VARK Reflection

I have always thought of myself as someone who benefits mostly from learning from mistakes.When ever I make a mistake ,I always make it a point that I do not forget whatever was being taught.Maybe this is because most of the time the mistake happens in front of people and I end up feeling a bit embarrassed.The advantage of being a bit older is that I keep drawing from past experiences when I have problems to solve.As Jo said in one of the lectures "Learning is for life",I will keep making mistakes(not as many I hope) and learning from them.

One thing that I have found is that I always associate songs to past life experiences.Whenever I hear a particular track it always takes me back to a certain time or incident.Maybe there is a way that I can use this association with music somehow to benefit my learning.

After completing the VARK questionnaire I was surprised to find out that my preferred method of learning is multi modal.My scores were V=7 , A=6 , R=9 , K=9.Now I understand why sometimes it is so hard to understand certain aspects of the subjects that I am taking..Neil Fleming says about people who are multi modal "This group takes longer to become confident about their learning because they have to gather in all two, three or four modes to really understand something."

Taking everything aboard I have come to the conclusion that I have to tailor my learning differently.

SWOT Analysis

The SWOT analysis made take a deep look at my strengths and weaknesses.I always tried to avoid looking into my weaknesses and concentrating on what I am good at.Follow this link to have a look at my SWOT analysis http://beefee2.fileave.com/SWOT%20Analyisis.doc

Literature Review

The invention of the mobile phone is one of the best discoveries of this century.People' lives have been changed for the better in most cases.Like any other invention the mobile phone has benefits and draw backs.This paper will mainly look at the benefits of mobile phones to society.Coyle 2006 looks at how people in the third world have benefited from the mobile phone. .She states how families who used to find it difficult to communicate with their loved ones miles away are now able to do so easily.The world has become a very small place in terms of communication.New businesses have sprung up in the third world as a result of the mobile.Alan Knott- Craig the CEO of Vodacom in south Africa quoted in The Independent about how small businesses people have benefited from the mobile phone"If he has a mobile phone you turn an unemployed labourer in a township into a self employed businessman".Knott-Craig 2006

The benefits of mobile phones are not only confirmed to third world countries.The rest of the world has also benefited greatly.Parents feel a lot comfortable when they know that they can easily get in touch with their children when they go out.

Security is one of the major benefits of the mobile phones.Emergency services are now only a button away no matter where you are.Breaking down in the middle of nowhere is no longer a big problem.The AA can be called and be given ones exact location if they are using a phone that has GPS capabilities.

Alan Knott-Craig 2006(The independent)

Diana Coyle 2006 (The Independent)

learning line

My learning line has given me the oppurtunity to look back and reflect at how my learning has gone through out the years.It took me a while to realise that my learning was actually influenced by factors that were beyond my control.Ideally I would have loved to continue my education without breaking to go into work.Even with the disruptions that were happening in my life I still tried to continue studying.Distance learning was the only option that was available too me ,and it was not the best option for .I dropped out from a few courses because I got left behind and it was hard to catch up.

I decided to change my career after I discovered that there was no room to growth in my chosen field.It took me a while to decide what I wanted to do after that.

As a mature student it is a bit hard trying to juggle working and learning.Time management becomes a major headache.Balancing working and learning takes a bit of skill.

After a long time of thinking this is the learning line that I finally came up with.I could have added quit a few other things but I have decided that these are the most important mile stones that define me as a person.

http://beefee2.fileave.com/

Personal Tutorial

I have not yet had the chance to meet with my personal tutor.Peter Sun is my personal tutor.I will make it a point to arrange a meeting with him as soon as possible.I have met with my personal tutor ,Peter Sun .We discussed what I think of the course and any problems that I am facing.I told him that all the modules were fine except coding concepts which I was struggling with. He advised me to spend more time practising and to attend the extra tutorials.

My mentor

My mentor is Matthew Thomas who is a Phd researcher at Essex University in Colchester. Matthew was my lecturer at South East Essex collge where I was studying networking.I admire his work ethics .He encouraged me to pursue a degree in networking.Over the past two months we have met twice to discuss the problems that I have been facing with coding concepts.Due to time constraints , most of the communication is through emails and phone calls.