Panic Falling behind Leaving things to the last minute Stress Pressure Effective time management = success

8. Overcoming these issues? (Moore et al., 2010; Cottrell, 2019; Covey. Merrill & Merrill 1994 cited in Bedford & Wilson 2013: p135) Managing your self through Organising & Planning: A number of ways to overcome issues, there is no single right way. Use whatever works best for you. But you will need to: Prioritise workload and commitments Review tasks regularly (weekly or daily) Prioritise in order (deadlines for assignments) focus on what is important and urgent Complete diary/wall planner regularly Make tasks realistic :how much time do you have to spend on each task? Do NOT overload yourself and leave yourself plenty of time to complete individual tasks.

9. Pause List 5 ways in which you might organise and plan your time

10. Useful Tips (Moore et al ., 2010; Cottrell, 2011; Williams & Reid, 2011) Avoid distractions/find a quiet place Break your tasks down into smaller more manageable chunks (tackle one point at a time). Set yourself short time periods to achieve small goals (40-45 mins reading) then take a small break (10 mins). Short bursts of active note-taking. Keep a notepad and pen handy so you can jot down your ideas and thoughts as they arise. This will help to keep things fresh in your mind. Be selective in your reading – find a readable book. If you are a morning person get up 1 hour earlier or before your children and use the hour for your studies, planning or writing your assignments. If you are a night owl allocate 2-3 evenings per week to working on your studies/completing assignments. Set an alarm so that you do not study all night. Carry around a core text, journal article with you. Arrive 20 minutes early to pick your children up from school. Whilst you are waiting for your children to finish school or you are sat on the train/bus do some reading. Or perhaps 10-20 minutes of your lunch hour when at work do some reading.

11. More useful tips! Reward yourself when you have finished a task (hot bath, glass of wine, cream cake). Learn to say no! And use a do not disturb sign on your door. Organise your work space Focus on one task at a time Finish what you start Use a study buddy Make use of PAD, Study hub, Studiosity Finally reflect upon what you have achieved and how you have accomplished this.

12. Planning Plan each day, week, month Note key dates (birthdays, holidays, assignment submission) When planning assignments plan backwards Find out when your assignments are due for submission and mark this on your calendar/in your diary Then break down the tasks needed for your assignment and allocate one of these tasks at regular points in your calendar/diary so that you are building up your assignment/completing all of the tasks before the submission date. Plan your study sessions Plan what you want to achieve in each session – write a list of tasks to do in each session – set an agenda for yourself and tick off each task as you do them - = focus and achievement

13. Prioritising What is urgent What is important What is less important What can wait – ignore those things that can wait Schedule in regular breaks – maintain your focus, avoid mistakes and loss of motivation Look at the priority setting checklist in Cottrell (2019 page 136).

14. Managing Stress Make sure you take regular breaks Plan & Organise your time so that you are not working all of the time Take regular exercise – yoga, pilates , breathing exercises, running, walking. Healthy diet and good sleep hygiene Do something fun to reward yourself for all your hard work Talk to friends and family – A problem shared is a problem halved. Utilise the support available at the university Email: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

15. Pause: A Stress relieving exercise (British Red Cross, 2022) Sit somewhere quiet where you can feel safe and relaxed. Think of a colour you associate with negative feelings – maybe grey, or red. As you breathe out, imagine you are breathing out that colour. Visualise the colourful cloud of breath leaving your body. Now think of a colour that symbolises positive feelings – maybe pink, or yellow. As you breathe in, imagine you are breathing in that colour. Imagine the positive feelings filling your lungs and flowing around your body. Do this for at least five breaths. Try this activity out. Does it help you feel less overwhelmed? Could you do this in future when you feel like this again?      

16. What is learning technology? Learning Technology is the technological tools and information used during learning or to enhance learning. Examples may include seminars where you use your laptop, your phone, a tablet/kindle. It is where you are accessing and using information via an electronic device or even a PC. This information then helps you to learn and use new information. For example when you use your phone to access Discover to research information for an assignment. You then use Power Point to put together a presentation based on the information you have found on Discover. Discover is an electronic data base and Power Point is a form of electronic software which are accessed and used through the use of technology.

17. What are digital skills? Burning Glass Technologies and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (2019:p13) defines Digital Skills as ‘ Competences in and / or knowledge of IT tools including computer programs and programming languages’. But what does this mean? Being able to and Knowing how to use a range of IT tools. There are different levels of digital skills Some are more complex than others. At this point in your academic career you will need basic digital skills.

18. Why are digital skills important? All jobs will require some form of digital skills Having digital skills can improve your employability prospects Increase your pay (up to 29% more) (Burning Glass Technologies and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, 2019). Allows you more flexibility in a constantly changing job market In 2017 82% of all jobs advertised required some form of digital skills, 74% of all jobs advertised required basic digital skills (Burning Glass Technologies and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, 2019). What are basic digital skills? Word, Excel and Power Point are all basic digital skills.

19. How can you learn using technology? BREO Discussion boards What’s App Other Apps for Android/Apple such as those suggested by Cottrell (2019): Lift (Apple and Android) – Lift allows you to set goals and monitor progress. It will store information on how long you have spent on specific tasks or behaviours. This is useful if you are trying to develop habits such as reading for 20 minutes a day. Mindix (Apple only) – a simple app for brainstorming ideas and creating pattern notes and maps from these. Idea Growr (Android only) – this app allows you to capture thoughts and ideas. It then poses questions to you to help you develop these further. Using an electronic journal to record your thoughts, plans or achievements

20. How does learning through the use of technology and developing digital skills help my academic studies? (See Cottrell, 2019) When reading and making notes how do you prefer to make your notes? By using pen and paper or typing your notes into a Word document? Helps with: Tailoring or personalising your learning, for example, making some notes using pen and paper and then typing these up neatly into a Word document and then saving them in a folder or printing them out for later use. Developing: planning and organising skills your Personal Development Plans and records your academic skills Building of your knowledge, understanding of information – research skills Knowing what specific skills your future employer wants.

21. How can I demonstrate my learning through technology and my digital skills? (See Cottrell, 2019) There are a number of ways in which you can use technology and demonstrate these skills: Electronic portfolios (E Portfolios) allow you to demonstrate the following skills: Organisation and planning Reflection Ability to work to deadline and time management Working under your own initiative Researching Making and supporting an argument Using electronic/digital resources Effective record keeping And so on.

22. Using BREO: Communication Presentations Assessments Accessing feedback, reading lists, lecture recordings or seminar materials Accessing links to support services Discussion boards And so on.

23. How can I organise myself using learning technology? Using Power Point, Excel spreadsheets, Word Using an electronic journal to record your PDP achievements Using an online student planner Using emails and outlook calendar – set up reminders , important dates such as assignment submission dates and times. Capture your ideas using Word to take notes or make a Mind Map, record your ideas into your mobile phone/Dictaphone. Use your mobile to take photographs of seminar slides/information Whats App – team work, communication skills

24. How does this all relate to employability? Remember how important digital skills are? Most if not all jobs will involve some element of technology, for example: If you work in retail you will use a till to complete monetary transactions and most tills are computerised. Even manual jobs such as forklift drivers require knowledge of inventory systems which are computerised. Most graduate jobs will use computers and software/technology and you will need to have basic digital skills in order to be able to access and use professional records/ systerms and information.

25. You will also be developing those important soft skills that employers are looking for in an employee for example:

26. What have we learnt today? Effective Time management Planning and organising your self. What learning technology is What digital skills are & Why they are important How to demonstrate your learning through the use of technology How to demonstrate your digital skills How self management & learning technology relates to employability

27. References Bedford, B. & Wilson, E. (2013) Study skills for foundation degrees, 2 nd edition, London: Routledge. British Red Cross (2022) Understanding and dealing with stress available at: https://www.redcross.org.uk/get-help/get-help-with-loneliness/wellbeing-support/understanding-dealing-stress#anchor_1646237921709 (Accessed on 2 nd April 2022). Burning Glass Technologies and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (2019) No longer optional: Employer demand for digital skills. Available at: https://www.burning-glass.com/research-project/uk-demand-digital-skills/ . (Accessed on 23 March 2022). Cottrell, S. (2019) The Study skills handbook 5 th edn , London: Red Globe Press. Moore, S., Neville, C., Murphy, M. & Connolly, C. (2010) The Ultimate Study Skills Handbook, Maidenhead: McGraw Hill/Open University Press Other useful reading: Williams, K. & Reid, M. (2011) Time Management, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan