I had a lot of trouble sleeping last quarter. I would skip morning class sometimes because I was way too tired to get out of bed, then be unable to go to sleep until 2 or 3 AM. Now that I’m at home on winter break, my sleep schedule has returned to a more normal state. My increased energy and well-being during this time piqued my curiosity as to how sleep relates to performance. Here are some tips for optimizing your sleep habits to boost productivity and well-being in college. Read the rest of this entry »

The other day I was reading a blog entry from David Cole on the Britannica Blog called Why I Ban Laptops in My Classroom. This article illustrated a point that I comment on constantly. Anytime I have a discussion about studying and learning methods, I always say that students should NEVER bring their laptops to lectures.

Typing on a laptop isn’t nearly as effective as writing information down by hand. Students go into “stenographic mode,” as Cole says, when they type notes. Most college students can type deftly without processing the information they are recording. Think about this comparison: If someone watches a film adaptation of Phantom of the Opera and is asked the name of Phantom a week later, that person may or may be able to recall that fact. However if the same person takes a lead role in a play of the same story, they will instantly tell you that the Phantom’s name is Erik and they will probably remember that fact for the rest of their life. Handwriting notes versus typing them is similar. Physical writing requires that a student think about the topic at hand.

Also, a laptop is a huge distraction. A student with a laptop is tempted to surf the Internet, play Solitaire, chat on IM, play with Photoshop, watch TV and movies, etc. You name it. A piece of paper, on the other hand, offers no entertaining alternative to writing. You can doodle if you want, but even that only serves as a reminder that you should be taking notes. Students have a hard enough time paying attention and trying not to fall asleep without a large, bright screen begging them to do anything but pay attention.

Finally, a laptop is a distraction to the people around the user. If a person is using their laptop below me or next to me, the brightness of the screen encourages me to look at whatever they’re doing, which usually isn’t taking notes. Once I am pulled in, I stop paying attention to confidence intervals and start wondering if anyone left me comments on my Facebook. Even if I can’t directly see a laptop, the sound of typing above and around me is enough to be distracting.

Because of these reasons, I recommend leaving your laptop at home. Your productivity will increase dramatically and you will have to study less because you will remember more from lecture.

Do you bring your laptop to lectures?

GetHundos is a startup that has recently gone into beta. GetHundos is a social networking site for college students. Right now it is open exclusively to University of Washington students and their friends. Today, I signed up for this fun service and tested it out. So far it has been pretty humorous and very engaging.

To sign up for the service, you must have a valid University of Washington email address. Registration was quick and painless. No unnecessary data is required, just basic registration information. The interface is easy, intuitive, and looks great.

The main idea of the site is to pit users against each other and see who can come up with the wittiest answer to a question posed by GetHundos in 160 characters or less. An example of a contest is: “How do you know when you are obsessed with Husky football?” Users come up with responses and other users vote up the ones they like and vote down the responses they think are lame. A picture can be uploaded with the response to enhance the message and make it funnier. Whichever entry garners the most votes at the end of the time period nets $100 dollars (hence the name GetHundos). Users also have the options of SuperVoting and Bombing entries, which count as +10 and -10 votes, respectively.

Users can earn “hundos” for entering and winning contests as well. Hundos are like currency and are used to buy more SuperVotes and Bombs at the GetHundos store. They also determine your rank in the GetHundos community. Like any other social network, users can befriend others and grow their network. In addition, users can become Fans or Haters of other people and establish alliances.

GetHundos is a simple but extremely entertaining site for college students. Once it gets bigger and looks beyond the UW campus, GetHundos should be very popular. If you are a UW student you should sign up right now. If you already have, what do you think of the site? What contests have you entered so far? What contests should be posted there?

Find me on GetHundos using the name cyruskazemi