Issue link: http://ncumarketing.uberflip.com/i/1315285
5 The Psychology Bulletin Onlin e and on Track STUDENT EDITOR SPOTLIGHT: Tatiana A. Schiavone, MS, MA In April 2013, The Harvard Gazette, an official news website covering general matters pertaining to teaching and learning at Harvard University, published an article about the differences between online learning and on campus classes (Reuell, 2013). Harvard Psychology Professor Daniel Schacter, along with postdoctoral researcher Karl Szpunar, conducted a study about the effectiveness of online learning and student mind- wandering during online lectures. They explained how mind-wandering during these types of lectures could decrease by half, and overall retention increase when students take notes during said sessions. One of the goals of this study was to determine how experimentally sound techniques utilized in order to produce positive results would be, as stated by Szpunar (2013). His main question was, "how [to] optimize students' time when they're at home, trying to learn from online lectures?" Additionally, the research explored "[h]ow [to] help [students] most efficiently extract the information they need" in order to successfully complete courses. Time optimization is one of the primary objectives to be accomplished by students, when taking online courses, because as students become more organized with their time and studies, they can take advantage of their learning tools more efficiently. This study was a relevant precedent, setting the stage and almost anticipating what was to arise just seven years later. Advancing to the present-day, in June of this year, the APA (American Psychological Association) issued an article concerning the shift toward online learning and how said experience can be enhanced for students (Abramson, 2020). While online learning is not new (given universities such as NCU have been utilizing the internet for years, to provide education to students worldwide), surprisingly minimal research has been conducted on the optimization of this schooling platform. "Time optimization is one of the primary objectives to be accomplished by students, when taking online courses, because as students become more organized with their time and studies, they can take advantage of their learning tools more efficiently." - Tatiana A. Schiavone, MS, MA