A-Z

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• F
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• H
• I
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• N
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• Q
• R
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• W
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• Y
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• A Back to top

  • A-Z - Index to Skills for OU Study
  • Academic writing style - Explanation and techniques to help the student write in an appropriate style
  • Acquiring a computer for study - How to prepare for a course that involves the use of a PC
  • Active reading - Description of active reading and techniques to aid reading comprehension
  • Advance planning - Advice on how to prepare for examinations, what to take, how to get there
  • After the examination - Advice on how to analyse an exam just taken
  • An effective forum - How to tell whether a forum is working well
  • Applying yourself to the learning cycle - Advice on how to improve learning by periodically reviewing what works and what can be done to improve understanding
  • Assessed writing - Explanation of what is looked for in assessed writing at post-graduate level
  • Assignments - Top page for assignments - explains types of assignment, how to prepare for them, paraphrasing and preferred style

• B Back to top

  • Be aware of your habits - How reflective learning can aid in improving comprehension and quality of work
  • Benefits of developing computing skills - The benefits of developing your computing skills
  • Benefits of forums - The benefits of online forums for the OU student community
  • Booklets - Page of helpful booklets on a variety of topics for the student to download
  • Broadband or dial-up? - Choosing between broadband and dial-up internet connection
  • Buying a computer - Thinking of buying a computer; enusring it has the right specification for OU study

• C Back to top

  • Changing the size of text - How to resize the text on a web page to make it easier to read
  • Check for gaps in your knowledge - Techniques for identifying weak areas and topics to revise
  • Choosing an ISP - Choosing an ISP (Internet Service Provider)
  • Clean up your PC - How to keep your computer in good order
  • Comparing academic sources - List of academic sources with summary of strengths and weaknesses
  • Computer health and safety advice - How to avoid injuries when using your computer
  • Computer security - How to ensure you and your data are safe when using computers
  • Computing help and support - Outline of computer support available to students
  • Computing online - How to connect your computer to the internet
  • Computing skills - Computing skills
  • Conducting a literature review - How to carry out a literature review
  • Conducting an interview - Guidance on how to design an interview
  • Coping with difficult content - Advice on understanding difficult ideas
  • Coping with exam stress - Advice on how to cope with exam stress
  • Copying and pasting text - How to copy and past portions of text from a web page to your own documents or for safe keeping
  • Core skills - Page leading to more comprehensive explanations of core skills
  • Critical reading - An explanation of what critical reading is, and how to achieve it
  • Critical reading techniques - Techniques on how to read faster, understand more, remember better
  • Critically processing what you read - Advice on how to select and evaluate material critically

• D Back to top

  • Demos - Watch some video demonstrations on using Word
  • Develop your listening and speaking - Activities to help develop listening skills
  • Develop your reading - Advice on how to develop strategies for reading academic material
  • Develop your writing - An overview of what is required for a well-structured piece of writing
  • Developing academic English - Top page for developing academic English including tips and activities
  • Distractions and procrastination - Common distractions and procrastinations identified and methods for eliminating them
  • Dividing your work into paragraphs - Advice on how to write in paragraphs
  • Drafting your answer - Description of the three stages of writing - outline, draft, final essay

• E Back to top

  • Editing and checking - Guidance on how to proof-read and edit your work
  • Elluminate - How Elluminate can be used for your study
  • Email a friend about this page - Form to fill out to notify someone of this page
  • Emotional intelligence - Definition of emotional intelligence and how to improve it
  • End-of-module assessment - Explanation of EMA and how to complete it
  • Essays - Guidance on how to structure an essay
  • Evaluating websites and content - How to evaluate the quality of websites and their content
  • Examinations - Overview of examinations, and techniques to make taking them less stressful

• F Back to top

  • Favourite sites - How to save, or 'bookmark' your favourite web sites
  • Feedback - Feedback form
  • Find out about the exam - Explanation of an exam paper's structure
  • Finding a place to study - Finding a good way to study
  • Finding appropriate academic material - How to search for, and evaluate, academic literature
  • Finding text on a page - How to find text on a web page
  • Forum activities - The types of activites online forums support
  • Forums - An introduction to online forums at the OU
  • Further information on Google Apps - Further information on Google Apps

• G Back to top

  • Gathering and processing evidence - A description of how to collect information for postgraduate study and the ethics involved
  • Gathering your materials - A guide on how to prepare for an assignment
  • Getting yourself ready - Check your computing skills before your module starts
  • Giving a presentation - Advice on how to prepare a presentation
  • Giving presentations - Overview of how to create and deliver a presentation
  • Gmail (OU email) - Using Gmail (OU mail)
  • Google Calendar - Using Google Calender
  • Google Contacts - Using Google Contacts
  • Google Documents - Using Google Documents
  • Google Sites - Using Google Sites
  • Google Talk - Using Google Talk
  • Grammar, spelling and punctuation - Suggestions on how to improve grammar, spelling and punctuation

• H Back to top

  • Hardware explained - What is computer hardware?
  • Help with the cost - Advice about getting help with the cost when buying a computer
  • Helpful tips - Suggestions on how to make studying easier
  • Highlighting and annotating - Making notes in study texts
  • Home - Home page for Skills for OU Study
  • How do I use my own words - How to reformulate someone else's words
  • How to help a forum to work - Ways to help a forum run effectively
  • How to recognise links - How to recognise and use links in websites
  • How to take notes - Explains how taking notes is part of critical reading

• I Back to top

  • If you fall behind - What to do when you fall behind schedule
  • If you get stuck with maths - How to deal with problems with understanding mathematics
  • In the examination hall - Techniques to enable you to prepare for the examination
  • Index cards - Notetaking techniques using index cards
  • Instant messaging - Tips about instant messaging and when you should use it
  • Internet accessibility - A guide to accessibility features of internet browsers that cater for specific user needs, including visual, hearing, mobility and cognitive impairments.

• J Back to top

  No entries yet.

• K Back to top

  No entries yet.

• L Back to top

  • Language settings - How to change your language setting to view web pages that offer content in other languages or alphabets
  • Learning computing skills - Resources to improve your computing skills
  • Learning from feedback - Explanation of what can be learned from feedback
  • Line diagrams and system maps - An explanation of line diagrams and system maps

• M Back to top

  • Making a timetable - Advice on how to create a revision timetable
  • Making audio recordings - The value of audio and points to consider when using audio
  • Making the most of your learning style - Overview of different learning styles
  • Managing stress - Overview of different methods for dealing with stress
  • Microphones and headsets - Choosing the right microphone to suit your recordings and budget
  • Mind maps - Explanation of mind maps
  • Mobile recording devices - Recording your thoughts on the go
  • Mobiles - Tips on using mobile devices
  • More advanced help with math - How to deal with problems with understanding mathematics
  • Moving a window - How to move a window
  • Multiple intelligences - Explanation of the different types of intelligence

• N Back to top

  • Notetaking techniques - Overview of the different methods of taking notes

• O Back to top

  • OU Google Apps for computing - What is OU Google apps and how can I use it?
  • Off you go! - Encouragement to start revising
  • Ongoing skills - Top page for Ongoing skills
  • Online IT help and information - Links to useful websites concerning computing information
  • Oral examinations - Explanation of the format of oral exams and techniques to help
  • Oral languages assignments - Techniques to prepare for oral languages assignments
  • Organising your notes - Suggestions on how to organise and store your notes

• P Back to top

  • Page not found - Page not found
  • Paraphrasing - Explanation of how to paraphrase
  • Passwords - The importance of passwords and how to choose one
  • Planning and prioritising - Explanation of how to plan and prioritise your time
  • Pop-up windows - What are pop-ups, and what are they for?
  • Postgraduate study skills - Overview of postgraduate study skills
  • Preparing assignments - An overview of how to prepare assignments
  • Presenting your findings - Explanation of how to present your findings at postgraduate level
  • Printing a web page - How to print off a web page
  • Problem solving - Explanation of different methods of solving problems
  • Protecting your PC - How to protect your PC from viruses and other attacks

• Q Back to top

  No entries yet.

• R Back to top

  • Reading and writing maths - Overview of reading and writing maths
  • Reading efficiently - Explanation of scanning and skimming text
  • Reading maths - Techniques to understand written mathematics
  • Reading skills for postgraduate study - Explanation of what reading skills are needed at postgraduate level
  • Recording audio on your computer - How to record audio onto your computer
  • Recording quality - How to improve the quality of your recording
  • Recording your notes - Tips for audio-recording your notes
  • Referencing - Importance of referencing your work explained
  • Referencing - Importance of referencing your work explained
  • Rehearsing exam answers - Tips for preparing for a written exam
  • Remaining motivated - Advice on remaining motivated in your studies
  • Reports - Description of the layout of a report
  • Resizing a window - How to resize a window
  • Review your progress - Diagram explaining how learning progresses
  • Reviewing what you know - Techniques to help revise
  • Revising and examinations - Top page for revising and examinations
  • Revising with others - Tips on running a study group for revision
  • Revision - Overview of how to revise
  • Revision techniques - Overview of revision techiques

• S Back to top

  • Safety online guidance - Advice on how to stay safe when using computers and the internet
  • Saving a web page - Saving web pages to your computer to enable you to refer to it later
  • Searching online - How to search effectively on the web
  • Self-talk - Explanation of how self-talk can be helpful
  • Sending it in - Explanation of how and when to send in an assignment
  • Setting your home page - How to set your homepage in your browser
  • Short answer questions - Definition of short answer questions
  • Sitemap - Sitemap
  • Software explained - What is computer software?
  • Strategic study techniques - Strategies to make better use of time and energy studying
  • Structure of text - A guide on how to structure text appropriately
  • Study goals - How to identify short term goals and plan for them
  • Submitting assignments online - There's a simple process for submitting your assignments online
  • Summarising your work - A variety of methods to summarise your work for revision

• T Back to top

  • Tables - Explanation of using tables for notetaking
  • Taking notes for languages students - Tips on how to take notes for language students
  • Taking notes from speech - Tips on how to take notes from speech
  • The importance of language skills - The importance of language skills explained for differing levels of study
  • The web - taking part - Tips on using the World Wide Web
  • Thinking about intelligence and mindsets - Explanation of the different types of intelligence
  • Time management skills - Overview of the various ways to manage your time
  • Tips for language students - Revision tips for language students
  • Tips for oral exams - Revision tips for language students
  • Try to stay positive - Positive thinking before exams
  • Types of assignment - Summary of the different types of assignment
  • Types of forum - How different types of forums can support study
  • Typical problems - Some common problems with forums and how to handle them

• U Back to top

  • URL short-cut - How to create a URL shortcut to get quickly to any web page
  • Understanding the question - Advice on how to understand exactly what the assignment requires
  • Use an efficient approach - Advice on how to read effectively
  • Use of source materials - How to use source materials
  • Using a questionnaire - How to design a questionnaire
  • Using a site map - How to use a sitemap to help you find information
  • Using abbreviations - A list of standard abbreviations
  • Using an appropriate writing style - Explanation of the different styles of voice in academic writing
  • Using email - Tips on when and how to use your OU student email account
  • Using linking words - An explanation of the use of "linking words"
  • Using quotations - How to use quotations correctly
  • Using statistics - Definitions of the different types of statistics and how to present them
  • Using the keyboard - Tips on using the keyboard instead of the mouse to explore web pages
  • Using your computer - Developing your computing skills

• V Back to top

  • Visual techniques - Different visual techniques that can aid retention
  • Visualisation techniques - Two visualisation techniques to help reduce stress

• W Back to top

  • Web browser basics - A guide to finding your way in and around a website, using the navigation buttons, tabs and scroll bars
  • What is a PDF? - How to access and download a PDF document from the web
  • What is academic English? - Explanation of the requirements of academic English
  • What is an RTF file? - Description of an RTF file and how to download and create an RTF
  • Where to go for support - Suggestions as to where a student can get help with academic English
  • Working with a computer - Using the word processor on your computer
  • Writing for university - General introduction to different academic writing styles
  • Writing in your own words - Overview to using supporting evidence in written work
  • Writing maths - Advice on how to write maths

• X Back to top

  No entries yet.

• Y Back to top

  • Your exam paper - Advice on how to read an exam paper and plan your time effectively

• Z Back to top

  No entries yet.