Ashford 5: – Week 4 – Discussion 1
Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Reference the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.
Saving and Organizing Information.
On Monday, Gina was asked by her boss to research a work-related topic and present her findings to the team the next day. Looking ahead at her schedule, she can only budget about two hours to research the topic and plans to complete this before lunch. During that time she is able to find several websites and articles related to the topic that she plans to incorporate into her presentation. Pleased with the results, she closes her browser, shuts down her computer, and leaves for lunch. When she returns from lunch she opens her computer to begin to plan her presentation. But wait—where are the websites and articles? Gina realizes that she neglected to save and organize her research and cannot remember where she found all of her resources. With no time to redo her research, she must go tell her boss that she cannot complete the presentation on time.
Prepare: In the 
Saving Research from the AU Library and the Tools and Tips for Saving and Organizing Research handouts, you are presented with various methods for organizing the information you have gathered while researching on the Internet and in the AU Library. In particular, you may find a “cloud” helpful for saving and organizing your research. Read The Beginner’s Guide to the Cloud to learn what this technology is and how it works.
Reflect: Has something like Gina’s story ever happened to you? Based on the story above, you can see that it is important to implement effective ways to collect, save, and organize your research. After exploring the options for organizing research mentioned in the resources above, reflect on those that you currently use or those that you think would be most helpful for your unique preferences and needs.
Write: After exploring options for organizing information, answer the questions below.
- Prior to this discussion, did you have a system in place for saving or organizing your personal or academic information? If so, what was it?
- Based on the information in your text, the tutorial, and the article on the cloud, which storage tools best meet your needs? Why?
- How will you use the tool(s) introduced to you in this course to organize and store the information you gather in your personal and academic life?
To maximize the opportunity for vigorous discussion, you must post to this discussion on at least three separate days of the week and your posts must total at least 600 words as you address the questions noted above. Your first post must be completed by Day 3 (Thursday) and the remainder of your posts must be completed by Day 7 (Monday). You must answer all aspects of the prompt at some point during the week. Also, be sure to reply to your classmates and instructor.
Respond to Peers: As your reply to your classmates, extend the conversation by examining their claims or arguments in more depth or by responding to the posts that they make to you. Keep the discussion on target and try to analyze things in as much detail as you can. For instance, you might consider comparing your perspectives on the various tools for saving and organizing information and offering new suggestions for your classmates to consider.
