Final Reflection on 811

I really believe that I have learned that there is a very big difference between integrating technology and learning WITH the integration of technology. By utilizing several different effective teaching strategies within the technology (such as scaffolding or simulation and porblem-solving), the students are much more likely to be engaged in the learning and put that knowledge into long-term memory.

The web-based technology that I looked at and then created made me think about what would be best for my situation, and then I developed a plan to integrate a recovery program for new students coming into the district in the middle of the year. This technology plan for the Spanish program is going to be extremely beneficial for the department. With my evaluation skills of technology as well as using student feedback, we will be able to create this recovery program and it will be very successful. Creating the recovery program in the Spanish Department is my new long-term goal.

I've met my personal goals for this class, but not overall. I think I have so much more to learn either on my own or within a classroom seeting with best practices in technology integration. I'm excited and looking forward to it immensly!

Internet-Based Learning Environments

“Every Michigan student will have meaningful technology-enabled learning opportunities based on research and best practice that include virtual learning experiences.”


Students in grades 6 - 12 need to have 20 hours of online experience before they graduate. It states that the students will, "become familiar with a key means of increasing their own learning skills and knowledge. It will also prepare them for the demands that they will encounter in higher education, the workplace, and in personal life-long learning. While students informally develop technology skills and gain experience through their media-rich lives, an online learning experience will require them to complete assignments, meet deadlines, learn appropriate online behavior, and effectively collaborate with others in an instructional setting." Basically: they need to get ready for the real world with ever-changing demands and new technologies. 


Recently, I was discussing with my world language colleague how we could create and utilize one of these technologies in the classroom that qualify as an online experience: The Electronic Portfolio. 


In the state of Michigan, they recently decided that students have to have 2 years (or the equilvalent) of a World Language. However, they absolutely have no idea what this entails, such as one state exam to pass out of this, or will the district decide how to prove that they've had this experience? We want to be prepared and expect the unexpected. 


We are planning to create an online portfolio for the students that we would maintain from grades K-2 and then would begin updating with their own work at the 3rd grade level. They would maintain this until their last language class. We are still working out the details and are having an issue with how we would house each student's work and progress. Technology is evolving so quickly that we are afraid they would create a portfolio in Kindergarten (well, we would) and then by 3rd grade we'd have to switch programs. 


To create these projects that would be available on their electronic portfolios, we would use different types of strategies. We could teach so many different topics and benchmarks, such as using simulation and problem solving to teach weather in Latin America and create a vlog to post on their portfolio to showcase their progress. Through scaffolding, we could create Wikis to teach about culture and have students in other countries contribute to the learning experience by using the Wiki as well. We could discuss things like food, music, hobbies, and past times and we could break down negative attitudes from the get-go! It would cover an entire Michigan World Language Standard (Culture). 


Many Web 2.0 technologies would be simple to integrate meaningfully. I think it would be easy to integrate a lot of the things that they recommend in the Michigan Companion Document, however, as I've read amongst my peers, WebQuests would be difficult to integrate simply because they take a lot of time to make quality Quests and there aren't many out there that are worthy. 

Web 2.0 Technologies?

Web 2.0 technology has definitely used some instructional strategies better than others. It's actually quite interesting to me to look in-depth at this simply because I am so used to seeing these things and know instantly if the strategy is working or not - if I am learning or not.


For example, I might use deductive reasoning with blogs in the classroom because I can give the rule and then add the example - and then many other people can add examples too, in the comments. I think that I learn best from comments on blogs because you can go so in depth with others. This would also work great with simulation and problem solving. Again, the comments section is so incredibly powerful when using a blog. 


I'm not sure if any instructional strategies wouldn't work for a blog in the classroom. It really has to fit the audience. If there are students who might learn best with deductive reasoning, and then others wtih inductive reasoning - so be it. The educator should really know how ot utilize all of these strategies or shouldn't be using a blog in the first place!

I think that blogs could be used in my classroom in a variety of ways. It could be used for updates for parents who want to check in on homework assignments. It could also be used to blog to the community as to what happens in the classroom and interesting ideas for speaking Spanish at home. Finally, the one thing that I really enjoy doing is having students learn about culture through a blog. this summer the students will be able to follow along as I embark on my 'real' journey to Latin America as we go about saving the rainforest and families along the way (clearly there is more to the story) and students will learn in a fun environment about Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Colombia, etc. 


Finally, as I said before, there are Web 2.0 technologies that may not support an instructional strategy very well. However, if there were limited Web 2.0 technologies in your district, there are some reasons to use it to give your students a more engaging experience. Except, what if it's difficult to implement your subject matter with those technologies, like teaching math facts with a blog? I think that the answer is that you really have to plan out what you're doing. You can't just throw something together and think it's going to work. Ideas have to be well-thought through.  

Lions, Tigers and Google Voice, Oh My!

When I started using Google Voice in the summer of 2009, I was a little shocked at the features of this application. 

Google Voice basically gives you the ability to do the following: have one local phone number that you can pick (generally) that you can set up to have all of your phones to ring when someone calls your Google Voice number, not only saves voicemails online but also transcribes your voicemail into text and even lets you listen in on the voicemail as it is being left. Finally, you can block certain callers AND record messages for individuals like your husband, work, or the annoying neighbor. It also can act as a phone that can call internationally where you pay a low price to call. 


After signing up for my phone number, I didn't really play with it at all. But, today, after using it with my husband, it is absolutely awesome! For families who are cancelling home phone numbers, this is totally the way to go. You can set it up to have all of your cell phone numbers to ring, some of your numbers to ring, one number to ring, etc when someone calls your Google Voice number. It is a great way to have a central phone number and a way for someone to get ahold of you no matter what, especially if you are waiting for an important phone call. 

One function I found frustrating is that out of the four times that my husband called me as we trying it out, he was only able to reach me 3 of the 4 times. It did, however, record every voicemail he left and with a 90% accuracy it transcribed it for me. It even sent me a text message AND email telling me I had a voicemail, and showed up as a voicemail on my cell phone, as well. Also, when I deleted the voicemail on Google Voice, it deleted on my phone, and vice versa. That is convenient for me so I'm not listening twice to these voicemails. 


This might be a good resource in my classroom if I wanted to create a Google Voice account for them to leave me voicemails for their oral exams. It even lets me send them all to voicemail so I don't have to listen to the ring! Unfortunately, they don't transcribe in Spanish so I won't be able to look at the transcription. I think this would be a great assessment tool for World Language teachers!


Also, we could talk to students in other countries using Google Voice. In fact, a 5 minute conversation would cost us $.10. It'd be a great, inexpensive way to cheaply integrate culture into my classroom.


I could use this for coaching. Since you can assign your Google Contacts (yes, from Gmail, etc) to different groups, Google Voice allows you to assign different groups a different voicemail. Even different people to different voicemails. If I wanted, I could assign my JV volleyball girls a voicemail as to what is going on for the week in case they forget, or what time the tournament is and expectations, etc. 


The list goes on and on. 


I believe that in order to use this application you must be invited by another user or you must sign up and be invited by Google. From what I understand, it is still in the BETA stages of development. 

My Wiki-Wiki Dabbles

There was not a Wikipedia page for our district, Flat Rock Community Schools, so I created one and added our four schools along with addresses and phone numbers. I bolded the school names and added page breaks so it looked nicer as well as added links to each of the schools' homepages.

I've also dabbled with WikiSpaces over the last few years and use one religiously with my language teaching. It is for teachers and students to post ideas and lessons along with materials and we share our information with the rest of the world. I find a lot of great ideas on there and use it 5 - 8 times a month.

I have used Wikispaces within my classroom in the 9-12 setting and have found it to be slow when all of the students are on there at the same time. However, I contacted Wikispaces and within 5 minutes they got back to me telling me something or another and they had fixed the problem. It was nice that there is someone available for your educator needs in real-time. I also have created another page for my current endeavors as a 3-5 Spanish teacher and am hoping to teach the kids how to use the wiki to create separate pages in regards to 'El Tiempo', or weather, that we are learning. The plan is that they will create a weather report online. We'll see how it goes!

Computer-Based Instructional Objects

There are a lot of different considerations that have to be made when computer-based instructional objects are used in and out of the classroom.


For example if the lesson is on the internet, like a WebQuest, there is the consideration that the technology needed to complete the lesson is not available. It also needs to have clear-cut expectations and directions for the students to be able to use independently. Also, the information needs to be presented in a way that is at the cognitive level of the students. Also, students must be able to easily navigate the lesson, or in other words, make it look appealing and "easy on the eye".


I researched a few different WebQuests and unfortunately I did not find many quality Quests. 


I did find La Aventura, a WebQuest revolving around traveling to another country and learning to budget. It allowed students to work in pairs, which I think is great given the opportunity to discuss different cultural activities while in the country as they navigated their way around. It also has a very clear-cut objective as well as evaluation with a rubric. On top of that, it gives the students an opportunity to learn about activities that are available in other countries - and to personalize this to what interests them. If one student enjoys sports and another student enjoys art, they both can find different activities that are relevant.


Another WebQuest I found was Viva Espana!  This was really great and began with this introduction: "While walking along the street on Saturday, you and your three friends look down and see a black wallet lying in the gutter. After opening the wallet, you see that it belongs to the famous Spaniard Antonio Banderas! A phone call to Antonio reveals that he is ecstatic that you found his wallet and is offering you and your friends a huge reward. The reward is based on one condition!"


Who wouldn't want complete this WebQuest - it has Antonio Banderas! This catches my attention right away and also has a great collaboration opportunity with four different roles - each learning about a different aspect of Spain. It also gives the students A LOT of options to pick from, from how long they are staying in the country to what cities they visit. They then complete both individual and group assignments, which I also feel is a good measure of participation and personal learning. It has a clear evaluation for both the personal and group assignments, as well as for the role of each student. 

Why Blog?

As blogging becomes more and more popular, many people are asking the question, "Why blog?"

There is a big difference between using a blog and using a website. If you use a blog, you will have more collaboration through commenting. You will also get blogs from professionals, struggling artists, and students all about the topic, all with a different view on a certain subject. On the other hand, a website may appear as a more structured technology, providing information but not allowing for collaboration easily and efficiently as you find with blogs. You can also find many different types of websites for the same subject; however, it may be hard to tell which information is accurate or not on the websites. And yes, although the same is true about blogging, reading a 'blog' should tell the reader that the information provided is the blogger's personal view.