A great method to study or learn anything very quickly...
Dec 11, 2014 14:42:51 GMT -6
Nugget, Mystic Wanderer, and 2 more like this
Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2014 14:42:51 GMT -6
Heya Folks!
I come today to share something I just stumbled across by happenstance and desperation in having to learn a rather enormous amount of material in a short period of time with regard to a Biology 100 class that had an instructor more interested in redefining difficult than he was in seeing people get their money's worth. A rough experience all around, but that is really for the rant forum, not so much this one.
As someone once said though....that it is sometimes through great adversity that we find great breakthroughs.
I think I may have found one here. In fact, this worked so well (and would have done so much better, had I thought about it sooner) that I may present it to the Disabled Services office I work for on campus as well. They have the resources to order what would be necessary in creating at least one station in the comp lab to do the same thing.
Anyway... This is what my set up at home looks like:
I put something up on each, to show what an average moment may look like for what I'm usually up to. The center screen may be school related, or a variety of things for what I want to focus on doing, with the sides being equal size (which is what matters here) and equal resolution for impact...but still just off the line of sight. It makes it possible to have changing images on those side screens as well, which are taken in completely, on a subconscious level, as well as being absorbed each time you glance either way.
That probably doesn't make much sense without seeing what it looks like to do, so...here is what I have had recently running and very much focused with:
The last PowerPoint I used was a couple dozen pages of vocab terms and things like that, as well as short concept items ..like the 5 characteristics all life share. Stuff that fit well into that red on white, title/subtitle layout. I did some research before doing this on colors and how they impact memory retention of visual material. That is what I settled on.
By putting MS PowerPoint into Windowed mode on the slideshow, you get the task bar which is visible on the bottom (the green line) of the left monitor, but outside that? It simply fills the screen and doesn't put an ugly border or menu bar of a normal window. It also works when you change cursor to OTHER windows, and continues to play the slides.
Windowed mode is the only one (set in Slide Show Settings area) that won't stop the presentation when focus changes to another monitor. (Important thing learned by trial and error there)
FastStone Image Viewer is a free but very powerful image program that does fast screen capture (or a part of it) then quick access to resizing, commenting, or cropping before saving. It ALSO has a very handy slide show mode which will simply play a whole directory and/or its sub-directories. So....I collected almost 100 charts, graphics, pics and other things to rotate on a 20 second timer for the right hand screen. (PowerPoint rotated on a 10 second timer for some visual break and to avoid an unpleasant visual effect after awhile).
Like PowerPoint, FastStone Image Viewer continues to run the slideshow, even when something else is being done in another window/monitor.
Finally, that leaves the center...and that is how you can manage to keep otherwise boring material flashing within your line of sight for hours on end. You can do anything you like on the center one. In the image above, I loaded up Far Cry 4, and it is part of what I've been doing this week. In this context, it really comes down to whatever draws your attention to make long periods at the system worth it....for the side screen material. Left side, changing every 10 seconds, or 360 times per hour. The right side changing every 20 seconds or 180 times in an hour. Several hours of that is powerful and has been very effective.
Video cards with 3 monitor support are not terribly difficult to find, and one doesn't need the top of the line (well..Far Cry 4 is quite demanding, but surfing the net works too). The monitors were not cheap, and I got them on sale at about $250 each. If someone wants to create something similar, they are AOC 27" Monitors. They are sitting flat on the desk. That isn't an illusion, and it adds to the real immersion of whatever is being done. They are designed to do that, and part of why I note them specifically. Not many are like this.
I have a pad under the rear support to offset a slight lean to this desk, but the chrome arm either locks into a mount for a pedestal stand, like most monitors have, or it has a little rubber boot which is just visible there, to take the monitor leaning back against.
This sort of thing is an investment. No question about it. It wouldn't be honest to say it didn't hurt pretty badly and for quite some time, to have bought the screens pictured here. These don't just allow 3 different things to be done though. (and it's quite a bit more, when a large space can be split 2-4 ways each)
As this has really shown for me, they allow entirely new uses for the computer that just aren't possible with single or really, even double monitors.
----
I included a comment about the TV or what I really consider more a wall screen, since my TV time is still pretty light compared to what it once was, because it can be very important to have.
I can't emphasize enough how valuable Youtube really is these days. Now no one wants to really hear anything about Biology. I sure don't want to, even to share ..but here are a couple Youtube videos which show the sort of thing someone can run half in the background, and pick up skills almost without effort in some examples.
Ever been driven nuts trying to recall % math, or trying to do more obscure %'s? How about learning a shortcut you'll love to have, in one 10 min shot?
Do you only think of Excel as a spreadsheet program for accountants? Shame on you...(grin) It is SO very much more! Learn how to do a basic website scrape in just over 5 minutes..and a hint in the relevance of this? Excel can save in ready-to-use html file format as easily as it can read from it.
How about something more practical for many people..if they could learn it more easily?
Gimp is often considered a free alternative to Photoshop. It isn't quite that, but it is very powerful ..and perhaps intimidating at first.
These are the ways Youtube has become a valuable education tool. I was first surprised, but now have become accustomed to seeing youtube videos played for a whole day's course period because it covers university subject matter better than what an instructor can do. That ranges from the history of Vikings in North America to the effort of collecting Polar Bears for environmental tissue samples. (animal science for the last class).
If that isn't workable or what someone wants..I also recommend Lynda.com which is a monthly fee based service for whole sets of video tutorials on just about any software or practical processes someone might want. Those range from bare beginning level on databases, up to advanced operating system or graphics and video software. The handy thing is, they have a small # of videos which are free for each product they cover, and often? The free ones will give enough to get a start as a beginner doing trial and error learning.
Anyway... I threw in the last couple things here for overall learning reference for what has made my life easier, but the main focus is the learning power of the side screen study material running a constant rotation to some otherwise very enjoyable thing being done on a center display.
It works...and as I mentioned near the open? My only regret was not having thought to try this much sooner. This semester would have gone so much easier. Future ones will benefit greatly, no doubt.
I come today to share something I just stumbled across by happenstance and desperation in having to learn a rather enormous amount of material in a short period of time with regard to a Biology 100 class that had an instructor more interested in redefining difficult than he was in seeing people get their money's worth. A rough experience all around, but that is really for the rant forum, not so much this one.
As someone once said though....that it is sometimes through great adversity that we find great breakthroughs.
I think I may have found one here. In fact, this worked so well (and would have done so much better, had I thought about it sooner) that I may present it to the Disabled Services office I work for on campus as well. They have the resources to order what would be necessary in creating at least one station in the comp lab to do the same thing.
Anyway... This is what my set up at home looks like:
I put something up on each, to show what an average moment may look like for what I'm usually up to. The center screen may be school related, or a variety of things for what I want to focus on doing, with the sides being equal size (which is what matters here) and equal resolution for impact...but still just off the line of sight. It makes it possible to have changing images on those side screens as well, which are taken in completely, on a subconscious level, as well as being absorbed each time you glance either way.
That probably doesn't make much sense without seeing what it looks like to do, so...here is what I have had recently running and very much focused with:
The last PowerPoint I used was a couple dozen pages of vocab terms and things like that, as well as short concept items ..like the 5 characteristics all life share. Stuff that fit well into that red on white, title/subtitle layout. I did some research before doing this on colors and how they impact memory retention of visual material. That is what I settled on.
By putting MS PowerPoint into Windowed mode on the slideshow, you get the task bar which is visible on the bottom (the green line) of the left monitor, but outside that? It simply fills the screen and doesn't put an ugly border or menu bar of a normal window. It also works when you change cursor to OTHER windows, and continues to play the slides.
Windowed mode is the only one (set in Slide Show Settings area) that won't stop the presentation when focus changes to another monitor. (Important thing learned by trial and error there)
FastStone Image Viewer is a free but very powerful image program that does fast screen capture (or a part of it) then quick access to resizing, commenting, or cropping before saving. It ALSO has a very handy slide show mode which will simply play a whole directory and/or its sub-directories. So....I collected almost 100 charts, graphics, pics and other things to rotate on a 20 second timer for the right hand screen. (PowerPoint rotated on a 10 second timer for some visual break and to avoid an unpleasant visual effect after awhile).
Like PowerPoint, FastStone Image Viewer continues to run the slideshow, even when something else is being done in another window/monitor.
Finally, that leaves the center...and that is how you can manage to keep otherwise boring material flashing within your line of sight for hours on end. You can do anything you like on the center one. In the image above, I loaded up Far Cry 4, and it is part of what I've been doing this week. In this context, it really comes down to whatever draws your attention to make long periods at the system worth it....for the side screen material. Left side, changing every 10 seconds, or 360 times per hour. The right side changing every 20 seconds or 180 times in an hour. Several hours of that is powerful and has been very effective.
Video cards with 3 monitor support are not terribly difficult to find, and one doesn't need the top of the line (well..Far Cry 4 is quite demanding, but surfing the net works too). The monitors were not cheap, and I got them on sale at about $250 each. If someone wants to create something similar, they are AOC 27" Monitors. They are sitting flat on the desk. That isn't an illusion, and it adds to the real immersion of whatever is being done. They are designed to do that, and part of why I note them specifically. Not many are like this.
I have a pad under the rear support to offset a slight lean to this desk, but the chrome arm either locks into a mount for a pedestal stand, like most monitors have, or it has a little rubber boot which is just visible there, to take the monitor leaning back against.
This sort of thing is an investment. No question about it. It wouldn't be honest to say it didn't hurt pretty badly and for quite some time, to have bought the screens pictured here. These don't just allow 3 different things to be done though. (and it's quite a bit more, when a large space can be split 2-4 ways each)
As this has really shown for me, they allow entirely new uses for the computer that just aren't possible with single or really, even double monitors.
----
I included a comment about the TV or what I really consider more a wall screen, since my TV time is still pretty light compared to what it once was, because it can be very important to have.
I can't emphasize enough how valuable Youtube really is these days. Now no one wants to really hear anything about Biology. I sure don't want to, even to share ..but here are a couple Youtube videos which show the sort of thing someone can run half in the background, and pick up skills almost without effort in some examples.
Ever been driven nuts trying to recall % math, or trying to do more obscure %'s? How about learning a shortcut you'll love to have, in one 10 min shot?
Do you only think of Excel as a spreadsheet program for accountants? Shame on you...(grin) It is SO very much more! Learn how to do a basic website scrape in just over 5 minutes..and a hint in the relevance of this? Excel can save in ready-to-use html file format as easily as it can read from it.
How about something more practical for many people..if they could learn it more easily?
Gimp is often considered a free alternative to Photoshop. It isn't quite that, but it is very powerful ..and perhaps intimidating at first.
These are the ways Youtube has become a valuable education tool. I was first surprised, but now have become accustomed to seeing youtube videos played for a whole day's course period because it covers university subject matter better than what an instructor can do. That ranges from the history of Vikings in North America to the effort of collecting Polar Bears for environmental tissue samples. (animal science for the last class).
If that isn't workable or what someone wants..I also recommend Lynda.com which is a monthly fee based service for whole sets of video tutorials on just about any software or practical processes someone might want. Those range from bare beginning level on databases, up to advanced operating system or graphics and video software. The handy thing is, they have a small # of videos which are free for each product they cover, and often? The free ones will give enough to get a start as a beginner doing trial and error learning.
Anyway... I threw in the last couple things here for overall learning reference for what has made my life easier, but the main focus is the learning power of the side screen study material running a constant rotation to some otherwise very enjoyable thing being done on a center display.
It works...and as I mentioned near the open? My only regret was not having thought to try this much sooner. This semester would have gone so much easier. Future ones will benefit greatly, no doubt.
