Digital literacy goes much deeper than simply being able to work a piece of technology. It is a culmination of ones thoughts and actions as they explore online mediums to achieve their objectives. Digital literacy is the belief that one is able to use this online information and communicate it to others, creating new information on the way.

could this just be having metacognition in general?

The book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell further explains this topic of cultural differences. He explains why he feels that cultural differences are the most important factor in determining success in education (or just in general). He even cites Angela Duckworth's research in his book about how low-income kids have a harder time developing personalities necessary to achieve success. http://gladwell.com/outliers/

Passion leads to hard-work. One can work hard on something they dread, but there will never be any drive to do any further research or learning. If one is passion, they'll go out of their way to learn extra because it's something important to them. It's something they love and it's something they find find satisfaction in achieving.

What shows better work-study habits, a standardized test score or one's GPA?

Is this study applicable to all colleges? They didn't explain the specifics of the amount of people in the study or any statistics. It was also conducted in a different country so there could be confounding variables.

If you look at a students background, you can learn a lot about them. Their background shows how thrivers and divers are who they are. A person may come from low- income family and tries much harder to study to get into college, while a diver doesn't have to worry as much to get into college. Thrivers want to be intelligent and make a difference in the world to make their parents proud, while divers want to be successful and rich like their parents.

Conscientiousness is a trait that people to do things more carefully and watch what they are doing. As opposed to divers, they are not as careful and tend to be more disorganized. However, divers can do work effectively if they listen to when upcoming assignments are due and be prepared, but this is not the case. In college, my professors give me a lesson plan so that i complete my work on time, which is very effective and efficient. With all of these negative characteristics, how were divers able to graduate form high school?

Sometimes, it is not easy to come up with a study plan. There is simply no time or you have to many assignments. In my first few weeks of high school, I was prepared to finish all my assignments and study for any exams. Sooner or later though, I was drowning in college work that I couldn't come up with a schedule or find time to finish the assignments for each class.

Grades don't always demonstrate what you are good at. You may may be intelligent or have skills in a specific area that schools do not teach you. You could also be doing really well in one subject, while failing other subjects, which doesn't always show with your grades or GPA.

Going into college was hard for me because I had to make new friends and meet new professors. There was also more of a work load than in high school.

This could be because "divers" assume that they are smart enough as is and can keep their high school study habits. They got comfortable in high school study methods and don't strive to go farther than that.

College is an environment where everything can move seemingly quick around you, giving you a limited time to catch your bearings. If you manage to control this chaos you can find yourself thriving where others are failing. A reason many people fail with this is that they give into temptations that they otherwise wouldn't. They see life moving so quickly before there eyes that they make decisions that their old selves would deem irrational. Giving into these temptations could hurt your chances at future success in and out of college.

Students success in college in correction with their previous financial status has always been something that has drawn my attention. Someone who is under the constant pressure of paying for their loans and working jobs to alleviate it would have a much different college experience than the normal student. All of this said, at the end of the day the students are required to take the same exams and be judged on the same guidelines. This common grading can show why students in financial stress struggle to stay on top of their grades. Another way of looking at it could be that these students could have a burning desire to get out of their situation and use academic success as a way to get out of it. At the end of the day you never know what your peers are going through and how much they have to deal with outside of their studies.

As I continue to learn and develop as a college student I have been introduced to how much more effective one can be if they are properly organized. In college you are given a syllabus and are it is up to you to plan your time accordingly in order to get all of your assignments completed. Proper organization allows you to have a complete understanding of whats due and when. This understanding will allow you to effectively study and get all of your assignments done with a fair amount of time to review them.