Mobile learning synthesis
- 1. Alexander Stevenson dai-210 Learning Preference: ! In the beginning of this class I found out my personal learning preferences. I am mainly moderate in the aspects of active(1), intuitive(3) and global(1) learning, but lean all the way to one side when it comes to visual(11) learning. I am and for as long as I can remember, a very visually influenced person. Now that It is the end of the semester, I’ve gotten some time to see these findings in action and for the most part I can say that I agree. I have the most ease learning with Visual cues, but I have found myself to be more of a sequential learner as time goes on. I think it might be that understanding the parts of a situation really helps me to get the big global picture. I had never really given much thought to learning preferences before this class, but I think that finding mine out was worthwhile because it let me play to my strengths and really contributed to my personal success. Learning Pathway: ! Because I like to get the most out of every bit of technology that I purchase, I decided to be a learning warrior. I find it difficult to use many pieces of technology for different tasks so trying to use each piece for many tasks is right up my alley. My Iphone is now being used as my flash cards, online search resource and quiz application; where before this class it was just what I played words with friends on. Being a learning warrior to me means learning how to use each technology and resource with the skill and tactics of a master, and though I am still learning I hope I will one day attain such a level of understanding. Through getting deep understanding into the technologies that we covered in class I was able to get a bevy of useful information and tips utilize in my educational career. Activity Contribution: ! Through this course I learned mainly through exposure to different techniques and technologies. Looking back, I found the activities in the Microblogs unit helped to broaden my understanding of what can be done with a mobile resource such as twitter. This unit allowed me to ask questions about twitter, and do hands on experiments to help satisfy my learning goals. I saw this activity to also be most effective in learning with others, by allowing me to get many perspectives on a given issue through searching tags on twitter. Specifically I found the activities on tablets helpful to gain a deeper understanding of how to use mobile technology for my learning. The application on the Ipad that showed the different parts of the brain is a perfect example of just how in depth and intuitive these technologies can get. Having this sort of resource available in a mobile format is proving to be a great advantage in my education. I hadn’t really thought of using Ipads and tablets to benefit my learning in such a specific way until this doing this activity, but after a trial run, it seems only logical to do so. Mobile Technologies Exploration: ! In the learning quest for microblogs, I was able to get a grasp on the educational benefits of twitter. What I learned in this class was easily applicable to my studies and individual learning. This was most apparent when searching tags and trending topics to
- 2. help me narrow down search results relevant to my educational interests. Microblogs accessed my learning preferences most effectively in a visual way. The chronological layout and plain framework of the website is easily navigated on a computer and a phone, making the visual landscape both convenient and intuitive. Microblogs aided my active learning style by showing me new information to take note of and my sequential learning because it showed me each person’s opinion to help me get a sense of the big picture. Twitter has a format that caters to visual and intuitive learners as well because it has a clear and simple presentation that allows users to get a lot done with minimal effort. ! In the learning quest for Ipods/Mp3 players I learned more than I thought I ever would about the educational applications of these technologies. After learning that it is possible to put flash card type applications on an Ipod touch I discovered a whole new way to study for my classes. I found Ipods and mp3 players to help with my visual and reflective learning. These technologies are suited for visual learners because they allow users to interact with a display to access information, a critical tool in absorbing information via a visual interface. Flashcards are helpful in reflective learning and are made more convenient when put on the ipod format. Using flashcard apps on Ipods and mp3 players is a great way for visual learners, such as myself, to study on the go.. “On the go learning” is made easier with these technologies as they are portable and simple enough to format and use with a laptop. ! The learning quest about tablets and ipads brought new techniques and information to the surface when it comes to using these devices for learning. I have learned to use tablets to access and share pdf presentations with my fellow classmates, which has proven to be a valuable tool for visual learners like myself. These devices cater to almost all learning preferences but I see them helping me the most in active and visual learning. Active learning can be aided by tablets with web capabilities, allowing users to access almost any information and take notes in real time. Like I previously stated, tablets with applications can serve visual learners perfectly, the touch screen interface and visual display puts everything at the fingertips of the user, and come together in a simple to use way that is perfect for learning. When I study or do research, I like to have as little work to do as possible, tablets and ipads take a lot of the workload off students and make learning much more effective, once you know how to use them that is. Synthesis: ! In my time in this class I found microblogs to be the most interesting technology to help my learning. The fact that all information is provided by users like me is intriguing and can be useful to figure out what a the broad view of any particular subject is. I was surprised by the differences in capabilities between ipods and ipads. Where before I thought that the ipad was just a bigger and more expensive version of the ipod, now I know that they are two different tools used for different applications. What was even more surprising about these technologies was how much academic/ learning applications exist already to help with education. I must make the distinction that I think mp3 players and tablets that aren’t made by macintosh are a bit harder to work with, and for that reason are less successful learning tools. I will continue to work with microblogs after this class to improve my learning because they do a good job of
- 3. streamlining the research process. With microblogs I know that I will be able to find helpful links and information with a single search, and I think that will always be useful in my career as a student. ! After figuring out my learning preferences in the beginning of the semester, I was eager to see how they would influence how I decided to try specific technologies and strategies. What I found was that my learning preferences really do dictate what technologies I prefer, with visual devices being most preferable after all. This is to say that most any visual interface will help with my learning because that is most easily how I am able to understand concepts. With this being said, ipads, ipods and microblogs are three great examples of technologies that cater to my learning preferences. All three of these technologies act equally to take some of the work load off of my back meaning that I am free to focus on what is really important. This is made most apparent when looking at ipads and microblogs, their visual format allows me to have everything I need on the screen or at my fingertips at anytime making for more effective learning overall. Looking Ahead: ! I have learned some strategies to turn mobile technologies into mobile learning tools which is something that I will be able to use for a lifetime. In particular, microblogs allow for great results when using search strategies and aggregating information. I can see myself using microblogs in the future to slim down topics and get a good sense of what real life people think about certain topics. This will be especially useful in the future in a market research setting in my career and a product designer. This strategy will make my job a lot easier when it comes to learning consumer reactions to different designs and trending technologies that a company has on the market. ! After this semester I know I will continue to use microblogs and ipads because they are clearly visual and easy to access. These are two technologies that will only get easier to use and more expansive in the future. I can use microblogs to figure out what people think about a topic or product which could be useful in my future career in product design. In my use of ipads in this class, I have realized that they have as much potential in education as they do entertainment. Ipads will also be useful in my career for they will allow me to show presentations and use applications to help me review materials and models to be used in future products. Because of their entertainment value, I will continue to use my ipad and ipod for non-learning purposes, although I think I might shy away from using my ipod for learning as the ipad can do the same things but better.