5  () Optional IT setup

We will not cover this chapter in the lab class. We would however recommend to read this chapter in your own time (especially the first two sections).

5.1 Note-taking

Imagine you read a chapter in a textbook and finally understand something you never understood before. Will you remember your insight? You might think that of course you will. Well, unfortunately, you might not. Not only do we tend to forget things we learned, but we also tend to believe we won’t forget them (Koriat et al., 2004).

Therefore, we would recommend to write things down. This could be on paper or electronically. Electronic notes of course have the advantage that you can search them later. In addition, you can add tags to them, which also makes it easier to find relevant information later. I personally use Evernote, but there are a large number of similar tools available, some of them completely free. In fact, one of them comes with Microsoft 365: OneNote1. You could also just use Word. Or you have a look at this very detailed comparison of many different note-taking apps. The point is: It doesn’t matter so much which tool you use, as long as you use it!

For more ideas on how to become a sophisticated learner, we would highly recommend reading this article on learning effectively by Bjork et al.

5.2 Internet search skills

There are various ways to refine searches with Google. You will find some useful tips for improving your Google search skills in this Guardian article. However, if you really want to dive deep, read this article on Google advanced search operators.

In addition, we’re currently seeing the advent of AI-supported search engines. So far, I haven’t been particularly impressed by the results these produce (August 2023), but, hey, the field is moving very quickly and things might already have changed by the time you read this!

5.3 From Windows to macOS

If you have recently switched from Windows to macOS, here are some webpages to help you make the transition:

5.4 Syncing OneDrive and your computer

If you install the desktop version of OneDrive on your computer, you have the option to sync files in the cloud and on your computer. The advantage of this is that you can work offline and make changes to files in your local OneDrive folder. Once you come online again, OneDrive will detect these changes and upload the most recent version of your files to the cloud.

5.5 Finder alternatives

Let’s face it: The Finder isn’t great in many respects. Therefore, a number of Finder alternatives/plugins have been developed, e.g. Path Finder, Forklift, Commander One, QSpace and Default Folder X. Unfortunately, all of these apps are paid (that said, the free version of Commander One might offer sufficient functionality). I use Path Finder which is very good overall, but also has a few annoying minor bugs. Overall, you can probably get away with using macOS’s Finder, but if you’re like me and are really annoyed by it, you might want to have a look at these alternatives.

  1. Full disclosure: In my view, OneNote is not great. If you want to try a free app, you might want to go for Joplin or AmpleNote’s personal plan.↩︎