Examining Resources

Topic 5: DQ 1

Nov 13-15, 2023

In this course you have been introduced to many different types of resources to help you become a good writer at the college level. What resources did you use prior to taking this course to help you with the research and/or writing process? What new resource(s) have you found most helpful? Please explain.

Reply my classmates below: At least 80 words each reply.

Teola Powell

Nov 14, 2023, 11:45 PM

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Before beginning this course, my primary resources were traditional public libraries, including books, reference materials, and textbooks. Throughout the course, I’ve developed more effective skills in using and navigating academic databases, resulting in more streamlined and targeted research. Furthermore, I have discovered additional academic databases such as JSTOR and PubMed, enhancing my access to scholarly articles, research papers, and other valuable academic sources.

Marissa Ballesteros

Nov 14, 2023, 8:51 PM

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The resources that have helped me so much for this course have been the library. The library is a huge help when it comes to writing essays. I have learned how to find in-text citations and peralink. I did not know what those two were before I started this course. Now I am getting familiar with them and learning more every day. Other things I did not know about were an abstract, and references. Resources prior to this course would have to be the resources I remember from when I was back in high school and that was more than twenty years ago. Those resources were brainstorming and by brainstorming, I mean just writing a bunch of ideas about the topic and just writing them down on paper and making your first draft from there. This class is teaching me so much.

Cassidy Cheung

Nov 14, 2023, 8:49 PM

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I have not used any sources prior to taking this course besides what was used in UNV-103. In that course it taught me to use the GCU library which is being used in this course. The reason that I have not used any sources before is because I have not needed to write an actual essay in a very long time. At this moment in time, I cannot even recall a time that I had to write an essay and even if I had I do not really remember what I used. The new sources that I have found useful are peer review and scholarly publications. I’ve learned that there are actual dependable and expert resources out there that can help me know the truth or close to the truth of what I am looking for.

Kennedy Keegan

Nov 14, 2023, 7:08 PM

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Prior to taking this course, I had used Purdue OWL and Google Scholar. Since starting this class, the resources that we have used that I have found the most helpful are the Writing Process: Media and the Writing Process Center located on the Student Success Center page on the GCU website, and I still also like to use Perdue OWL when completing my writing. I feel that using the media piece when learning about writing really helps me to understand and get my ideas flowing, rather than just looking at a sample paper. It includes the whole writing process from start to finish, and I feel it helps me direct my writing. The student success center has really helped me, along with Perdue OWL, with how to complete my reference page and how to incorporate in-text citations into my writing. I have really enjoyed getting to learn about the writing process and how to research, as I feel it will help me greatly in my upcoming classes.

Topic 5: DQ 2

Nov 13-17, 2023

Identify challenges that may be present in the online classroom communication such as the nonverbal and auditory cues? What are some strategies we can use to overcome these obstacles?

Reply to my classmates at the bottom:

Teola Powell

Nov 15, 2023, 12:45 AM

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In an online classroom setting, communication challenges arise due to the absence of traditional face-to-face interactions. Online communication often lacks nonverbal cues such as facial expressions, gestures, and body language, making it difficult to gauge emotions or intentions accurately. The tone of voice and other auditory cues can be limited in text-based communication, leading to potential misunderstandings. Online classrooms may lack the informal social interactions that occur naturally in a physical classroom, potentially affecting the sense of community.

 

To overcome these obstacles, encourage clarity in written communication and prompt participants to seek clarification when in doubt. Use voice or video calls for more complex or sensitive discussions to effectively convey tone and intention.  Incorporate collaborative activities to foster a sense of community and use video conferencing for virtual meetings to simulate face-to-face interactions.

Cassidy Cheung

Nov 14, 2023, 8:50 PM

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The challenges that are possible in an online classroom communication could be not having a physical connection with a classmate and easy distractions. Not having a physical person present in front of someone is hard to want to really communicate with that person, an individual in just looking at a digital screen and a name of that person. When a reply is sent to another person over the internet there can be a long pause that can range from a few seconds to hours. When a physical person is present a reply is mostly immediate and there is some type of emotional that is present when there is a reply, but in a online classroom environment it is just words on a screen.

 

The other challenge is being easily distracted, an individual can look and read from a screen and sit back and try to digest what they have just read. Then they can hear something like a tea kettle going off or if they left the Television on, they adjust their attention to that direction and one thing leads to another they are on their phone or watching the television.

Kennedy Keegan

Nov 14, 2023, 11:33 AM

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I have found that in a regular classroom, picking up on auditory and nonverbal cues can be extremely crucial. At one time or another, we have probably all had a professor or teacher stress the urgency or importance of a specific topic with their tone or by using a facial expression. Sometimes, this tells us what we need to focus on for the upcoming assignments or tests. I have found that sometimes being completely online, it is harder to pick up the meaning or importance behind some assignments because the cues are not present. Another challenge I have experienced is that communicating online via message or video chat is harder to set up rather than just being able to ask your professor before or after class to clarify. Even though the wait time may be longer, I have found that messaging or asking class questions has helped me overcome communication issues I have had with assignments. Another strategy I try to use is to look at next week’s assignments early to see if there is anything I may be unsure about so that I can research or figure out anything I may need to ask a question about. I am looking forward to hearing everyone’s strategies that they currently use to maybe apply some to my current academic career.  

Kari Clary

Nov 13, 2023, 3:39 PM

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Challenges that may be present? I think the entire communication aspect that’s required. I like the online classes, per the fact that I’m a full time parent and I work full time. So, the convenience of doing all online made going back to school an easy decision. The communication aspect and having to post on the discussion board to other’s post multiple times a week? That’s inconvenient. Communicating with your classmates and professor online should be per the need of the student, not as a grade. It shouldn’t be a task but a resource. And resourses are used as needed. I don’t think communication is difficult with online schooling other than not understanding something fully, which is when you utilize the discussion to ask your fellow classmates and your professor.