Summer 2012

1. ITEC 299
Multimedia / Interactive Learning
Blair Nishio

2. Blair Nishio
Learning 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. The most successful path of
learning for me would probably have to be the
multimedia section. This section was best for me,
because as I put earlier, I am an active and visual learner
an the multimedia section was perfect for this. I was
able to visually see what they were describing while
telling myself step by step what was happening. It was
even better when I got to get involved in certain
activities and got to do a little part of the activity
myself. In all my general view of what each path had
was broadened.

4. Blair Nishio
Activities
◦ This was my favorite groups of activities. I went straight to the games and MMO RPG’s
I really like to play video games and it appeals to my active learning process. One of the
very useful activities was the cell cycle game. This game reminded me of my biology
class in high school and how the cell cycle worked. It did a very good job of teaching it. I
then took a look at the podcast section. The video doodle activity seemed to be very
useful for the visual learner. It was used exactly how a teacher would use a lazer pointer
in a lecture. The difference is that if a student would get lost, they could rewind the video
to catch what the teacher had said again. Out of these two activities the video doodle
would have been more helpful to me than the cell cycle game.

5. Blair Nishio
3 Technologies
◦ There are three multimedia technologies in which explored for learning this semester. One of the technologies
explored was multimedia. Multimedia would appeal to many different types of learning preferences. It would
appeal to those with a verbal preference. Many uses of multimedia have an audible part about them from
background music which would stimulate the brain or someone actually talking throughout a video. Many
times multimedia will also appeal to those with a visual preference. Many multimedia technologies include a
picture or a video in order to further one’s understanding of what is going on. Multimedia can also help the
sequential user because often one cannot control the order of what is going on. The person who organizes the
multimedia source will often put a video in a certain order so that the viewer can follow what is going on.
When this is not the case, people will usually complain about it. Multimedia appeals to those with a verbal,
visual, and sequential user.
Podcasts make up another type of multimedia technology. Most podcasts are recorded and posted to the
internet, however, it is becoming more common for podcasts to be streamed live on the internet. When
podcasts were first developing, podcasts would mostly be suitable for sequential and verbal learners. Podcasts
were audio files which producers posted on the internet which would include a series of audible episodes.
These episodes would progress over time and be available for download on many mp3 players. As time has
gone on, video podcasts have been developed. Video podcast would now appeal to the visual learner. As time
has gone on live podcasts are streamed. Some podcast users use websites such as twitter to give them subjects
to talk about making it a more active way to teach and learn.
Another type of multimedia / Interactive learning technology is made up of video games. Video games
appeal greatly to active learners. Video games will often absorb a person into a story making the player make
decisions of what he or she will be doing. The video game will include quite a bit of eye candy therefore it
will appeal to visual learners. A good video game will include a very inclusive story, therefore a verbal factor
may be included. Video games will also appeal to a sequential learner. Video games often start with a tutorial,
teaching the fundamentals of a game, continue with easy problems and by the end of the game, something
which may have been overwhelming has became a manageable challenge for the player.

6. Blair Nishio
Looking Back
◦ The multimedia / Interactive Learning technology that interested me the most would probably be the video games. I have always loved to play video games and always
tried to make an excuse to my parents of how video games were helping me learn. The most surprising technology that is used to teach would probably also be video
games. This is because often when a person finishes a video game, they do not retain the lessons taught in the video games. Instead they usually continue onto the next
game looking back at the flashy moments. There are two technologies that I am uncertain about being used as learning tools. The first is the use of video games for the
reason I said in the last several sentences. The second is multimedia. With this generation the only thing which we want to watch are the action packed shows and
movies. Often when something that is educational or not so action packed the viewer will tend to zone out. Unless there is something that sparks the viewers interest
they viewer will continue to zone out this is how a video game might be better than multimedia source. I want to continue to explore the use of podcasts because I
have heard so much about them but have never really utilized them. This is something I will explore in the future.
For me, video games have worked for me. It has to be a certain type of video game though in order for me to learn. I have always been a fan of the tycoon series
which teaches a person how to run a park or city. There are often challenges which one must complete that a real owner may encounter. One must complete these
challenges without becoming bankrupt in the process. You learn the use of rewarding people (making them work harder) or punishing and making sacrifices (which
may be a hard decision to make but may be better for the overall picture). Games such as this can help people learn how to run a company but the majority of modern
games teach very little useful lessons.

7. Blair Nishio
The Future
◦ This class has taught me new strategies in which to use
multimedia to further or improve my learning. I will
continue to use multimedia to appeal to my visual and
active learning preferences.
When this class is over, I will probably continue to use
podcasts and video games to improve further my
learning. If offered, I can use podcasts to review lectures
and information taught in class. I can even use podcasts
outside of classes. I currently listen to “Ted Talks” while
cleaning my room or packing instead of blasting music.
They seem very interesting and I feel like I learn quite a
bit from them. I will continue to use video games also as
a way of learning. However, I will also use it in a non
learning environment also. Video games tend to relieve
stress and are quite fun to play.