Help? - Here are some suggestions for how to:

1) Establish your account

2) Make use of the notetaking feature of StudyTools

3) Suggested strategies for effective use

Establishing Your Account

When you connect to the online studytool page, your screen will look something like this (see following image).

On this page, please note:

• the link “create an account” - you will have to create an account the first time you use the system (this will be explained below

• the informed consent information

Create An Account

The first time you use StudyTools you will be asked to create an account. You should have to go through this procedure only once. Click on the link “create an account”. You will encounter a page that looks like this (see image below).

Fill in the information as requested

• Identification # must match an number already on file for the course you are in.

• The primary purpose of this form is to allow you to enter your own password. Note that you enter the password twice. It is very important that you remember your password. StudyTools uses an encryption method that does not allow the system administrator to view or change your password. If you should forget the password, the only option will be to contact the system administrator so that he can delete your account and then set up a new account so that you can register a second time. Obviously, we do not want to do this. It may be helpful to use a password you already use for another purpose – e.g., your email.

After you have created an account, you can now log into StudyTools – enter your Student Identification Number and password.

If the system recognizes your signin, you should see a welcome message that identifies the course(s) available to you.

If you get to this point (you log in) but see no course, this means you have successfully created an account, but your Identification # was not included in the list associated with the course you expected. This can happen for several reasons – most commonly the list of names was submitted and you were not on the class list. If nothing appears in the location where you see “Intro Psychology” in the image above, contact your instructor and let him/her know that you successfully created a login, but not course came up. Give your instructor your Identification # to forward to the StudyTools administrator.

Clicking on the Start Quiz button will allow you select a chapter to study and will begin to present questions for you to review.

Using the Notetaking Feature

The online StudyTools contain a built in tool for keeping notes. You should have a link "My Notebook" available any time you are working in the StudyTools environment.

The Notetaking tool will open in a second window. You can have both the question tool and the notetaking tool open at the same time.

Taking notes might be though of as a two step progess.

1) Declare a note page

2) Add material to this page

You must first reserve space on the server for your note by "creating a note" (see the image below).

You do not need to do this for every tidbit of information you want to store. You might consider creating a note for each chapter and keeping all your comments for this chapter as part of this one note.

Once a note exists, you can use "Go to note" to access that note. Enter the text you want and REMEMBER TO SAVE CHANGES.

Here is what your screen may look like when you have both the note tool and the question tool open in separate windows. If you position these two windows in this overlaping fashion, you can easily move between the two applications. You might use this arrangement to copy a question from the question tool and then paste it in the note tool. You might enter some additional text to explain the answer to the question for future reference.

Strategies for Effective Use

You are free to use these resources in anyway you like. Part of the goal in creating "tools" is to develop resources that users can shape to their own needs. However, you may find it useful to consider some of the ideas that have guided this project in making your decisions about how to use the resources.

1) The goal of this project is to help students understand and retain information already to them (e.g., the book). An important implication of this position is that the user is expected to use this resource in combination with the original information source. Have your book available and use it while you work online.

2) The probable benefits of this system are expected to be:

• increased familiarity with the testing format used to determine a major part of your grade - learn to answer multiple choice questions as applied in this class
• an apportunity to think about key ideas
• an opportunity to indentify things you do not know

The impact of each of these benefits will probably shift as you move through a course and perhaps as you approach each examination.

3) Problem identification (one capability built into this system) is useful only if you do something about the problem identified. If the system identifies something you do not understand and you determine what has been identified is important, reread the related material in your book.

4) It is important to consider when you might use the system for best results. Some benefits of the system assume you will use the system over an extended period of time (i.e., space your activity). The suggestion that you reread material that has been identified as difficult for you and take some notes for future review assumes you will use the studytools several times before each examination and not wait until the day before to begin your review.