Synthesis QuestLevel 3

By: Angelina Molina

Multimedia/Interactive Learning

Exploration Of Technologies For Learning

PodcastsPodcasts 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.

ScreencastsScreencasts 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.

MultimediaThe 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.

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.

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.

What You’ll Do NextI 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.

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.