Online Classes: Photographing Your Homework Like a Pro And Once in a Pink Moon

As long as you have a computer and a reliable internet connection, moving to online learning can be easy and fun!  First, you have to watch your lectures and do your homework, which is the hard part.  Next, you have to photograph and upload any homework that you have written or drawn on paper, which is the fun part! Read on to become the next Dorothea Lange or Ansel Adams of homework, with a discussion of:

Writing Easy-to-Read Homework for Online Courses

For hand-written homework, it’ll help your instructors a lot if they can easily read what you wrote.  If they’re happy, you’re happy, because you won’t have to copy your homework over and photograph it again, right?  Here are some easy hints on how to write legible homework:

1) Write your answers single sided (do NOT skip this step) on paper using highly contrasting blue or black pen or dark pencil (the trusty number 2 pencil is dark enough). Include your name at the top of the first page and page numbers.

[This step makes sure there is no “bleed” of ink or pressure marks from the other side of the page, which make the page illegible to instructors who must read hundreds of pages.]

2) Set up your lights so there’s enough light to photograph without shadows. At night, you might have to move a couple of lamps together so there are NO SHADOWS (do NOT skip this step, either). 

[This step is important because shadows are really distracting and make the page illegible to instructors who must read way too many assignments.]

The pink mool photographed through our neighbor's magnolia!

Photographing like a Pro Using the Scanbot  App

I just tried out the Scanbot App, available for iPhone and Android and it rocks, mostly because of ease of use and because you can easily make a file with multiple pages.  I joined for free, but they push for monthly fees, so make sure you sign up for free if that’s what you want.  

1) Download the Scanbot App (it’s free!) to your phone or tablet.  You can download either the Android or iPhone version. Enter your email.

2) The app asks for permission to use your camera; give permission. 

3) The camera becomes active right away and you can select from “Single” for one-page homework or “Multi-Page” for multi-page homework. 

Suppose you have multipage homework.  Select “Multi-page” and take photos, in order, of pages 1 and then 2 (You wrote page numbers on your homework, didn’t you?).  When finished with all pages, you click in the lower right on the words that tell how many pages (“2 pages,” in this example).

4) Click on “Save” in the upper right.  Check the file has all necessary pages by swiping right.  You’ve just photographed your first assignment!

Send and Upload Homework

You can easily send your file to your GoogleDrive, OneDrive or Dropbox (all three recommended by Blackboard) and upload files to Blackboard from there.

1) Get to the page on Scanbot that has a picture of your file. Click on your file.  At the bottom, click on “Send to,” then ”New Workflow,” then “Add new Cloud.”

2)  Suppose you select “Google Drive” because you have a Google Account at your college.  You will have to enter your school address and give permission for Google to connect your accounts.

3) Next you’re going to link your Cloud storage (aka your GoogleDrive, OneDrive or Dropbox account) to your Blackboard account and upload your homework. The instructions are different for iPhone than Android, so go  here:

Or, if you don’t want Google tracking everything you’re doing, you can email the files to yourself, download to your computer and upload to Blackboard.  

Verify Upload

You should get an email verification that you submitted an assignment.  You should also be able to see your assignment on your assignment page on Blackboard and be able to open your multi-page assignment!  

Once in a Pink Moon

Now it’s time to relax! There apparently was a beautiful pink moon on April 7, 2020 if you happened to see it.  I photographed the moon through my neighbors’ magnolia tree the day before (see above) and I photographed the tree the day after (see below), as well.  The “pink moon” is not actually pink but is seen in April at the time the pink blossoms of phlox bloom.  Apparently, that's also when the magnolias bloom!

The moon was also considered a super moon, appearing bigger and brighter than usual because it was at its closest to the Earth, according to CNN.  Click here to learn more.   

The magnolia in full bloom!

This blogpost was written for the benefit of the learning community at Washtenaw Community College and beyond as part of my sabbatical activities for Winter 2020.  I am solely responsible for the content and hold the copyright for the work. Feel free to use the information in this blog; just credit me with a link back to my blog! -Emily Thompson, Ph.D.

Recipes For: Success as an Online Student and An Easy-To-Eat Study Snack!

So, you’re a student, and you’re learning online because of the COVID pandemic.  You might wonder, then, how to become a successful online student. I’ve got four steps to help you be more successful, plus a Bonus Easy-to-Eat Study Snack (the best kind)!

“A little scheduling saves a lot of fan cleaning” (modified from here)

Schedule. The first step is to write a schedule with your deadlines and when you’ll do your work for class.  The schedule needs to include time to prepare materials, watch the videos, review key points, and complete the evaluation.

“I buy books and sometimes I even read them”

Preview.  You’ve printed or downloaded the slides, you have your book or reading materials in front of you, now what?  Now, you use a highlighter and or pencil and spend 15-60 minutes going through the material.  The highlighter is for marking the 5-10 major themes and any vocab.  The pencil is for writing questions you hope are answered in the video.  For a class with homework due Sunday at 11:59 PM, I might do the preview on Thursday or Friday. I usually do the readings at the preview step and this may take some considerable time.

“Online learning means pajamas all day”

Watch.  It’s time to watch the videos and no one knows if you’re still in your pajamas!  For a class with homework due on Sunday at 11:59 PM, I might set aside time on Saturday for watching the videos (twice as many minutes as there are minutes of video)

            Use transcripts/closed captioning. You can open up transcripts/close captioning (if you have them) if the video is especially technical.  Then, if the instructor says something not on the notes that you don’t understand, you can read what on earth they are talking about! 

            Vary the speed. You can change the speed at which you listen to the video. If you have an easier class or a slower speaker, 1.25 X or 1.5 X might be a good speed.

            Understand. Watch and take notes.  Do stop and rewind to watch sections or whole videos if you don’t understand the material.  Sometimes you can even download the lectures as MP4s and listen to help you learn the material.

            This is also the time to do the readings, if you haven’t already.

“The more I practice, the luckier I get” (modified from J.J. Lerner)

Review. Although it’s tempting to skip this step, reviewing consolidates your learning.  You can re-read any reading summaries you’ve written and you can go over your lecture notes.

“Do your best, forget the rest” (Grant McGee)

Evaluation.  Now it’s time to take your evaluation, which might be an online quiz, lab, video, project, or essay.  You’ve prepared, you’ve watched the material, you’ve reviewed, so you’re going to do well. Good luck!

Whew!  That’s done! You’ve worked hard and it’s time for an: 

Easy-To-Eat Study Snack

Here’s a sensational recipe using items you might already have in your pantry.  The recipe is based on the one from here by Simmons (2020).

2 T peanut butter, unsweetened

2 T chocolate chips

2 T quick oats

2 T dried coconut

1 T honey

Measure out into a bowl and mix with a fork until well blended.  Roll into four balls.  Roll in extra coconut or chocolate chips, if you like. Skip the ingredients you don’t like.

This recipe makes four energy balls, which is enough for four people, as long as the other three are eating something else!

References

1) Original quote by lynshultes. Here's the reference:

Shultes, L. (2019). A little risk management saves a lot of fan cleaning. https://www.drupalgovcon.org/2018/program/sessions/little-risk-management-saves-lot-fan-cleaning

2) The first time the fourth quote appears in print is in an anecdote by J.J. Lerner, as reported by Walter Winchell in 1949.  Read more about it’s history here from Garson O'Toole in the Quote Tracker blog https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/07/14/luck/

Here's Garson's reference:

O'Toole, G. (n.d.). The harder I practice, the luckier I get. Quote Investigator.  https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/07/14/luck/

3) The fifth quote is attributed to Grant McGee, who wrote it in a poem “Out in the World,” in Houston’s Daily Post, published on January 15, 1915.  Thanks to Barry Popik for tracking it down and discussing it here. 

McGee, G. (1915, January 15). Out in the World. Daily Post (Houston).

4) The recipe is modified from the Chef Savvy blog, by Chef Kelly Simmons. Here's the reference:

Simmons, K. (2020). 5 Ingredient Peanut Butter Energy Bites. https://chefsavvy.com/5-ingredient-peanut-butter-energy-bites/

This blogpost was written for the benefit of students at Washtenaw Community College and the community as part of my sabbatical activities for winter 2020.  I am solely responsible for the content and hold the copyright for the work. Feel free to use the information in this blog; just credit me with a link back to my blog! -Emily Thompson, Ph.D.