Chris P
Summary of Course Taken
I have just finished the second year of Computer Science at Southampton, having previously done the first year of an Applied Social Sciences (Anthropology) course. Deciding to return to a more technical pathway, I made the change and am now enjoying the university experience a lot more.
Description of Strategies Used
My course would be nothing without technology, so I use it all the time. I began university with a laptop that at the time was about the standard spec available, but was on the heavy side and therefore it rarely moved from my desk. I began to find applications that could help with work and general ease of use, such as Opera browser. The mouse gestures are really convenient to use, as it makes browsing so much quicker and easier, especially when looking through search results.
Microsoft OneNote has also been a good find for typing up and organising revision notes, and the clip tool means that it is easy to copy images or large objects out of the relevant lecture slides.
I use Windows Live Messenger and Facebook to communicate and keep in touch with friends. Facebook allows groups to be made where group projects can be discussed easily.
Realising I would need a more powerful computer for my degree, I bought a desktop to handle any tasks that were too much for my laptop. However I began to see the need for something portable as major group projects began where I needed a machine with me. After a few months of carrying a heavy, now out of date laptop around university, I bought a netbook computer for under £200. This is much lighter, and is almost as powerful as the laptop it has replaced. The main problem is that it has only 8GB of storage, which is quickly running out. The small 9" screen has also led me to "cleaning" applications, by removing toolbars, and icons where possible to ensure that the little screen space contains as much relevant information as possible.
I find remembering tasks quite hard, I can usually remember that there is something I need to do, but not the details about it. Becuase of this, I write notes on my phone, and set them to show on the background, so that whenever I look at my phone, I can see what I need to do or where to go. I find this easier than setting tasks, or appointments on the phone, and it is much quicker to just glance at the background than to traverse through menus to the relevant section.
