The document discusses Christina Fregoso's experience using social and collaborative learning technologies in her ITEC class. At the beginning of the class, her learning preferences were reflective, sensing, visual, and sequential. Through using verbal screencasts in the class, she became more adapted to auditory learning. She chose the learning guide and learning sage pathways which both fit her goals. Her favorite activities involved using Groupboard and Evernote for collaboration. She found apps for her iPod like Flashcards* helpful for visual and portable learning. While she doesn't have an iPad, she recognizes their potential benefits. She is interested in trying Twitter after the class ends but doesn't think microblogging would be good for focused learning.

1. Christina Fregoso
5/15/12
ITEC
Synthesis Project about Social/Collaborative Learning
At the beginning of the class when i first took the learning preferences survey my scores
were 1-reflective, 3-sensing, 3-visual, and 1-sequential. I think my learning preferences have
changed quite a bit in the sense that I am a very visual learner but since this class bases a lot of
their learning techniques using verbal screencasts so I have actually become more adapted to
listening to a lecture rather than reading through a powerpoint slide show. At the beginning of
class I thought that these learning preferences defined how my learning was in a sort of black
and white sense but now I see that there is definitely a grey area and room to switch between
different learning preferences in different circumstances. Then with that, I know which learning
preference works best for me in what situation, thus saving me a lot of time when it comes to
learning a new topic.
At the beginning of the semester I chose the learning guide and learning sage pathways.
I thought that both equally described what I was attempting to get out of taking this class. In the
sense of a learning sage, I believe I did get a broader sense of how to use social technologies in
general sense. It gave information on how to use new social websites I had never heard of and
also gave insight into the ones I am already connected to. With the social warrior pathway, the
reason I chose in the beginning not to follow that path was because I didn’t want to limit myself
to a few technologies to get deep into. As the semester progressed, I realized I had made a
good choice because there were so many new technologies introduced to me that I did not have
time to truly delve deep into one or two technologies. Then finally the best path this class could
offer was the learning guide pathway, because since this class is online you depend on the
other people in the forums to help you really understand a lot of the things that were going on. I
didn’t change my pathways because I felt that throughout the semester those two were the ones
that best fit my needs.
My favorite activity that was used to show how to use social technologies to learn was
during the I-Pads and Tablet Computers Quest where it introduced Groupboard. You are always
looking for ways to keep in contact with your group members, especially those ones that always
seem to never show up. It is also great for math study groups because with the interactive white
board we can discuss problems that we couldn’t solve on our own. The other activity I enjoyed
was the evernote app that allowed you to pretty much have personal assistant follow you
around. You can use it to make lists and then also use it to take notes and voice reminders. The
one social activity that helps everyone learn I believe is Tumblr because with that you can post
clips of an article on the page and then at the end you have the link to the rest of the page. It’s a
great way to connect and learn with others socially.
For the quest about Ipods/MP3 players I really looked into more apps that could be used
for learning to put onto my Ipod. My Ipod is not something that I use on a daily basis because I
have an android phone that does just about the same things but the apps that are equivalent to
the apps for an Ipod are not always as good. Ipods really tap into my visual learning and take it
to a new level. With the use of the Flashcard* app I can carry my flashcards with me
everywhere I go without the extra weight and the fear of losing one or two that may be
important. And then I also came upon an app that uses games to teach you spanish and that
taps into my active side. It uses many different games like bubble matching and fill in the blanks
to help you learn the language which is what I need when I am trying to learn something that
complex.
For the Ipads/Tablets quest it was definitely a little difficult because I don’t have either
but I used it as a way to see the advantages and disadvantages to a laptop or other computer.

2. However an Ipad does accomadate to my learning preferences because it allows for a bigger
screen for me to learn new information. With my visual side I like to see the big picture rather
than just a few little ones. There is an app that helps you see the human brain but it is 3-d and
allows you to spin it around to see it all at once. This is something that would have to be seen
on an Ipad to get the full effect of the app.
The Microblogs quest is a bit different for me because I have been refusing to get a
twitter myself. However I do see the good sides to using it as a learning preference. It allows for
short little bits so that there are no long drawn out stories on there and that it something that
appeals to my sequential side. I like things in order but to be a quick read and that is something
that twitter provides. You can always embed links into it if you want to get to the full story but
that way every person looking through the feed doesn’t have to read it.
The social technologies that interested me the most as learning tools were the apps for
your ipod because that is something that I already have and easily accessable. It provides a ton
of different ways to learn with all the different apps. I think for me the one that wouldn’t work at
all would be the microblogs because although the information is small and easy to understand, I
think I would get distracted by the feed and turn it into a more of entertaining thing rather than
something I need to focus and learn about. I do want to get an Ipad so I can expand my learning
on a little bit larger scale but not as heavy and large as a laptop.
The Ipod worked best for my learning preferences because it provides a visual and
sequential type of learning. Certain apps like the Flashcards* and Evernote all me to tap into my
learning preferences on my Ipod. And I am sure there are similar apps that I could even get for
my android phone that have the same capabilities. With both those learning devices I could
have my studying be much more portable rather than lugging around a giant laptop and heavy
text books. It also allows you to use these apps in class to save time writing notes so you can
listen to the teacher more during lecture.
After this class is over I think I will actually break down and get a microblog so I can see
if that learning technology actually works for me. I have been wanting to try it, I just wanted to
wait till after the semester so in case it becomes a distraction I won’t be barred down with so
much homework. I think twitter can be very helpful with jobs because it is a great way to follow
people in the field that you wish to join and then you can be more up to date about what is going
on within that company. By doing research on a company, if you ever get a job interview there,
there is a better chance you will get the job if you have some sort of knowledge.
I will definitely keep using my Ipod with various apps to learn and they can be put to full
affect next semester since I didn’t discover them until the end of this semester. I think that these
apps and technologies can really help me learn next semester and it can make studying a little
more fun rather than monotonous. I will definitely get a twitter to use for non-learning purposes
and more just social networking. I don’t really have anything that I want to avoid because I am
willing to try everything at this point, any new technology could help.