Synthesis Project About Mobile Learning

Angelina M. ITEC299

Learning Preferences At the beginning of the class my scores for the learning preferences

survey were as follows: reflective – 5, sensing - 5, visual - 7, global - 1. I really connected with the descriptions in the summary titled “Leaning Styles & Strategies” and I felt it described me quite accurately in terms of being reflective, sensing and visual. At the end of the class I realize I still work reflectively meaning independently, but I also see and have experienced the value of working in groups. Following forums and asking questions in forums for a few of my classes has allowed me to reach out for help and realize that support from others challenges and develops my way of thinking. At the end of the class my thinking has changed about learning preferences overall in that I am aware that we all have different learning styles that can be creatively accommodated and incorporated into all of our classes. And that if our teachers don’t incorporate different learning tools for everyone we can make those accommodations for ourselves once we know our learning preferences. Yes knowing about learning preferences makes a difference in my personal learning success. It has helped me clearly identify the most effective ways for me to learn so that I can seek those learning methods and use those tools to increase my academic success. It has also helped me identify the ways I am lacking which has enabled me to find ways to expand those areas such as working on being a little more active in my learning instead of being too reflective and never getting anything done.

Angelina

Learning Pathway The learning pathway I chose at the beginning of the class

was the Learning Sage because I am behind on the technology aspect of learning and I wanted to find new updated ways of learning. For example, watching the lectures posted on Screenr was very helpful and showed me a way that I could be creative and incorporates another tool into my learning and teaching. I also wanted to test out the waters because I don’t allow my son to use any technology and I wanted to learn more about how I could incorporate age appropriate educational technology. (My son is in kindergarten) No I did not change my pathway because I was learning about different technologies that I

had no previous knowledge of.

Angelina

Learning Activities The activities that helped me get a broader understanding of

how to use a mobile technology to learn was the iPod & mp3 quest. I have not been getting my moneys worth out of my iPod by only using it for music. But now I can get maximum use out of my iPod after this quest, which gave me a deeper understanding by introducing me to the ability to create and use flash cards and quiz apps to solidify my knowledge. This will be especially helpful in my science classes like anatomy and biology. The activities that worked best for learning with others to use mobile technologies was the quest on social networking, specifically for learning. It introduced me to online study groups like openstudy.com and VoxSwap for learning languages, which I’m very excited about. I did not like the quest on games MMOGs. I think they can be

highly effective, but just not for me.

Angelina

Exploration of Technologies for

Learning1. iPods & mp3s

Again, I am excited to get the full value from my iPod now that I know it can do so much more than just play music. I’m able to tune into my visual learning style by creating flash cards for science classes. Flash cards also allow me to be reflective and work at my own pace. They also allow me to challenge my weakness of not being an active learner by increasing my speed of information by the repeated use of flash cards. I’m also able to be reflective and work at my own pace by using quiz apps to demonstrate my level of understanding from visually using flash cards. The flash cards & quizzes also tap into my sensing learning by helping me memorize fact and details.

2. Podcasts

I can listen to podcast through various mobile devices such as on my iPod, iPad, and iPhone. This is very convenient and makes learning portable. I really enjoyed sitting in Dolores Park while working on online assignments. I also like the ability to access podcast lectures multiple times in order to solidify concepts and learn material accommodating my sensing learning style. I can always go back if I do not understand something as many times as I like. I also like that some podcasts include “show notes”, which is the text of the podcast that helps my reflective & visual learning. I also like that I can access lectures from other classes, so if I struggle with my professors lectures I can have another option of seeking out another professors lectures for clarification.

3. Microblogging

I found microblogging to be helpful for learning in that it can be straight to the point in terms of being limited to a max of 140 characters on twitter. I previously thought twitter and microblogging was for Hollywood gossip, but now I see the extensive capabilities and learning opportunity. I think it accommodates two of my reflective learning style. It accommodates me being reflective in that I can take the time I need to think about and process a concept from biology class before I try out being active and seeking out additional help from a larger study group. It also provides me with real-time messaging, so I can get an answer after I’ve eliminated every option on my own. It also provides me with the option to work with others at my own pace.

Angelina

Synthesizing your Experience The mobile technology that interested me the most as a learning tool was

social bookmarking with delicious. This will be very helpful for researching and writing papers. I like that I can compile a list of sources and access them from any mobile device or computer, not just the computer I primarily use. This makes it very convenient to retrieve information and work on papers from anywhere. The mobile technology that surprised me the most as a learning tool was microblogging because like I said before I thought twitter was just for Hollywood gossip. For me games & MMOGs don’t work as learning tools. I would like to further explore using social networking for learning another language using VoxSwap. I’ve been interested in expanding my Spanish speaking skills and I think it will be extremely helpful to chat with others from all over the world. I would also like to further explore listening to various podcasts to get a more in depth and expansive views on topics that are important to me such a social justice, education, and health.

The mobile technology that worked best for my learning preference was watching the mini-lectures using screenr. The combination of lectures and powerpoints helped me being a reflective and visual learner. I was able to view the text while hearing the lecture at the same time. The mini-lectures also allowed me to review what I had learned repeatedly and at my own pace as a reflective learner.

Angelina

What You'll Do Next I will continue to use my reflective, sensing, and visual learning

strategies. I feel they have been very effective for me thus far. However, I would also like to work on being an active learner as well because I do sometimes take too long and overthink things rather than just take a chance and shoot an answer out. I also would like to improve my skills at working in groups and being more hands on to figure things out like active learners. Adding this active component can only make me more successful.

I will continue to use social bookmarking with delicious for research and writing papers as well as for personal use. Bookmarking is very effective for compiling and finding relevant information that can be accessed anywhere from any device. I have already bookmarked a few for use after this class. I can use social networking for personal use through pinterest to show my interests and organize special events in my life such as a wedding. I would also like to continue to use iPods & podcasts for learning and teaching. I work at a middle school and I think this is a great way to keep kids engaged since this generation is very tech savvy. The mobile technology I will avoid after this class is gaming. I don’t like gaming. Maybe my son will get me into it as he gets older. I do know that it is effective for some people such as my younger brother. He enjoys it.

Angelina