Tech Table Monday, August 11, 2014
August 11, 2014
Justin: Welcome to MPA’s Tech Table. I’m Justin.
Diana: And I’m Diana.
Justin: And we’re your hosts. We’ll be serving up a heaping spoonful of all things tech.
Diana: We promise it’ll be easy to digest.
Justin: Well, are you sleepy, Diana?
Diana: Yes. Good day Monday.
Justin: Good day Monday.
Diana: We’re here.
Justin: We are here. Monday is the time on Tech Table when we reach into our inbox and pull out a question. What’s the address, Diana, that people may send their questions to?
Diana: You can send questions via email to questions@askmpa.com.
Justin: That’s right. This week Kayla asks with school right around the corner… Boo… What should I have that the school doesn’t tell me about? I’ve never attended college before so any tips you have would be much appreciated.
Diana: Look at her thinking ahead.
Justin: That’s right. Because college they don’t tell you much.
Diana: They really don’t. They don’t give you a list like say elementary. You go to the local store and pick up your school list.
Justin: That’s right.
Diana: No, they just make sure you show up.
Justin: Yeah, going to college can be scary frankly and if… Not one that enjoyed school in the first place…
Diana: What? There are people who don’t enjoy school?
Justin: Yeah. Not you, I know.
Diana: I love school.
Justin: Yes, you’re an academic. One way to be less worried, or at least to feel a little bit more prepared, is to have the right tools by your side for any task that you may encounter.
Diana: Yes. So let’s think – what kind of problems or issues might you face at college? Teachers explain things in high detail or in ways you may not understand. It’s all brand new stuff. Additionally, you might be in a large class like a lecture hall where you can’t always get the help you need directly.
Justin: Right. Exactly.
Diana: Homework can take forever.
Justin: Yes, I remember my music theory homework in college would take me like eight hours sometimes. Oh my goodness. If you can make it through that.
Diana: You might have a pile of it from every class. What is it they suggest for every credit hour you have for a course you should plan on three hours of study time per day?
Justin: Yeah, which is incredible.
Diana: You might have a roommate or more than one roommate that make focusing on your studies difficult.
Justin: Party animals.
Diana: And you have to learn to balance your personal life versus school.
Justin: Party animal.
Diana: For a lot of people it’s the first time you’re on your own.
Justin: Right.
Diana: But you still have to have some fun. So here are some things that can make this a little bit more bearable for you.
Justin: Yes, exactly. Number one, laptop. Small enough to carry but big enough to be powerful.
Diana: Yeah, you can use it for research, document creation, working in class, and keeping track of all your important info to help you study later.
Justin: A tablet of some kind. Of course, we recommend the iPad. Big iPad fans.
Diana: A recording device of some kind.
Justin: Yes, this is very helpful.
Diana: Yes, so that when you are outside of a lecture hall you can listen to things again over and over. Sometimes if you have to miss class, let’s say you have an extra curricular activity that’s taking you away or a family event that’s come up, you can send your recording device with a friend that’s in your class and have them record it. That’s pretty cool.
Justin: Also, noise canceling headphones. Very helpful when you’re trying to focus on your studies and your roommates are being party animals.
Diana: Then one other thing you can consider is become very familiar with the internet, your school website, the staff directory – everything that has to do with your school website itself because there’s a lot of online resources even through the library that will become very helpful to you and you can find out who you’re going to need to talk to when you need to talk to them.
Justin: That’s right.
Diana: Look ahead.
Justin: So, enjoy your back to school. Until next time…
Diana: Take care.
Justin: Tech Table is brought to you by MPA of Bloomfield, Iowa, and God’s Country Radio. You can visit us online at askmpa.com.
Diana: If you have questions or comments, please send them to questions@askmpa.com. That’s questions@askmpa.com.
Justin: And thanks for listening.
Post your comment