Nelson Mendoza 908001736 Robin Martinez 911386624 Mobile Learning Final

1. Nelson Mendoza
908001736
(Contributions in this color and italics)
Robin Martinez
911386624
(Contributions in this color and BOLD)
ITEC 299
Spring 12
Mobile Learning.
Describe your personal learning preferences:
At the beginning of the course, I took the learning references survey and got the
following results: Active = 7, Sensing = 7, Global = 5, and Visual = 1. Quite frankly I
want to say that it scared me how accurate I think this test was. I read the description
for each one and it described me perfectly. I am a person who likes to learn by doing,
cannot just sit in class and watch a PowerPoint, and I learn by teaching others I don’t
really think my view on my learning style has changed at the end of the course at all, in
fact I think I was able to embrace it by using the various amounts of technology I had
available to me. For example I made heavy use of my laptop and tablet to do some side
research of my economics lectures while in class to help boost my understanding of
concepts. I guess my thinking has changed in a way to better support my learning
preferences.I haven’t changed my views on my learning preferences just because I
agree with the numbers and feel like my learning preferences are relatively established.
When I first took the learning preferences survey it indicated that I was an
active and verbal learner my scores were ACT=3, SEN=5, VRB=5, SEQ=5. It was
interesting to see that most of my learning preferences described the way I learn
concepts in most of my classes. On the other hand, I would have say that I
disagree with some of the scores I got on the survey. For example when it came
to the score for visual/ verbal preferences, it said that I learned best from spoken,
and written explanations than through the use of visuals which I feel I fall in
between the two and learn best when I have a visual and written explanations to
give me a better understanding of the material. At the end of the class my
thinking about my learning preferences has changed somewhat in the sense that
after taking this class I was more aware of my learning preferences. I was able to
use them to my advantage in other classes this semester especially in my
Management class where most of what we learn in class is through verbal
explanation. I learned to retain the material better through the use of these
learning preferences.
Summarize your group's thoughts about learning preferences:

2. We both agree that after taking this course while trying to stay particularly
aware of our previously subconscious learning preferences, it made this
semester slightly less challenging. I think that my thinking has not changed much
about my learning preferences because I was already aware of them however my
colleague does feel her attitude has changed because she was skeptical about her
learning style but feels she can now embrace it. We think that knowing your learning
style and being able to effectively utilizing it in the classroom and learning
settings can be extremely helpful when it comes down to learning new material
and retaining it, not just regurgitating it for an exam. If a person knows how their
personal learning preferences work and what they are, it can become easier to pay
attention in class, to study, and to be more successful. Otherwise you will be stuck
frustrated unable to retain information like we once were. Ultimately, we feel that
learning styles tool should be something taught early on so as to help students who
struggle in school.
Describe the learning pathway you chose at the beginning of the class:
The learning pathway I chose was that of the Learning Warrior. As much as I
enjoy helping others, I decided it was time to do some personal growth work before I
ended my term in college. I wanted to learn about how I could integrate my mobile
technology (MacBook Air, cell phone and tablet) into my coursework. I guess I could
have experimented without the need of this course however I felt that taking the class
gave me an excuse to not slack on the technology and come to class with more than
just a pencil and notebook. I think I was very successful in learning new methods of
using mobile technology. I wont say that I got a deeper knowledge per say, but I did
learn to appreciate the use of it in class and how to use it effectively which I was not
doing previously. I did not change my pathway but I did deviate a little to the learning
guide because I was able to help other students set up their calendars, show how to do
some organizational tasks on iPhones and Androids. I decided not to change my
pathway just because I wanted personal development.
The learning pathway that I choose was Learning sage. I choose this
because I wanted to learn more about different types of technology and how they
can be useful for learning in general. I would have to say that I was pretty
successful with mobile technologies such as using my iPhone for viewing lecture
material from my classes. I especially found this to be extremely useful for my
online class that made use of podcasts to deliver the lecture material. During the
semester I used my iPhone to upload the podcast of the lectures to listen to on
the go. This worked out great since most of the time I didn't have time to listen to
the lectures at home. As the semester progressed I would have to say that my
learning pathway changed only slightly to learning warrior. After learning how I
could use my mobile device as a learning tool it prompted me to see how I could
use it to learn in other classes as well, and even into the next semester to come.

3. Summarize how the activities you completed contributed or did not contribute to
your learning pathway:
We believe that there were a lot of activities that helped us understand how
to use mobile technology. We (well Nelson helped me) set up some cool podcasts
to listen to that were pertinent to some of our courses to listen to while on BART.
The Podcasts Quest, in this case, along with the MP3 quest were extremely useful
because it showed us different ways to listen. We were even able to record some
our professors’ lectures and listen to them while reviewing notes and created
podcasts for other students in our class. The iPad/Tablet also helped a lot because
we both used to think that they were just giant iPod touches and/or giant cell phones.
After reading the power points and listening to the podcasts of the lecture (on a tablet of
course) and discovering new features, it became clear how much we could benefit from
the use of mobile technology for learning not just for fun. Quite frankly, we both agree
that doing the quizzes and reading/listening/watching the lectures for ALL of the
quests were very helpful (especially since we both have different learning styles).
Also, the level 3 portion of the iPad/Tablet quest helped a lot because it forced the use
of mobile technology for experimental purposes in our learning throughout the
semester. We think that specifically, the best activities were the ones that required
interactive learning like the level 3 for the iPad and Podcasts. Again, they forced us to
actually apply the technology into our lives.
Describe the top mobile technologies you explored for learning:
The mobile technology quest I thought was most explored on my end was the
iPad/Tablet quest. I did a lot of work for the level 3 quest (application in our
coursework). I bought an Android based tablet (Samsung Galaxy Tab 2) so that I can
use it to take notes I class and do some side research. I think it was by far the best
decision (and quest) in my academic career. I think it really did accommodate my active
and sensing learning preferences very well. Being an economics major is tough when
you are an active learner. A lot of the course work is theory and application does not
come until the final courses. Using the mobile technology in my classes kept me very
active and helped me piece together the puzzles of the theoretical work into real world
applications. For me, if I can understand how to apply theory in real world, I will better
understand the theory. Having the tablet or laptop during class helped me link
bookmarks, podcasts, and even screencasts of relevance to the notes I was taking.
The mobile technology quests that I explored during the semester were
podcasts, and iPods. These technologies were most used for my online classes,
such as this one, and my management class but I also used it for my other
classes as well. For my classes I would use my iPod/iPhone to listen to podcast
lectures as well to view the lectures of the quests for this class through screener
in order to study the material. In addition I would also use it to take my online

4. quizzes, which is great since I don’t always carry my laptop with me. I think that
these mobile technologies really accommodate to my visual and verbal
preferences the most. Through the use of screener I was able to see the examples
of the material while also being able to hear it was really helpful since I
understand the material better if I hear and see it at the same time. As for my
other learning preferences I would have to say that mobile technologies is useful
for some of my learning preferences such as my active learning preferences, and
sequential preferences not so much the sensing preferences. Through the use of
interactive apps on my iPhone I could see that it allowed me to learn by
interacting with the sources to understand the information best such as the
language app. Other apps I found useful where the use of the chemistry app that
feed to my sequential learning preferences. This allowed me to follow logical
paths in finding solutions to chemical reactions.
Synthesize your group's experience investigating the use of different mobile
technologies for learning:
Screencasts, tablets and the mobility of these technologies ability were
probably the tools we were most interested in as a group. What surprised me the
most was that I underestimated the ability of a tablet to double as a notebook and
pencil and take such great notes and synchronizing them with apps such as
Evernote. We were skeptical about whether or not a tablet could double as form of note
taking and to both of our surprise it did and very well so. We could literally skip class
and exchange notes without ever having to see each other. We do think that a tablet
can be extremely effective for learning and carrying on your necessary data along with
you because you can watch educational videos (screencasts), listen to podcasts, and
take notes with the versatility of just one tool. Screencasts were probably most
effective for me because I am a visual learner not just an audible one, I have to
see what the person is talking about in order for me to really grasp the concept.
As much as I enjoy podcasts, we both agree that as far as mobility goes,
podcasts proved to be the weakest for both of us. Yes, it was great being able to
take a podcasts with you on a jog, while on BART, or even at work, the problem is
that we both get distracted easily so it made it easy to not follow along. It was
somewhat effective however because after watching a screencast of the topic in
the podcast or in a visual lecture, we get the “oh now I get it” feeling but not until
after actually seeing it. In the future, we’d both like to get to explore more
functions of podcasts and recording them with a tablet or cell phone. The reason
being that we both take really good notes in class but agree that sometimes there
are things a professor will say and without a recording you will never remember it
verbatim.
Being that we were both active and visual or sensing learners, it really helped a
lot to watch screencasts and take notes on our laptops/tablet because it drowned our
need to be fidgety in class (it would seem we both have ADHD) and we were able to
take notes and Google relevant screencasts/podcasts to keep for later use. The fact
that we were able to stay busy while paying attention in class definitely helped us

5. both out because it used to be hard to take notes and not space out and then
realize we were behind. Now, using things like Evernote, we could include links to
outside sources on our notes and in case we were lost or needed additional
information, it would be synced to our phones, laptop etc. for when we needed it
for studying purposes. Its not so much one particular mobile technology that helped
us, but instead the ability to take all the technology mobile alongside us and having it
handy at any given necessary moment.
Summarize how you will use what you learned in this class:
This course has taught us both a lot about ourselves and how we learn. After
taking this course, we can both agree that we will try to continue the use of
mobile technology into the rest of the remaining coursework the next semester
because using a pencil and notebook is now dinosaur era. We both were unaware
of the extensive usage of podcasts available, screencasts, and the ability to take them
practically anywhere on our phones and laptops (and tablet). I think that the most useful
strategy I will always keep with me is the active earning using mobile technology just
because I can have information at the tap of my phones screen. On the other hand, I
think that the visual aspect of mobile technology is something I will continue to
use because I can just pull out my phone and look for a good screencast,
YouTube video, etc. on the topic of interest and learn while on the go. The
application of such mobile technology can vary depending on the type of work one gets
into. I want to be an Economist or Financial Analyst, so having the relevant information,
graphs, charts etc. handy can help while doing research or on the job. I plan to get into
Dietetics so being able to show clients the proper food pyramids, building their
profiles on the fly and having the necessary information available instantly can be
extremely helpful. Learning a new job can require an extensive amount of tedious
work, but being able to do research on the job, technique and so forth can be
easily achieved if we have mobile technology.
I think that the technologies I will definitely continue to use are my MacBook Air,
and my tablet. I can easily synchronize all the necessary material I need back and forth
and use one or the other depending on my need. I think the tablet and laptop are good
for taking notes in meetings, making lists and charts on the go, and help in learning
because you can always stay connected on the internet to find anything you need. Also
being able to record and converting to podcasts for learning purposes is
extremely useful in real world settings. I find that my iPhone’s usage of
screencasts and podcasts is something I have grown to love because I have such
an extensive amount of information at my fingertips if need be. I think I will
probably avoid tablets for learning because it was too tedious for me to use and
bulky. I am better off using my laptop and tethering to my phone because, in my
opinion, it’s just as useful as a tablet. I think that microblogs and social networking
on mobile applications are also least effective for learning so I would not use those for
learning purposes, just for my own personal use. Social bookmarking will also be
avoided by both of us because we found it too difficult to keep the bookmarks on a
website organized. Using these on mobile devices was too hard and complicated to
keep organized.