Working Smart: Time and Technology

1. Handout Materials Available online: http://www.technoweenies.com/files/Palm/working_smart.ppt Working Smart: Time and Technology Your Learning Style Choosing a Digital Assist (or a low tech alternative!)

2. Diane Cunningham President of D & D Enterprises Instructional designer, curriculum developer, graduate school instructor and technical trainer. More information: http://www.technoweenies.com/global/about.htm Currently teach a wide variety of courses designed and developed for a wide variety of public and private clients American College of Surgeons California Society of Addiction Medicine Kaiser Permanente Advanta Mortgage Intel The American Marketing Association, San Diego Chapter The Computer Edge California Computer Expo San Diego Council on Literacy Introduction

3. Session Agenda • Uncovering Your Personal Learning Style • Choosing a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) • Low Tech (3x5 cards!) • High Tech (handheld PDA computer)

4. What is Your Learning Style? Concepts from the World Wide Brain Club http://www.silkwood.co.uk/

5. Memory and Your Personal Learning Style The brain processes information received from the outside world through the senses and so this determines the manner in which the brain forms associations and produces memories

6. What Are Learning Styles? • Learning styles are simply different approaches or modes of learning • The main modes of memory are based on the most important processes: • Visual • Auditory • Kinesthetic Source: Elizabeth Bogod & the VIDA website

7. Visual Learners • Learn Through Seeing • Visual learners need to see body language and facial expressions to fully understand the content of a conversation • Visual learners tend to prefer sitting at the front of a room to avoid visual obstructions (e.g. people's heads) • Visual learners may think in pictures and learn best from visual displays including: • Diagrams, Illustrated Text Books, Overhead Transparencies, Videos, Flipcharts and Hand-outs • During a meeting, visual learners often prefer to take detailed notes to absorb the information Source: Elizabeth Bogod & the VIDA website

8. Auditory Learners • Learn Through Listening • Auditory learners learn best through • Verbal Lectures, Discussions, Talking Things Through and Listening to What Others Have to Say • Auditory learners interpret the underlying meanings of speech through listening to tone of voice, pitch, speed and other nuances • Written information may have little meaning until it is heard • Auditory learners often benefit from reading text aloud and using a tape recorder Source: Elizabeth Bogod & the VIDA website

9. Tactile/Kinesthetic Learners • Learn Through Moving, Doing and Touching • Tactile/Kinesthetic people learn best through a hands-on approach, actively exploring the physical world around them • Tactile/Kinesthetic learners may find it hard to sit still for long periods and may become distracted by their need for activity and exploration Source: Elizabeth Bogod & the VIDA website

10. Visual Learners Helpful Habits • Visual Learners • Use visual materials • Have a clear view of your teachers • Use color to highlight important points in text • Take notes or ask for handouts • Illustrate your ideas • Write a story and illustrate it • Use multimedia • Study in a quiet place • Read illustrated books • Visualize information

11. Auditory Learners Helpful Habits • Auditory Learners • Participate in class discussions/debates • Make speeches and presentations • Use a tape recorder for lectures • Read text out aloud • Create musical jingles • Create mnemonics • Discuss your ideas • Dictate to someone • Use verbal analogies, and story telling to demonstrate your point

12. Tactile/Kinesthetic Learners Helpful Habits • Tactile/Kinesthetic Learners • Take frequent study breaks • Move around to learn new things • Work standing • Chew gum • Use bright highlighter colors • Jazz up your work space • Listen to music while you study • Skim through reading material to get a rough idea what it is about before settling down to read it in detail

13. Index of Learning Styles (ILS) You may learn most from watching the piano tuner at work if you are predominantly a visual learner. In order to understand how best to learn you need to find out what learning mode is dominant for you

14. Index of Learning Styles (ILS) An auditory learner would learn most from listening to the sounds made by the piano tuner

15. Index of Learning Styles (ILS) A kinesthetic learner would benefit most from picking up the tools and trying it for himself.

16. Combined Learning Style Each of these dominant memory modes can function independently although it is best if a combination of all three is used • If you wished to learn how to tune a piano you could watch asilent film of a professional piano tuner at work but this would give you no clear idea of what your aim was • You could listen to a recording of the piano tuners technique but would have no idea what the inside of a piano looked like • If you were left alone with his tools you might take a long time to achieve any results However if you watched a piano tuner at work, listened to his results and then copied him yourself you would be more likely to learn the technique efficiently

17. PDA Alternatives Low Tech High Tech

18. Low Tech “PDA” • The Hipster PDA (Parietal Disgorgement Aid) is a fully extensible system for coordinating incoming and outgoing data for any aspect of your life and work • It scales brilliantly, degrades gracefully, supports optional categories and “beaming,” and is configurable to an unlimited number of options • Best of all, the Hipster PDA fits into your hip pocket and costs practically nothing to purchase and maintain http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/03/introducing-the-hipster-pda/

19. Low Tech “PDA” • Building your first Hipster PDA • Get a bunch of 3"x5" file cards • Clip them together with a binder clip • There is no step 3

20. What Hi Tech PDAs Are Available?

21. Traditional Palm OS PDAs

22. Special Function Palm OS PDAs • Phone / GPS / Education etc.

23. GPS Global Positioning GPS

24. Education

25. Watch Wrist PDA

26. Games Games

27. Rugged others

28. Customizable Aceeca

29. Windows Mobile/Pocket PC

30. Blackberry PDAs

31. Blackberry PDAs

32. For now we will focus on Windows Mobile/Pocket PC and Palm OS PDAs BlackBerry Alternatives Bonnie Cha Senior associate editor January 23, 2006Research in Motion was dealt a nasty blow in its ongoing legal battle with NTP, a small holding company suing RIM for patent infringement, when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review a Federal Court of Appeals ruling against the BlackBerry maker. The latest news brings the possibility of a service shutdown one step closer to reality, and though RIM says it has a software "workaround" that will allow it to continue service, we have yet to hear any details about it. Obviously, this doesn't ease any of the worries or concerns of current or future BlackBerry owners, leaving them wondering about the fate of the CrackBerry. However, if there's any consolation, it's the fact that there are a number of suitable alternatives that can perform the same functions of a BlackBerry and, in some cases, do a better job of it. We've rounded up half a dozen smart phones for each major carrier--Cingular, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Sprint Nextel--that will handle your e-mail requirements, PIM organization, and cell phone needs. Read on to see if one is right for you. http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6452_7-6424523-1.html

33. How Do You Choose a PDA? Considerations

34. Basic Terminology PDA: A Personal Digital Assistant with PIM (Personal Information Management) features used for mobile computing

35. Which PDA Organizer to Choose? • In the early to mid-1990’s there was only a tiny selection of PDA models – all from the same company – US Robotics/3Com • None were expandable • The only difference between them was styling and the amount of internal memory • There are now dozens of choices from multiple companies with • Multiple memory/peripheral expansion technologies • Three screen types and three screen resolutions • Two battery categories

36. Which PDA to Choose? • Whether you are a newcomer to the PDA world about to make your first purchase or • A long standing PDA user about to upgrade to a newer machine • It is important to understand the implications of the various technologies and which factors are important in your buying decisions

37. Which PDA to Choose? Considerations • What will you use your PDA for? • How much memory is enough? • What hardware options do you want? Exploring 3 Wireless Options • What about portability? • How do you want your PDA powered? • Screen Choices? • OS, Speed and Power: Processors, Memory, and Expansion – Explained! • Connectors and CompatibilityConundrum

38. 1. What Will You Use Your PDA For? A lot of people buy a PDA without any idea of what they are going to use it for beyond Date Book and Address Book functions • Not everyone "takes" to a keyboardless PDA due to perceived slow text input, small screen size, limited image quality and/or a lack of that "whatever" is needed to input all of your data in the first place and then keep it up to date • Many PDAs are coming with built in little “thumbpads” to facilitate data input • So, an absolute beginner used to a paper-based organizer or a desktop PIM might want to look at lower end models • Prices range from $99 to $799

43. 2. How Much Memory is Enough? • If you are new to PDAs but have some specific application in mind beyond pure datebook/organizer related functions, then a further pause for thought is in order – current PDAs range from 32MB to 128MB of internal memory (one even the Palm Lifedrive even has 4GB!) • If you have already decided that you'll want to store detailed street maps or multiple reference materials, then steer away from models without memory expansion capabilities • If you want to store just a few maps, books or references, then less memory may still fit the bill

44. 3. Hardware Expansion Options • If you are planning to buy hardware add-ons such as pagers and digital cameras for your PDA, check that whatever you are looking for is either already available or due for imminent release • A significant number of "planned" peripherals never see the light of day • Also remember that pagers and wireless devices will only operate in certain areas under specific network contracts

45. 3a. Wireless Options Wireless solutions are available to get PDA’s connected without the constraints of wires • There are three wireless solutions available which enable users to break the wires and access computers, networks, and the Internet: • Bluetooth, WiFi and GSM/GPRS & CDMA • All these wireless solutions can work simultaneously, but usually a PDA can only utilize one or two because of the need for added expansion solutions • To decide on which wireless solution is best, let's look at what wired connection it will replace

47. 3a. Wireless Options: Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short range wireless solution • Bluetooth is the wireless equivalent of USB (Universal Serial Bus) • It is defined as short range because it only operates at less then 30 feet from another device • Bluetooth is commonly used for connectivity directly to a computer (for syncing) or between multiple Bluetooth devices (like to a mobile phone) • Bluetooth allows for a connection to the Internet only through another device

49. 3a. Wireless Options: WiFi WiFi is a mid range wireless solution (802.11x) • It is defined as mid range because it only operates at a maximum distance of 1200-1600 feet from another device • WiFi is the wireless equivalent of Ethernet or a local area network (LAN) • Like Ethernet, WiFi networks can be set up to access established networks – wired or wireless • WiFi allows for connection to the Internet through an established connection

50. 3a. Wireless Options: GSM/GPRS & CDMA GSM/GPRS and CDMA are two long range wireless solutions • Both are based on the same technology used by cell phones • Because of this, you cannot set up your own GSM/GPRS or CDMA network but you pay a monthly fee to a data service provider (often these are just cellular service providers) for Internet access • Note that some data service providers use GSM/GPRS while others use CMDA • GSM/GPRS and CDMA is the wireless equivalent of cellular data service • Not only can these kinds of connections let you roam and access the Internet, but in some cases and with certain devices you can also have voice phone service allowing the device to double as a mobile phone