2. LEARNING PREFERENCES
At the beginning of the class when I first took the learning
preferences sur vey, I scored a 9 for reflective, a 5 for sensing, a
5 for visual, and a 3 for sequential. I’ve always liked to work
alone since it gives me time to brainstorm and think things
through thoroughly before I contribute my ideas. Because I’m so
meticulous, I also get a better grasp at things when there are
detailed pictures involved, such as diagrams, and when there is a
logical step-by -step process. With these four combined learning
preferences, I think that is why I find installation manuals
interesting. I like following the numerical directions and finely
labeled diagrams that will lead me in the right step towards
completing the project. At the end of the class, I feel that I
haven’t strayed too far away from my original learning
preferences however, I have improved a bit as a verbal learner.
Since we’re in college, most classes are lecture-based.
Professors use PowerPoints or just verbal words to teach so I’ve
trained myself to listen carefully and pick out the important
facts.
Annie Ng
3. LEARNING PATHWAY
At the beginning of class, I chose Learning Warrior as my
pathway. I feel I have successfully gained more knowledge in
multimedia technology on a deeper level because before this
class, I wasn’t clear on what a screencast was. I haven’t
actually seen much either but after seeing some in the
activities, I was really impressed at the level of
interactiveness. I’ve also learned more about multimedia and
realized that it’s all around us all the time. I haven’t changed
my pathway because I want to learn more for myself before I
can successfully become a learning guide and help others.
Annie Ng
4. LEARNING ACTIVITIES
The “Ameri can Sign Language” and “Newton’s Laws of M oti on” acti vities in
the Screencasting Quest gave me a broader under standi ng of how I co uld
use multimedia tec hnologies to learn. Screencasts are a major help to
vi sual learner s because they i nclude interacti ve diagrams and dynamic
animati ons. The vi sual s foll ow what the texts say so we get both formats
working together to help the student l earn . The per son in the sign
language screencast was verbally teac hing and had a written outline of
what she was goi ng over. I was able to sequentially foll ow her tho ught
process . The Newton video made learning physi cs ver y easy because of the
3D animati ons, z oomi ng in, and key words . Both are ef fecti ve screencasts
but one’s visual was reality while the other was animated . The “Hip
Replacement” activity in the Multimedia Quest gave me a deeper
under standing of how I could use multimedia technol o gies to learn . The
Hip Replacement activity was an i nteractive game that i ncluded audio,
real-life scans of the hip bo nes, and text which took me to a whole new
level of learning . With these combined media, I under stood hip
replacement surger y more than I would have through a textbook or even a
video . I screencasts li ke Guitar Lesson, Layer s in Photoshop, etc. that were
uploaded with a space for public comments work best for learning with
other s because we get an input from the teac her and the learner s on what
worked, what didn’t work , and other speci fic questi ons . People get to repl y
to eac h other which not onl y deepens our l earning, but we mi ght also c ome
up with new, innovati ve ways to learn.
Annie Ng
5. EXPLORATION OF TECHNOLOGIES FOR
LEARNING
I explored deeper into the Screencasts Quest because I wasn’t
too familiar with them yet. After looking at various
screencasts, I found that I liked this mode of learning
because most times, it included a screenshot of the person’s
screen so I could see exactly what he was referring to (visual).
Their mouse guided my eyes to whatever was being said
through the audio. Depending on the topic of the screencast, I
felt the visual learning preference was the only one that was
accommodated. If it were talking about history with facts, my
sensing preference was accommodated. If it involved science
processes, my sequential preference was accommodated.
Annie Ng
6. EXPLORATION OF TECHNOLOGIES FOR
LEARNING (CONT.)
I also looked into the Multimedia Quest, specifically
“Designing a Cell Phone”. I like how there was a transcript for
the audio. If I missed what was said, I could refer to the text
at the bottom of the screen. The whole thing was interactive
with animations because I could customize my own cell phone
and see how it would turn out with customers. Each of the
customers gave their response to the product with detailed
results so I could think it through (reflect) and learn more
practical ways to achieve the best possible cell phone
(sensing).
Annie Ng
7. EXPLORATION OF TECHNOLOGIES FOR
LEARNING (CONT.)
The last Quest I looked deeper into was the Podcast and the
“Video Doodling” activity seemed to favor most of my learning
preferences. From the start, I could see and hear the person
speaking in a box near the main screen. The pictures in the
main screen were following the speaker’s explanations
(sequential) so I was able to comprehend how to video doodle
easily. The important part that was helpful for my learning
was him pausing the video to doodle on the screen itself to
explain (sensing) as well as hearing other people’s comments
and doodles on the screen. This video was very helpful and
was definitely a step by step tutorial on how to video doodle.
Annie Ng
8. SYNTHESIZING YOUR EXPERIENCE
I was most interested in multimedia as learning tools because
it’s practically on every website. I believe it’s the most ef fective
learning technology because it incorporates a wide variety of
media from text, audio, and animations, which suits many if not
all learning preferences. I wasn’t actually surprised at any of the
multimedia technologies because I knew multimedia, podcasts,
and screencasts could very effectively teach people. Podcasts
weren’t effective as a learning tool for me because verbal
learning isn’t my strong suit. I feel it’s very static with a majority
of it being audio. I found myself easily distracted since I didn’t
always have much to look at. I would like to further explore
screencasts as a learning tool because I like how it incorporates
the actual screen in the interactive explanations. It makes
learning easier since I can see the speaker’s references and I
can read along myself. I haven’t used screencasts much but I
think it will improve my learning.
Annie Ng
9. SYNTHESIZING YOUR EXPERIENCE
(CONT.)
Multimedia worked best for my learning preferences because
it incorporated a myriad of media. After reading the text, I
could play a video that supports what it is saying or further
explains it. Other times, I could learn hands on by being a part
of the learning process. There would be interactive click-
throughs and quizzes along the way to check my
comprehension. Multimedia generally is able to accommodate
every form of learner because of its wide variety of media,
which is why I think it is ef fective as a technology tool.
Annie Ng
10. WHAT YOU’LL DO NEXT
I will continue to use all learning strategies but mainly visual
and verbal because I think those two will come in handy after
I’m done with the school environment. Visual learning
strategies will be useful outside of school because we’ll have
to put our thoughts into presentations. When we explain
things, we’ll have to have an organized way of presenting the
information because the majority of people are visual
learners. Verbal learning strategies will come in handy
because we’ll have to train ourselves to listen carefully. There
won’t always be written directions and some employers want
to see how well we listen to instructions.
11. WHAT YOU’LL DO NEXT (CONT.)
I will continue to use multimedia and screencasts for learning af ter
this class because I think they’ll be useful in school and at work
places. Multimedia is incorporated ever ywhere so it will be dif ficult to
avoid using them. They have the ability to ef fectively communicate to
their target audience, especially in adver tising because if they use
animations and interactions, the consumer will easily be intrigued by
what they see. I could use screencasts for making presentations at my
workplace or screencasts for educational purposes. If I had to explain
something, I could make a screencast instead of using a static
cardboard presentation . I’ll use all forms of multimedia technologies
for non-learning purposes because multimedia, podcasts, and
screencasts, have their own enter tainment categories aside from
educational purposes. I could find Do-It-Your self screencasts, spor ts
podcasts, and a whole variety of multimedia on dif ferent subjects. I
probably won’t be using podcasts as much because I haven’t trained my
verbal learning skills yet. Once I’m comfor table with my verbal learning
preference, I’ll use more podcasts in my learning.
Annie Ng
