Andres Alegria Mobile Synthesis Project
- 1. Mobile Learning: Synthesis Project Andres Alegria ITEC 299 Spring 2012
- 2. Learning Preferences Andres Alegria • At the beginning of the course we were required to take a learning preferences survey to help identify our learning styles/preferences. • The survey identified that my learning preferences were Reflective (3), Sensing (1), Verbal (3), and Global (1). I felt that all of these preferences, except for global, accurately described my learning style. Global learners have trouble applying material if they don’t fully understand a concept and I feel that I am able to take bits and pieces of information about a topic and use it before fully mastering the topic. • As I have gone through the course I feel the same about my learning preferences. I still feel that I am reflective learner; I like to work alone and think about a subject before acting. I prefer to use facts and established methods (sensing) and I am definitely a verbal learner. Overall I think that learning preferences are useful to know about. They can help you tailor your studying habits to ways that fit your preferences, which can help you learn a subject more successfully.
- 3. Learning Pathway Andres Alegria • I chose the learning sage as my pathway for this course. I wanted to broaden my knowledge on technologies. In terms of broadening my knowledge on mobile technologies I believe I was successful. This course taught me about different tools and different ways to use those tools for learning. I usually just used my laptop when taking notes or recording lectures but following the learning sage pathway taught me about how I can use tablets, iPods, and even my iPhone to help improve my learning. I feel confident that this was the correct pathway for me and I will be able to apply what I learned about mobile technologies into other aspects of my life.
- 4. Learning Activities Andres Alegria • The activities that used iPods/mp3 players and ipads/tablets for learning really broadened my knowledge on using mobile devices for learning. Prior to this class I usually used my laptop when I took notes in class or wanted to record a lecture. I also used flash cards to help me study for exams. By going through the lectures and activities for the iPod and ipad sections, I learned a lot about using mobile devices for taking notes, recording lectures, inputting flash cards, and many other things. Actually using flashcards on my iPhone and using the note-taking app on my tablet gave me a deeper understanding of these technologies because it showed me how versatile and useful they actually are. I didn’t participate in any activities that made me explore using mobile technologies for learning with others, but you could easily share notes, quiz a classmate with flash cards, and share a recording of a lecture with others to share learning in a group setting.
- 5. Exploration of Technologies for Learning Andres Alegria • The iPod/mp3 player mobile technology quest was quite helpful for teaching me new ways to use my mobile device for learning. I used this quest to explore the use of flashcards on my iPhone. I normally use paper flashcards but this can be time consuming and wasteful so I wanted to find an alternative. As a reflective learner using flashcards on my iPhone benefits me because I can work alone, and take my time to learn and understand the material. Because I am a verbal learner I get more out of written and/or spoken explanations. Using flashcards on my phone obviously appealed to this verbal preference and allowed me to study in a way that ensured that I would get as much out of the material as possible. I believe this mobile technology greatly appealed to my learning preferences and I will continue to use it for future classes.
- 6. Exploration of Technologies for Learning Andres Alegria • The ipad/tablet mobile technology quest helped me to learn how to use my mobile devices for taking notes and recording lectures. I used this quest as a way to find a way to take notes and record my lectures without taking my laptop to school. My laptop is heavy and the battery life is not that good so I figured using my tablet (hp touchpad) would be a good alternative. I downloaded a note taking app and a voice-recording app and ran both while taking notes in my class. This really appeals to my reflective learning preference because I can sit down while I am at home and re-listen to the lecture while studying my notes. This method was successful and improved retention of key concepts.
- 7. Exploration of Technologies for Learning Andres Alegria • The microblogging technology quest showed me different ways to use my mobile devices for acquiring new pieces of knowledge. I used this quest to increase my knowledge about exercise techniques for my Exercise Testing and Prescription course. I made a twitter account and subscribed to feeds that were exercise related in hopes of picking up new information about exercise. Because I am a reflective learner using microblogs appealed to my preference to work alone and think about things before acting on them. I was able to browse different topics and twitter feeds, to find things that interested me and I had time to reflect on the topics and apply the knowledge to my course.
- 8. Synthesizing the Experience Andres Alegria • The mobile technologies that interested me most were iPod/iPhone and microblogging. I have my iPhone with me at all times so being able to use it as a learning tool would be very beneficial. I enjoyed the fact that I could use my iPhone for flashcards, recording lectures, and reviewing lecture PowerPoint presentations. I was also interested in using microblogging, specifically twitter, as a learning tool. Twitter is full of so much information; you can learn new things and participate in discussion to further help your understanding. I didn’t really like using my tablet as a note-taking device. Maybe if I had a keyboard it would be easier, so I think I would like to explore tablet mobile technology more in the future.
- 9. Synthesizing the Experience Andres Alegria • All of the mobile technologies that I explored ended up working well for my learning preferences. Using my iPhone for flashcards allowed my to read and reflect (verbal and reflective) and made studying for exams easier. Using my tablet for note taking and lecture recording gave me the opportunity to review lectures at my own pace while at home (reflective) and using microblogs gave me the opportunity to read about a lot of different exercise techniques and review them at my own pace (reflective, verbal, sensory). Using all of these technologies together definitely improved my learning and my ability to retain what I learned.
- 10. What I’ll Do Next Andres Alegria • The mobile learning strategies I will use after this class will mainly be the verbal and reflective strategies. Being able to both read information and take time to reflect on the information learned really helps me have a greater understanding of the material. These strategies can be used in any setting I think. Whether it be in coursework at school or learning something new at a job, using mobile technologies to enact these strategies will be very helpful for me in the future. • I will use all of the mobile technologies in the future. The future is going to be all mobile technology as computing and processing power gets smaller and smaller. Soon the power of a laptop will be available in our iPhones. Being able to know and understand how to use mobile technology, not only for learning, is going to be very important in the future.