5.3 Monitoring your progress Of all the components in the learning how to learn process, this is probably the most difficult. As you study, you need to make a conscious effort to monitor your progress while working on the course, always with the main task in view. This is where a flexible plan devised in the preparation phase can be revised, particularly if you meet a difficult patch. Knowing when help is needed and where to go for it is important, especially if you discover that your learning skills need improving. Sour
4.2 Analysing the task This involves you in analysing both the learning task, (e.g. working through the text, other readings, calculations, experiments) as well as the assessed task (e.g. the assignment). It is important to work out from the start just what this part of the course requires you to do as well as to know. 4.1 Preparing In the preparation phase you should pause before starting a new section of work and think about it as a whole. What needs to be covered? What are the various components of this block of work? What are the learning objectives or outcomes? What will you need to know and be able to do at the end of it? What is required in the assignment? There are two main activities during this phase, both directly related to your course work and assignment: 2.3 Your learning history You do not need to explore this in detail - just pause for a moment and think about: 1.1 Examples Each activity is followed by a discussion and examples of the responses of two students. Both students are studying Open University courses that will eventually count towards a degree. These are nine month distance learning courses. Course material is delivered to students by post, email or online. Their assignments are submitted by post or email, marked either by a computer or a tutor, and returned. Open University students are provided with a tutor, regular tutorials and guidance on c Learning outcomes After studying this course, you should be able to: think about and understand personal ways of learning apply the ideas and activities in this course to existing learning experiences learn reflectively. 7.1 Evidence required Part A is about showing you can develop a strategy for using and improving your skills in problem solving, that you can monitor your progress and can evaluate your performance and strategy overall. The evidence you present must show what you have done as you worked through the processes of planning strategically, monitoring, evaluating and presenting your work. Part A must relate directly to the work you have selected for Part B. You must present evidence to show you can: Acknowledgements The content acknowledged below is Proprietary (see terms and conditions terms and conditions )and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence. Course image: r2hox Conclusion This free course provided an introduction to studying Information and Communication Technologies. It took you through a series of exercises designed to develop your approach to study and learning at a distance and helped to improve your confidence as an independent learner. 7.3 Monitoring your progress Use your records or logbook to provide a reflective commentary on: what you did to help you set up and use information literacy methods and techniques to achieve your goals; for example, what you did to: search for information and explore alternative lines of enquiry; use different search strategies and tools effectively; choose criteria and use them to critically evaluate the qual 7.2 Developing a strategy Present notes/records to show you can plan your use of information literacy skills. Include: the goals you hope to achieve over 3–4 months or so; you should indicate how these goals relate to the context in which you are working and to your current capabilities; notes about the resources you might use and what information you need to research to achieve your goals; for example, online resources, course materials, skills books, workshop 2 Sources of help This assessment course is designed to be self-contained. However you might like to access the following sources for support and guidance if you need it. These sources include: U529_1 Key skills – making a difference: This OpenLearn course is designed to complement the assessment courses. It provides detailed guidance and activities to help you work on your key skills, gives examples of key skills work from students, and helps you prepare and s 1 Developing information literacy skills This Key Skill Assessment Course offers an opportunity for you to select and prepare work that demonstrates your key skills in the area of information literacy. This unit provides you with advice and information on how to go about presenting your key skills work as a portfolio. In presenting work that demonstrates your key skills you are taking the initiative to show that you can develop and improve a particular set of skills, and are able to use your skills more generally in your Learning outcomes After studying this course, you should be able to: demonstrate a strategy for using skills in information literacy over an extended period of time monitor progress and adapt the strategy as necessary, to achieve the quality of outcomes required evaluate this overall strategy and present outcomes from your work, including citations and a bibliography. 5 Effective use of information technology The purpose of this course is for you to create a portfolio of your work to represent you as an effective user of information technology (IT) within your study or work activities. This will involve using criteria to help you select examples of your work that clearly show you can use and improve your IT skills. However, by far the most important aim is that you can use this assessment process to support your learning and improve your performance overall. Using information technology skil 4 Structure of the assessment courses This key skill assessment course does not have specific questions with word limits and no statements indicating you include, say, an essay or a report. Instead, as you tackle the course you need to ask yourself ‘Which pieces of work show my skills and capabilities to best advantage?’ When you have identified and selected evidence of your skills, you must then relate this evidence directly to the criteria. This method of building a portfolio is based not on providing right or wrong a 9 Notes to help you complete your assessment To complete your assessment portfolio, include a contents page to show what evidence you have included for each part. An example of a suitable format for the contents page is shown in Figure 1 above. Click here to view Figure 1 (PDF, 1 page, 0.1MB) Although the requirements of Parts A and B are listed separately you should think of 1.1.7 Using the memory buttons Calculations involving several operations can also be carried out in stages. One way to do this is to use the '=' key part way through the calculation. You can also use the calculator's memory. The Windows calculator has a number of memory buttons, shown in Figure 2, to help y 1.1.4 Simple arithmetic operations To perform a simple arithmetic calculation: Enter the first number in the calculation (for example '123') using one of the following methods: Using your computer keyboard's numeric keypad, which (if you have one) is on the right of your computer keyboard. Check to see whether the Num Lock indicator light is on and if it is not press the NUM LOCK key. Using your computer keyboard's numeric key 6.3 Referencing Once you start using the web for study and research, you'll see how convenient it is to find information that you can use for course notes, essays or reports. One of the most important of all your study skills is the ability to summarise information from other sources in your own words. Whenever you make use of any information that has been created by someone else, the author and the source must be clearly identified and acknowledged through the use of proper referencing. Providin
Author(s):
Activity 3
