Level 3 Activity

1. Oliver Gleason
ITEC 299 Fall 2013
ITEC 299 Fall 2013
Synthesis Quest -Level 3 Activity

2. Motivation To Take Class
Interesting Subject Matter
First Semester Back to School
Would Help Getting Back Into Academics

3. Personal Learning Preferences
11 Reflective
1 Sensing
5 Verbal
3 Sequential
*Note:At the beginning of class after taking my learning styles quiz I scored an eleven for reflective, a one on
sensing, a five on verbal and three on sequential. After having reviewing the meanings of the scores and
analyzing what they meant, I found that they were pretty accurate. I prefer to take time to process what all the
new ideas that I am learning, even while studying. I try to utilize verbal learning at work and school. I talk out
projects with coworkers and ask many questions. I have fount that adapting to this method I understand
things more completely than before. At the end of class I realized that there are ways of learning that benefit
me more than others. After I started to ask more questions, and began to discuss class subjects with my
classmates I understood the subjects more concisely.

4. Learning Pathway: Learning
Warrior
Exploring Technologies
*Note:
The learning pathway I chose was Learning Warrior. This pathway allowed me to explore a number of different mobile technologies and how they can help further my
personal learning. I focused mostly on Iphones, Ipads, and microblogs. I was already relatively familiar with these technologies, I enjoyed learning how to incorporating them in to
my study and school work. Having used microblogs, for entertainment it was interesting to see how people are attempting to use them for connecting to others in the field and
getting up to the minute information. I however was not overly impressed with them. Sites like Twitter seemed to be too hard to navigate and unreliable with sources of information.
I had the opposite experience with Ipods and utilizing podcasts. Not only was I able to find many interesting podcasts that were extremely useful, they were also extremely easy to
find and use. With in a few clicks in itunes I was able to find art podcasts that either had interviews with the artist or other important people involved with what ever art movement I
was learning about at the time from reliable sources like SFMOMA. I did not change my pathway through out the semester.

5. Activities
Exploring Apps for IPhone & IPad
Exploring Language Lessons on IPod
*Note:The activity that helped me most and was my most enjoyable was the Tech- Quest- Level 2- Predict Use Evaluate. I enjoyed this activity the most
because I was able to actually use different apps that I might not have know about or tried. Some of the language apps (I chose Spanish) apps like Flashcardlet I
still use and plan to continue to use in up coming semesters. I might not have know about those apps had I not taken this class. Also having to write about them
made me really have to evaluate them and explore many of their features which I might not have explored in the first place. As for learning with others, I did not
explore many that were beneficial. Twitter was not easy to communicate, same with Tumblr.

6. Technologies
IPod &IPhone
IPads & Tablets
Microblogs

7. Technologies and Learning
Podcasts
Language Lessons
Twitter and Tumblr
*Note: Tech Quest: Ipads & Tablets was also a beneficial way to explore the classes that
I was taking this semester. Not only was the Ipad easy to navigate I was also able to find a
wealth of apps that allowed me to continue studying while on the go or at home. Some of the Flash card apps were very useful as I could also get them on my Iphone and study while on my
way to work or commuting around the city. I also greatly enjoyed the Living language Spanish app which was easy to navigate and although not as cohesive as a spanish class, it worked as
a nice refresher course or to introduce someone to the language.
Tech Quest: Microblogs was not as successful for me. I felt that since I am a verbal learner that microblogs would allow me to create dialogue with other art history students. I
tried using both Tumblr and Twitter to connect and perhaps learn new ideas with my Art history classes. I found that trying to find any specific topic on twitter near impossible, and that it
seemed to work for entertainment purposes only. Also I could not really trust the validity of the sources when I could find anything. Tumbler was a little bit better, although I found that
Tumbler was better for Image searches than anything else as it is an extremely visual site. Which was nice that I could find lesser know works from particular artists, but not much by way of
information that seemed mostly in blurb form.
The technology that surprised me the most was how much I could get by using my ipod more often that utilizing podcasts to keep me thinking about art and the variety of
podcasts that I was able to find. That I was able to find much more that the professor was able to squeeze in to one class period. Including interviews with the artists themselves. I also think
that different prospective is always interesting and essential to learning. I didn’t think that the Microblogs worked very well as I found them hard to navigate and unreliable. I’m not sure that
they are fully matured yet and still primarily for entertainment purposes. Having said that, I would like to explore them more. I think that they are fascinating and a great way to connect, I
maybe just need more practice utilizing them.

8. Physiological Factors
Healthy Eating Habits
Healthy Sleep Paterns
*Note: The psychological factors that I explored to better were my eating habits and sleep patterns.
Since my time management skills are
less than stellar I always found that I would always find that I ate what was quick and easy, which almost always was not healthy. And since I
managed time horribly I would be up very late and sleep very little. As I decided to utilize my time better, I found that I was able to eat better
and sleep more. Once I changed my eating habits, more vegetables and fruit and less meat and fast foods I found that I slowly had more
energy. The same happened when I began to regulate my sleep schedule. I also found that I was able to pay attention better in class since I
was not so groggy from lack of sleep.

9. Future Use of Lessons
Continue to Eat Healthy
Continue Healthy Sleep Patterns
Time Management Skills
Text
Use of Knowledge of Learning Preferences
*Note: Knowing the bad things that I am doing to my body helps me avoid them. Since having learned what happens when you deprive the brain and
body of sleep you realize that these are important things that you should not sacrifice. And to be cliche the proof is in the pudding, I feel better, rested
and have more energy. Which all factor into my ability to learn and retain better the information given in class. Which brings down stress levels when I
feel that I know the material in class or on a test.
Knowing how these psychological factors effect my learning as a student or worker greatly improves my self development. Over the
semester I have slowly gotten better healthy habits and am feeling more energy and less stress. I would like to continue these habits through out my next
few semesters in school so that I become a better student and a bigger asset to the company that work for. I don’t think that any one has ever not
benefited from eating healthier or having better sleep patterns. It is in my best interest to continually improve my well being for both my academic and
personal life.

10. Over All Experience
Useful Knowledge to For Use in School and
Work
*Note: I will continue to attend to the physiological factors as they are conducive to not only me being a better student but also a better employee. As stated earlier
being healthier and more attentive at work or school can only have positive effects. Being a more healthy and attentive in life can only have positive effects. That
personal organization and time management played a big factor in the physiological factors fixing that one aspect seemed to have a domino effect on the rest of my
healthy habits. It is in my best interest to continue to develop and cultivate these healthy practices.
I plan to continue integrating these aspects of learning in to my life especially in my academic and professional life. Utilizing all factors together to benefit
myself as a productive member of my class as well as a productive member of my team at work. Any ways of learning how to effectively communicate with people that i
work with on a daily basis is a good thing, as my department deals a lot with development and implementation of policy and procedure. Understanding the different
ways that people process and learn new information is extremely helpful. Knowing that my supervisor is a visual learner will help to transfer ideas as I explain things to
him.