3. Podcasts
Podcasts are available on demand, do not require fancy equipment, and are
available for free on iTunes. Podcast are effective for learning by reviewing
class material. 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.
4. Screencasts
Screencasts may incorporate the 5 aspects of multimedia:
text, images, video, animation, and audio. This is the most
effective way for me to learn as a reflective, sensing, and
especially visual learner. Screencasts really pull it all together
and can accommodate various learning preferences. Visually,
animations in presentations help stick content into my
memory. Watching screencasts allows me to be reflective
when I can watch over videos that cover topics that I may be
struggling with. The minilectures for this class were
extremely effective.
5. Multimedia
The multimedia lecture introduced me to the 5 aspects of
multimedia: text, images, video, animation, and audio. I’ve
been engaging in multimedia learning and not even knowing
it through books and images, which surprised me the most.
Multimedia tunes into my visual learning experience in that
images, videos, and animation can all be used to teach me a
new topic or idea, which helps solidify concepts.
6. Synthesizing Your Experience
The technology that interested me the most as a learning tool was social
bookmarking with delicious. I am a health education major and I have a lot of
papers to write so delicious 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 social technology that surprised me the most as a learning tool was
FaceBook. I didn’t realize that people actually used FaceBook for creating study
groups & forums. This insight was helpful and now I can look on FaceBook for
study support. 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.
7. Synthesizing Your Experience (cont’d)
The technology that worked best for one of my learning preference
was iLearn forums. As a reflective learner I am able to work at my
own pace and look over other classmates ideas. Additionally,
screencasts were extremely effective because it incorporated 5 aspects
of multimedia, which I believe appeal to all learners.
8. 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 can
engage in forums on Twitter, FaceBook, or iLearn. I currently
use FaceBook to create events for the clinic I volunteer at, so I’m
not learning actual information but I am able to be informed and
inform other of the work that we do at our clinic on our page.
9. What You’ll Do Next (cont’d)
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. The social technology I will avoid after this
class is gaming. I don’t like gaming. I will also continue to use
Screener. I used it for a creative project for a race & resistance studies
class and it was awesome. I never considered myself to be a creative
person, but through technology I have found my own way to be
creative. Which is very funny because when I started this class I didn’t
consider myself to be a tech savvy person either.