Online Usage in the Modern Language Classroom

Wordle courtesy of LindaH from Flickr

I am very excited about some online resources that I have discovered for use in my Spanish classroom.  YouTube videos and Skype make it possible for students to listen to native speakers when there are none available in the classroom.  There are millions of articles, newspapers, and blogs written in Spanish that students can use to strengthen their reading skills.  There are online games and activities that can be used to expand on their reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills.  Online technology has opened many doors to learning in the Modern Language classroom.

I recently read the article Constructing a Roadmap to More Systematic and Successful Online Reading and Vocabulary Acquisition by John Paul Loucky.  He stresses the importance of vocabulary learning in Modern Language study and the use of online resources to reinforce this learning.  He also gives countless examples of websites that are instrumental in strengthening vocabulary retention.  He gives examples for all levels of learners, from Beginning through Advanced.  A few examples that I found to be helpful from the article are:
Word Champ, leTutor, ESL Gold, and CALL 4 ALL

This YouTube video shows how to use GoogleEarth video games in the classroom.  I think this would be a very fun activity for students to do!

All you need to do is search Spanish (or German, French, Arabic, etc.) in Google and you will find countless lesson plans, activities, games, authentic material, etc.  that can be used to reinforce the units that you are teaching.  Online technology has allowed for millions of resources and ideas for the Modern Language Teacher, things that weren't available to us before.

Spanish Blog Activity

Photo courtesy of Pics4Learning

I recently had to do a writing assignment for my Teaching of Foreign Languages class. I decided to design a blog for the Level IV students.  Although this activity is specifically geared towards Level IV learners, I plan to implement varieties of this activity in my classroom to target all learning levels.

I will write a blog post at the beginning of the week about information that is being covered in class, a recent holiday or news event, various questions about the students' interests and activities, family life, cultural elements, etc. The post will include questions that will start a discussion between the students and teacher. They will be required to write at least one comment on the post at some point before the end of the week. They will also have the opportunity to begin a dialogue with myself and the other students by voicing their thoughts and opinions. The students will be evaluated on their use of the language and the relevance of their comments to the topic.

I believe that this activity would be an instrumental way to introduce technology into the classroom and reinforce the students' writing skills. It would be an opportunity for the students to write about things that interest them and to compare and contrast their thoughts and opinions.  It will be an interactive activity that involves a medium that they are familiar with, the internet, and a skill they are learning, the Spanish language.  It is a great opportunity for the students to use Spanish outside of the classroom setting.  It also covers many of the ACTFL Standards for the teaching of Spanish. The following standards (and corresponding objectives) will be fulfilled with the use of the blog as an extension of classroom learning:

• Standard 1.1 Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions.
• 1.1 Objective:  Level IV students will write a comment (an opinion or additional information) on a blog post or another student’s comment that is 100% relevant to the information given.

• Standard 1.2 Students understand and interpret written and spoken Spanish on a variety of topics. 
• 1.2 Objective:  Level IV students will read the blog posts or listen to accompanying videos and understand the various topics presented with 90% accuracy to content.

• Standard 1.3 Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics in Spanish.
• 1.3 Level IV students will post written information, ideas, opinions, etc. on the blog to share with other students in the class with 100% accuracy to relevance.  

• Standard 3.1 Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciples through Spanish.
• 3.1 Objective:  Level IV students will read blog posts that are relevant to other disciplines such as history, geography, and literature and write posts that contribute to the topic given with 100% relevance.

• Standard 3.2 Students acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are available only through the Spanish language and its many cultures.
• 3.2 Objective:  Level IV students will read blog posts about Dia de los Muertos and write comments about the importance of the holiday to Hispanic people with 85% accuracy to content.

• Standard 4.2 Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons between the cultures studied and their own. 
• 4.2 Objective:  Level IV students will write blog comments that compare the Popul Vuh to creation stories in other cultures after watching the Popul Vuh video on the blog with 85% accuracy to content. 

• Standard 5.1 Students use the language both within and beyond the school setting. 
• 5.1 Objective:  Level IV students will write blog comments outside of the classroom and exchange opinions and information with other classmates with 85% accuracy to relevance to original blog post.   

CLICK HERE to view the example blog I designed for this activity!