Summer 2012

1. ITEC 299
Mobile Learning/Personal Learning
guild
Blair Nishio

2. Learning Blair Nishio
Preferences
◦ At the beginning of the class, we took a
survey on which type of learner we might
be. According to the results I am an active,
intuitive, visual, sequential learner. I
received a 7 for active, 8 for visual, and 3
for sequential. After taking this class, I
realized how important it was to learn
according to your learning preferences.
Active and visual learning showed me that
when I see how something is done or get
involved, I seem to learn and retain
material much better. At the end of the
class, I would say, knowing your learning
preferences is very important.

3. Blair Nishio
The Path
◦ At the beginning of class I joined every guild offered.
I was anxious to see what each guild was offered.
Now that I check the google+ page, I am not sure if I
really did join the guild. I have a +1 next to the posts
on the google + page but that is the most I did with
these. I was not really sure if you were supposed to
sign up for one guild or multiple guilds. I took part in
the mobile Learning / Personal guild. Through this
guild I gained a broader knowledge of mobile
technologies In the past I had used Ipads and Ipods as
a means of learning tools. However, Through this
learning guild I learned many new uses of these
technologies.

4. Blair Nishio
Activities
◦ The most useful Technology I found with Mobile learning was the use of the iPad. On the iPad I found
the use of the flashcards could be very helpful. This was because not only can you make your own
flash cards from your iPad or personal computer, but you could also share the flashcards you made. In
the walkthrough of the app, the developer said that it would be unlikely that you would need to make
your own because so many people, who are already using the app, could have potentially made the set
of cards which you could need. Another activity that showed me the potential of the iPad apps was the
use of the language lessons. In these lessons they spelt out the foreign words, said it and then showed
it in a conversation. This was very useful for me because of my learning preferences. The iPad is a
very interactive, mobile, and useful device.

5. Blair Nishio
3 Technologies
◦ There are three mobile technologies in which explored for learning this
semester. One of the technologies I explored, was my iPod touch. For my iPod I
downloaded a flashcard application. I am an active learner so flashcards have
always helped. This application also allowed me to carry around my flashcards
without worrying about losing several to the mess of my backpack. With an iPod I
can upload audiobooks, listen to podcasts or view images. What’s even better is
that when I am connected to a wifi network, my library of these media greatly
expands. I am able to access anything on in internet. This is a great feature that has
come with the new iPods. The use of my iPod complimented my learning
experience greatly.
Another technology that I checked out was an iPad. I do not have one
of these so I borrowed my mothers. It felt like a big iPod touch. When I first
started using it, I did not think that I would see the benefit of it against an iPod
touch. They have the same features but with a bigger screen. This being said, the
screen made a world of a difference. I was able to see pictures on one screen
instead of having to scroll in order to see the different parts of the screen. The
quality of the screen was very high quality. It actually felt better to look at pictures
on the iPad versus my own computer. The iPad would definitely be able to help a
visual learner. It would help a visual learner and also an active learner. I found the
apps on the iPad to be very useful. I was able to put my flashcards onto the iPad
very easily with no complications. The Bigger text seemed to stick in my head
better than small text as weird as that sounds.
The last type of mobile technology I tried out were microblogs. I
never really thought of microblogs as being a way to learn. However I thought of
how subscriptions helped keep you up to date with what’s going on in the media
world along with friends. I was new to twitter so I tried to add many of my friends
and thought of who I might be interested in the media world. The twitter world
kept me up to date with what was going on directly from the source. This can help
the visual and active learners very much so. The visual learners will see the most
current tweets and the active learners can follow links posted or retweet things
which they may find interesting.

6. Blair Nishio
Looking Back
◦ The technology that interested me the most as a mobile learning tool was my iPod. I carry my iPod around me the
majority of the time. The fact that I can use it to expand my learning is very useful. The most surprising mobile
technology used for learning was definitely the use of miniblogs. As I said before, I thought that miniblogs such as
twitter were used for social networking more than expanding one’s learning.
The most effective learning tool I have used this year is my iPod. Like I said, I carry my iPod everywhere so I was very
familiar with this technology. The iPod was very helpful in the visual aspect. I was able to watch video and look at
pictures and documents. The iPod was also very helpful for the active learner. I really liked to use the flashcard app and
web browser. I was also able to edit and work on word documents. The only problem with this was typing. It was very
hard to correctly type what I needed to say and much of the time, it was very frustrating. If I owned an iPad I would
have said that this technology worked best for me, unfortunately I do not.

7. Blair Nishio
The Future
◦ After this class I will use some strategies I learned.
One of the strategies I might use is the use of
microblogs. Using microblogs I can spread my ideas
and hear the ideas of others.
◦ The technology that I think will be most useful in
the future is the use of tablets. In the next year I’m
hoping to save up for a tablet after using with my
mother’s tablet for a period of time. I found many
interesting apps that could help me learn and make
my learning experience more interesting. Seeing
how tablets are becoming more advanced, I can see
the potential to be great. After I am able to by a
tablet, it will be likely that I will stop using my iPod
for mobile learning. This is because they are the
same thing, but one has a larger screen. I am unsure
though whether I will go with the route of using an
iPad or a android tablet. Who knows, maybe there
will be a new tablet out there by the time I save up
for one.