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Week 8: Reading Response

The two articles "Five Features of Effective Multimedia Messages: An Evidence-Based Approach" by Richard E. Mayer and "Cognitive Tutor: Applied Research in Mathematics Education" by Steven Ritter, Albert Corbett, John R. Anderson and Kenneth R. Koedinger discuss how the theories of learning are in relation to the use of technology. Everybody learns differently whether it be visual or hands on.

In the first article I read, "Cognitive Tutor: Applied Research in Mathematics Education", I read a statement that I thought was valid and significantly true. The statement read, "The inclusion of text endowed the curricula with some aspects (e.g., collaboration, diagramming, and writing about mathematics) that were easier to do on paper than on the computer". Talking about how people learn differently, I think that what you consider easier to do on paper versus a computer or phone depends on the person as well. I personally know that I find it easier to read or study for my schoolwork on paper or in an actual textbook rather than online. I can personally focus more and I really have no idea why.

"Five Features of Effective Multimedia Messages: An Evidence-Based Approach" shows how computer graphics and texts online could have an effect on how people learn. I think the five characteristics that promote learning via multimedia messages were interesting to read about. Systematicity gives the learner a visual while trying to learn. It creates a graphic which gives a different technique of learning. Referencing helps the learner make connections with the graphics and the text. This personally helps me when I'm learning something new. Referencing could be done on paper or through the computer. Conciseness is something that a lot of learners could have trouble with. Staying focused and making sure you are only containing the relevant information is a difficult task for some. This is where I would personally have to not work with technology and learn through actual texts. Another characteristic is sociability which is when you are learning through speech and conversation. Tone of voice is actually very essential and could determine how well a person takes in and processes the information being said. The final characteristic is conserving, making sure you are only concentrated on certain things and not too much. I never realized how much these five characteristics come into play while learning through the multimedia. Multimedia messages could also be on screen texts or spoken narration. Mayer writes, "..Web-based instruction should be designed to complement and foster the learner's cognitive processing."

#week8

App Review

For my App Review, I chose the iPhone or iPad application called Vocabla. I find this app to be very useful and helpful for everyday purposes. I also feel that this app is suitable for people of all ages this way many people could use it to its best advantage. Learning the English language is one of the most difficult languages to get used to and learn. Keeping up with vocabulary and its synonyms and antonyms can improve your writing, reading and social skills as well.

The Vocabla app is created to improve your English vocabulary. By using this app, you could translate words and memorize words, phrases, idioms and other pieces of language. If you have a new English word, just add it to Vocabla and it will help you memorize it. The Vocabla app is like a game. When you find a new word, it will help you memorize it by going through interactive tests. Vocabla makes it fun and interactive to learn new vocabulary. The Vocabla app could be used by a variety of audiences. The variety could range from elementary school students to adults. The developer of this Vocabla app is Langapp Sp. z o. o.

Vocabla is also used as a translator. So if you were to put in a word that was in Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Turkish, Vietnamese, Portuguese, or Polish, you could get back an English definition and translation. This is why this app is suitable for people who just recently learned the English language and are trying to keep up and refresh their English vocabulary. If they forget what word they wanted to say in English and put in the word that they know in Spanish, they could easily remember by receiving the English definition. The Vocabla app offers these learning techniques via flashcards and multiple choice tests that are fairly simple. This app also is available with three different learning levels: beginners, intermediate and advanced learners.

What I find to be an advantage of this educational app is that you could check your progress. Vocabla provides your progress stats to be available at any time, this way you can be aware of what words you are more familiar with than others. Another advantage that Vocabla offers is that there is an audio. With the audio, you could learn the pronunciation of these English words which will be beneficial in your speaking skills. Lastly, what I found to be really cool about this app is that they have different versions. There is a Vocabla: TOEFL exam app, Vocabla: GRE exam app, Vocabla: SAT exam app and a Vocabla: IELTS exam app. They have these different versions so that they could specifically provide a bundle of vocabulary words that could help prepare you for these major exams. I personally know that the Vocabla app for the GRE exam contains a lot of words that were available in the practice book along with the actual exam. Practicing the GRE vocabulary words via Vocabla could make it more interesting, less boring, and more interactive rather than sitting there going through the practice book. The multiple choice tests will prepare you for what its like when you go for the test and could make it fun!

I feel that Vocabla is designed very well; letting you check your progress, offering simple, interactive tests, seeing progress for others. I think that it is important for an app like this to have different learning levels such as beginners, intermediate and advanced learners. People have a tendency to learn at different speeds and understand things differently. I do feel that there is a limitation to this app. I think that they should have more techniques to learn the English vocabulary. All they offer is flashcards and a multiple choice test. I think that Vocabla should add a section where it is fill-in-the-blank or matching. Adding variety to the way these words could be memorized will increase the popularity of the app and increase the amount of words memorized.

The Vocabla app can relate to eLearning today. Nowadays, students are starting to learn via iPads and computers when they are inside/outside of the classroom. Now that they could learn vocabulary and use this app as a dictionary on their phones, it increases the conveniency while they are doing activities for their classes online/on their phones.

This app is very useful and beneficial when learning the English language and practicing the English vocabulary. It provides simple tests that interact with you, making it easier to memorize the meaning of these words. Vocabla has the ability to translate words as well, which makes the range of its audience increase.

#appreview

Reading Response #7

Before even reading the two articles, I knew that this weeks reading passages were going to be interesting to learn more about. eReading is becoming more and more popular as the years go on, especially with all of the new technology being released.

With the first article, "Digital reading spaces: How expert readers handle books, the Web and electronic paper", they explained how traditional newspapers and books are in a decline. I think that this article has a lot of valid points that were mentioned. Printed books are becoming less common. Today, you see people purchasing Kindles, Nooks and iPads rather than buying hard covers of a popular read. These technologies are rising with popularity because they are more convenient for people. Kindles, Nooks and iPads are easy to bring with you and you could just bring that wherever you are going instead of packing 4 separate books with you. Along with being convenient, these technologies also have the ability to let you do other things on them as well as read. You could go on the internet, check your email and play games if you wanted to take a break from the book you were reading all at the palm of your hand. Another cool thing that I was reminded about by reading this article was that eReading allows you to highlight, underline and annotate as you're reading. eReading has been rising in the classrooms as well. I have had a few professors that were offering to have their textbooks online instead of carrying the textbook itself. Now with the ability to highlight, underline and annotate, I feel like eReading for some college courses would be beneficial. Many students in college are battling between working all day, playing sports and going to classes. With eReading, it makes it easier for students to keep track of their books and make them have to bring less when they arrive to all of their classes. An interesting part of this article I found was when they describe the hands while reading, writing and studying. "The basis of writing, likewise, is a manipulation of tools and very much the work of the hands and fingers. Furthermore, in the act of reading we use our hands to fetch, hold and keep the text in the focal area and our fingers to turn pages or scroll computer screens, sometimes pointing to the text itself. When reading to study, students and researchers often have a pen or pencil in their hand, taking notes, underlining and physically touching the text." I thought this was interesting because I think all of this can effect how well a person contains the information as they are reading. The way we read depends on all the different technologies or physical paper, how big the text is and how the reading is designed.

Personally, I enjoy to use my Kindle and eReader for my leisure. I get magazines to my Kindle and fun books to read. When it comes to studying and doing schoolwork, I need to use my actual textbook to read. I do not really understand why this is, but I contain the information better when I can physically highlight and write little side notes.

The second article, "Math That Moves: Schools Embrace the iPad", it wrote about how students were given iPads from their schools. The iPad is coming out with more applications that will better education and applications that could help students turn education into games. I think this article made an interesting point that schools are fighting to get their budgets approved meanwhile they are buying iPads for every single student. Parents seem to be supportive of the iPad because their children are showing more success when it comes to learning. Even though there is little evidence out there that using this new technology is making the students learn more and quicker, teachers think that the iPad is showing many educational uses that will be useful in the future of learning. I agree with the teachers and think that the iPad will definitely help in the long run if they are put to use for all of the right reasons. A teacher told the New York Times, "'I think this could very well be the biggest thing to hit school technology since the overhead projector.'" The overhead projector used to be used in every single class of mine, especially in high school. If the iPad becomes just as popular as this in the schools, the iPad will be around for awhile!

Week 6 Reading Response

Mobile gaming as a tool for supporting learning is a concept that could have its pros and cons, as anything could. I think it's true... outside of school, young people tend to play games on their mobile devices- cell phones and computers. They download all these game applications and sometimes these applications for popular games are not even free. I think it would be a great idea for teachers in the school setting to learn more about involving these mobile game technologies because it might be helpful to some students. An interesting part of the article I found from Savannah: Mobile Gaming and Learning? was, "Mobile technologies, for example, enable children to interact simultaneously with both the physical world and with digital information". I find this interesting because I never really realized how much technology and games on these mobile devices could bring two different worlds together. Learning via mobile technologies, especially through mobile gaming, makes it a totally different experience from learning outside of the classroom atmosphere. I can understand why "game technologies have for some time struggled to be taken seriously within the educational arena." If game technologies are not done correctly, they can be seen as a distraction to the students, which than would lead to them not learning to their highest potential. The Savannah Project has the students using GPSs on their PDAs. To me, the Savannah Project was a very interesting concept and a totally different way to look at mobile gaming.

The Mad City Mystery: Developing Scientific Argumentation Skills with a Place-based Augmented Reality Game on Handheld Computers article proved a good point that "schools lag behind in producing appropriate learning for this social change." I think the main reason why schools are behind is because teachers would constantly have to learn these new ways to teach their students by using these mobile technologies. Not only would the teachers have to constantly learn, but there is also always an update with the latest technologies today so it would be difficult for a school to be ahead of the game when it comes to learning via mobile technologies. Personally, I also feel that if there were constantly new ways and applications to learn, I would spend more time on learning how to apply and use the applications than actually learning the main idea and subject.

The article I chose to share was genM: The Multitasking Generation (http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1174696,00.html). I thought this was an awesome article that shows a different way to look at today's generation in how they use technologies, while trying to do schoolwork and other activities. The part of this article that caught my eye was that a little girl said in the article, "'You just multitask,...my parents tell me I can't do homework while listening to music, but they don't understand that it helps me concentrate". In this case, technology is helping her and providing her to focus on her schoolwork, but her parents just don't get it. Many parents think that technology mainly has a negative effect on their kids today, when maybe.. it is just helping them. This weeks topic opened my eyes to mobile gaming as it showed me both positive and negative effects of learning for young students.

#week5

shorowitz89

hahahah #21stCentury #mlearning

Week 4 Reading Response

Designing Mobile Communication Tools: A Framework to Enhance Motivation in Online Learning Environment was a very interesting read especially now that mobile devices are getting more and more popular in todays world. In the abstract, they wrote "mobile communication technology is considered to be effective in promoting learner motivation and encouraging interaction between learners and instructors as well as among peers in online learning environments". I can see this statement being accurate because nowadays, people are always active on their mobile devices whether it be cruising through their email to surfing through the web. Because people are already on their cell phones, it is easier to motivate them to use online learning. I truly believe that a students capability of learning has a lot to do with how much motivation they have and how hard they work. This article made a very good point that stood out to me; "Learners are more motivated when they have frequent contact with instructors and peers, and physical separation in online learning environments can cause loneliness, resulting in a lack of a sense of community". This is where I personally feel that learning through online environments might show negative results. It is a difficult task to be able to truly understand what peers are talking about if they are not in a classroom together. It is much easier to be misunderstood which leads to miscommunication and confusion. Of course it is more convenient for people to just have the ability to learn with the touch of their fingers on a tiny mobile device that could be brought basically anywhere rather than going into a classroom all at the same place and time. I feel that the ARCS model: Attention-Relevance-Confidence-Satisfaction are all key in order to be motivated for online learning.

Before I read the iPod in Education article, I was unsure about how an iPod could actually enhance online learning. The only thing I use my iPod for is to listen to my music. I never really thought that it could be used in the online learning environments. I even remember that if I had my iPod on when I would walk through the hallways of my high school, I would get in trouble. It's crazy to me how quickly the times change and now they are going to be used as a learning device! I have not seen the latest apple iPod, but I can just imagine all the applications it has available. Reading this article, it was saying how convenient using the iPod would be to learn because it is portable, tiny and cheaper than using a laptop or computer. In this case, everyone (students and teachers) would need to be on the same page and know how to use the iPod to its fullest potential. The article mentioned that an iPod is an audio and visual player. They also mentioned that the iPod could potentially have seven principles that characterize the potential of rich media content for learning. As I kept reading, I could see that all the seven principles are valid, and the iPod could do all of that. But I feel that if there are already cell phones, laptops/computers and iPads for online learning environments, why are they also bringing in iPods? To me, I think they should make sure teachers know how to use one of the technology devices and know how to use teaching applications on them and than worry about the other devices. I feel like with all of the options, teachers will not be able to truly know how to use just one to be on the same page as students because it could get confusing.

Mobile learning and mobile teaching are becoming more and more popular over the years and I feel like soon it's going to be how all teachers will be teaching their students. Technology is getting so advanced that there is not going to be a need for pen and paper, are going into the classroom to teach a lesson. In reality, it is more convenient for everyone to just learn through mobile devices and online learning environments. But will this continue to make students motivated about learning or will they be able to learn to their fullest potential?

#mlearning #week4

#mlearning #week4 #techreport

Tech Report: Speech Recognition

9 Speech Recognition Apps For Your PC. (n.d.). InformationWeek. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from http://www.informationweek.com/9-speech-recognition-apps-for-your-pc/d/d-id/1061190

Applications that recognize voice commands and convert them to text. Brief descriptions of each of the 9 applications.

Apple - iOS 7 - Siri. (n.d.). Apple - iOS 7 - Siri. Retrieved November 22, 2013, from http://www.apple.com/ios/siri/

How Siri is used in Apple's iPhones and the latest updates on Siri.

How Speech Recognition Works. (n.d.).HowStuffWorks. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/high-tech-gadgets/speech-recognition.htm

Detailed description of how Speech Recognition works with each application/categories.

Pros & Cons on Using Voice Recognition Software. (n.d.). Yahoo Contributor Network. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from http://voices.yahoo.com/pros-cons-using-voice-recognition-software-3235701.html

The many pros & cons of using speech recognition applications

SYNC and SYNC with MyFord Touch | Ford.com. (n.d.). SYNC and SYNC with MyFord Touch | Ford.com. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from http://www.ford.com/technology/sync/

Shows details of Sync Speech Recognition is used in Ford cars.

Speech recognition. (2013, November 23). Wikipedia. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_recognition

Definition of speech recognition showing the different applications and its performance and accuracy

MacSpeech Dictate. (2013, November 20). Wikipedia. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacSpeech_Dictate

Focused on the changes and altercations made my MacSpeech Dictate throughout the years.

The top five uses of speech recognition technology. (n.d.). The top five uses of speech recognition technology. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from http://www.callcentrehelper.com/the-top-five-uses-of-speech-recognition-technology-1536.htm

5 interesting ways that speech recognition is used in the world today.

What’s new in Dragon speech recognition for the PC.. (n.d.). Whats New Version 12. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from http://www.nuance.com/dragon/whats-new-version-12/index.htm

Brief preview of what Dragon speech recognition is and what is new with it.

#mlearning #week4 #techreport

rachelfernandes08

so true!

I am from the sandy shore Where the tide meets the sunset On a horizon of dreams I am from a happy home Where the smell of fresh baked cookies And logs burning give me comfort I am from a family of four Where movie quoting and sarcasm Are a daily regimen I am from my silly, crazy friends Making some new and keeping the old Sharing our stories and laughing out loud I am from a team of athletes Working to win a championship A desire, a vision, a dream #whereimfrom #week3

Reading Response #3

“Situating Constructionism” talks about how the constructivism’s hint of learning is “building knowledge structures”. In the article, I found it interesting how they mentioned that it is learning-by-making. I think many students today learn better when they are hands on and are visual learners. I personally learn better that way because it requires me to take the time to actually think about it and try it out. They talked about an art class creating sculptures and how the students loved this class because it required them a different way of thinking; “it allowed time to think, to dream, to gaze, to get a new idea and try it and drop it or persist, time to talk, to see other people’s work and their reaction to yours”. I thought this was an interesting way to look at it because never would I think to compare an art class to mathematics. But being able to teach a subject in many ways where the students can understand it and apply it is very important.

Being that there are different ways students learn things, having computers as an option has been successful. I think it is great that public schools are now providing one-to-one access to computers and the internet all the time. I personally feel that to get the greatest outcome of learning, technology has to work together with the students. I think providing each student with a laptop to lease or buy would only benefit the them in the long run with their education. My brother attended Sacred Heart University after high school and at orientation, they provided him with a laptop. To this day he still uses it for work and to do research on. I feel that if the student is going to have a computer with them in class, it is important for them to have it at home as well so they could put what they learned to use and keep improving that way. Some teachers today who are older still are unsure of how to totally use the technology to its highest potential, in which they would than prefer to teach without todays technology.

I think the idea of “One Laptop per Child” is clever and will eventually be effective to these students. Knowing that “as of 2011 there were about over 2.4 million XO laptops delivered” is showing how it is growing and becoming successful.

#week3

Hi! Rachel and I are interested in speech recognition or iOS and android platforms!

#mlearningtech

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