{"id":2536,"date":"2017-05-01T20:53:42","date_gmt":"2017-05-01T20:53:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/?p=2536"},"modified":"2017-05-01T20:53:42","modified_gmt":"2017-05-01T20:53:42","slug":"5-innovative-tools-untapped-platforms-help-ace-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/5-innovative-tools-untapped-platforms-help-ace-finals\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Innovative Tools and Untapped Platforms to Help You Ace Your Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>No introduction\u00a0necessary!\u00a0Let&#8217;s dive straight into this list of\u00a05 Innovative Tools and Untapped Platforms to Help you Ace Your Finals:<\/p>\n<h3><strong>1. Quora<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>How many of you heard about Quora? If you have never used this platform before, I suggest to give it a try. Quora could be your next exam win if you know what to search for. Here&#8217;s WHY:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pick others brain and interact with industry experts<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>They will be able to provide a great deal of insight and even share &#8220;insider information&#8221;. It&#8217;s in their interest to write quality content.\u00a0One good answer can drive thousands to their\u00a0site every month.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe\u00a0you&#8217;ve got something worth\u00a0sharing or\u00a0you would like to answer others questions. Sometimes it takes time to craft good explanations so better choose a platform that could give something in return for your time.\u00a0<strong>Quora ranks better than most pages in Google<\/strong>: Quora answers can (and do) outrank massive websites with millions of visitors. The difference is, those websites won\u2019t promote you\u2026.but Quora will!<\/p>\n<p><strong><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2539 size-full aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-28-at-11.25.34-3.png\" alt=\"tools international student bloggers\" width=\"662\" height=\"752\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-28-at-11.25.34-3.png 662w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-28-at-11.25.34-3-264x300.png 264w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-28-at-11.25.34-3-132x150.png 132w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 662px) 100vw, 662px\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Tip!<\/strong> You can use the information on Quora to give your assignments a boost. A couple of years ago my team and I chose to analyse AirBnB Sales Force structure. Soon we found out that the amount of information available on the web was insufficient. We reached out to Quora users and a former AirBnB employee saved our skin!<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #993300\"><strong>Follow me on Quora<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.quora.com\/profile\/Diana-Florescu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-2540 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-28-at-11.27.42-3.png\" alt=\"tools international student bloggers\" width=\"731\" height=\"164\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-28-at-11.27.42-3.png 731w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-28-at-11.27.42-3-300x67.png 300w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-28-at-11.27.42-3-150x34.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 731px) 100vw, 731px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>2. Medium\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Medium is more hard-core. You could find research papers that have already been published or good summary of books that could save you weeks.\u00a0This is a nice place to read, write, and interact with the stories that matter most to you. You can follow your favourite publishers and speakers, personalise the content that appears in your newsfeed and\u00a0of course, revise for your exams.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@DianeFlorescu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-2541 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-28-at-11.52.37-4.png\" alt=\"tools international student bloggers\" width=\"1127\" height=\"644\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-28-at-11.52.37-4.png 1127w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-28-at-11.52.37-4-300x171.png 300w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-28-at-11.52.37-4-1024x585.png 1024w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-28-at-11.52.37-4-150x86.png 150w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-28-at-11.52.37-4-768x439.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1127px) 100vw, 1127px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #993300\"><strong>Follow me on\u00a0Medium<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@DianeFlorescu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-2543 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-28-at-11.52.26-3.png\" alt=\"tools international student bloggers\" width=\"668\" height=\"176\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-28-at-11.52.26-3.png 668w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-28-at-11.52.26-3-300x79.png 300w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-28-at-11.52.26-3-150x40.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 668px) 100vw, 668px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3><strong>3. GrowthHackers<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>This is a brilliant online platform! I could spend my whole day reading about quirky media practices and tools that have a high growth impact to your startup. \u00a0Same as Quora, <span style=\"color: #000000\"><a style=\"color: #000000\" href=\"https:\/\/growthhackers.com\/growth-studies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GrowthHackers<\/a><\/span> understand how valuable it is to build a strong community of users to achieve success. From AMAs (Ask-Me-Anything) with successful business people to discussions. Q&amp;A and jobs, this website is a gold mine.<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s one particular section on this website that could be of great interest to you!<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s called &#8220;Growth studies&#8221; and this is\u00a0the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me. Want to know how companies like Evernote, WhatsApp or GitHub succeeded in their marketing strategies? These studies are very comprehensive and the writers truly enjoy diving into these marketing hacks. Some ideas are simply mind blowing!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/growthhackers.com\/growth-studies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-2538 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-27-at-14.54.47-3.png\" alt=\"tools international student bloggers\" width=\"900\" height=\"765\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-27-at-14.54.47-3.png 900w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-27-at-14.54.47-3-300x255.png 300w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-27-at-14.54.47-3-150x128.png 150w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-27-at-14.54.47-3-768x653.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3><strong>4.\u00a0Use pen and paper to boost your memory<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>It&#8217;s strange to hear this from\u00a0someone like me who spends 10 hours in front of the computer, 2 hours checking my messages and another using\u00a0my e-book in between work-uni-startup. Still, it&#8217;s true and it works. I must confess that with time you even forget how to write and your writing, once neat and tidy, turns into illegible\u00a0scripts.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-2552\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/Joey-Blog-Pic2-300x231.jpg\" alt=\"tools international student bloggers\" width=\"394\" height=\"303\" \/><\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s interesting is that writing things down appears to help us remember the important stuff,\u00a0and that the better our notes are (try to write bullet points first and expand on those ideas later on) the more likely we are to remember.<\/p>\n<p>If you don&#8217;t need\u00a0to improve your memory, at least you get into the habit of writing by hand. Using pen and paper is outdated, right? Everyone has a tablet or a laptop nowadays and we are using all kind of devices to record lectures or to take notes.<\/p>\n<p>The problem is that academia is less forgiving and you must use an &#8220;actual&#8221; pen (there&#8217;s nothing digital or fancy about it, just a piece of wood used as a writing instrument) to complete your exams.<\/p>\n<p>So grab some paper and let&#8217;s get started.<\/p>\n<div class='tm-tweet-clear'><\/div>\n<div class='tm-click-to-tweet'>\n<div class='tm-ctt-text'><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=Writing+things+down+appears+to+help+us+remember+the+important+stuff&#038;url=https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/5-innovative-tools-untapped-platforms-help-ace-finals\/\" target=\"_blank\">Writing things down appears to help us remember the important stuff<\/a><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=Writing+things+down+appears+to+help+us+remember+the+important+stuff&#038;url=https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/5-innovative-tools-untapped-platforms-help-ace-finals\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"tm-ctt-btn\">Click To Tweet<\/a><\/p>\n<div class='tm-ctt-tip'><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3><strong>5. Forget Frameworks &amp; Think Outside the Box\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"qtext_para\">Undoubtedly most of the tools you learned in school\u00a0are valuable strategic tools for businesses to <b>create<\/b>, <b>capture<\/b> and <b>deliver value<\/b>. They are relatively easy to understand given the visual representation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"qtext_para\">Now I am\u00a0a bit skeptical about some of them and\u00a0the level of accuracy they provide. Plus it&#8217;s almost impossible to remember all the frameworks, diagrams or graphs that you&#8217;ve probably seen only once in a textbook.<\/p>\n<p class=\"qtext_para\">We&#8217;re are in the same boat here, don&#8217;t worry. That&#8217;s why I am trying to be rather pragmatic and make my life much easier. For business students this framework could be quite nifty.\u00a0\u00a0It&#8217;s called\u00a0\u201cThe Seven Domains Model\u201d developed by <span class=\"qlink_container\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.quora.com\/profile\/John-W-Mullins\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">John W Mullins<\/a><\/span>, a professor at the London School of Business.<\/p>\n<p class=\"qtext_para\">It is an evaluation tool that reminds you to look at seven key factors that could impact a venture. Use this as a blueprint and add your own tools be it PEST, SWOT, Porter&#8217;s 5 Forces you name it, and try to learn to think more logically.<\/p>\n<p class=\"qtext_para\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2544 size-full aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/c09f001-3.jpg\" alt=\"tools international student bloggers\" width=\"635\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/c09f001-3.jpg 635w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/c09f001-3-300x266.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2017\/04\/c09f001-3-150x133.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 635px) 100vw, 635px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"qtext_para\">\n<p class=\"qtext_para\">Hope I will see some of you joining these platforms \ud83d\ude00 If you have any questions please use the comment box below. Or even better, ask me on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.quora.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Quora<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>No introduction\u00a0necessary!\u00a0Let&#8217;s dive straight into this list of\u00a05 Innovative Tools and Untapped Platforms to Help you Ace Your Finals: 1. Quora How many of you heard about Quora? If you have never used this platform before, I suggest to give&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":2549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,18],"tags":[37,120,238,239,313,317,365,373,383,468,541,570,676,708,761],"class_list":["post-2536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic","category-student-experience","tag-airbnb","tag-business","tag-evernote","tag-exam","tag-growth","tag-hacks","tag-innovative","tag-international-study","tag-john-mullins","tag-medium","tag-platform","tag-quora","tag-studying-in-london","tag-tool","tag-whatsapp"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}