Make Technology your friend:
As the daughter of two teachers I’ve heard all the lectures about studying and let me tell you, I have done plenty of it! I’m finishing high school this year and my strategies of retaining information has given me confidence taking tests and feeling prepared. There are so many distractions with technology today so rather than allow it to be a hindrance I have practiced ways to use it toward my advantage.
First, collaborate and communicate with others. That is key to imbedding the information into your brain for recall. More on how to memorize. Form group chats on social media with classmates and ask questions and make comments. Forming a study group. This is powerful as you can read back over it and you look at the information while making connections. Substantiating information when your group chat members make comments allow you to understand the concepts on a more personal level. This increases the likelihood of remembering the information for recall on a test. To become test wise truly is a skill that anyone can learn; it becomes a matter of what works for various individuals. However, turning what could be a distraction into a method to aid you is a creative way to learn study material.
“Retweet” to a real human:
Second, if you think of the success of Twitter and the notion of people retweeting ideas to followers, I’ve come away with another strategy that has helped me achieve success with my studying. I take the material that I have come to understand through chatting and group discussions and repeat to a real human. To explain new concepts to someone who is neutral or has no background with what you’re explaining can be advantageous as well. You therefore, become the teacher and the impact on overall cognition of facts is priceless! If you retweet or rather, ‘repeat’ to another person, you reach a deeper level of understanding within yourself.
Face the book:
Finally, ditch your notifications on Facebook for a short time and face your book in solitude. Read over the information, make notes and comments on the margin or in a notebook. This final solidifying of facts and connections that you’ve made written out allow you to seal the deal, for the test. Tricks for memory like acronyms would be useful at this point as you make the notes for yourself. Similar to skimming over your notifications or newsfeed of your friend list, skimming over your notebook of thoughts and comments allows you to take in the information in the same way as Facebook.
Technology is part of our lives and we can’t deny that it is an integral part of how we function every day. To expect us to study or learn new information while casting that integral part aside is rather ludicrous. I have come to utilize my social media and devices for my benefit toward studying and achieving good grades. Parking your cell phone aside has its place on occasion, but in many cases, it can indeed, be your greatest support if used the correct way. So get snapping, and achieve today! More on Studying with your computer
Written by Molly Hutchison