http://beyondwebct.wordpress.com Integrating Social Networking Tools Into Language & Culture Courses Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:55:37 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 http://beyondwebct.wordpress.com/fall-2008-course-materials/class-blogs/#comment-83 rventura Thu, 13 Dec 2007 18:35:45 +0000 http://beyondwebct.wordpress.com/class-blogs/#comment-83 Renato on class projects. This semester was very interesting because I actually used the material from this course to implement some of my classes. The first experience was with composing a song on "subjunctive" which is a hard topic even for Italians. The idea stemmed from the clip we watched in Barbara's class "First semester Spanish love song." Students composed each line using a specific form of subjunctive and I in the end three of them performed it for the whole class. One of the students told me that he was singing the song during one of his test :) I asked the students to make a little clip and port it on YouTube but they were... well shy. But it was a nice experience anyway. The second idea I took from our class was to create a blog on line, a group, using the tools that Google offers for free. In this case the class was composed all by majors and even if it was not mandatory, all of them participated. We had menus on line, ideas, articles I suggested and articles the students read on their own. It was a good tool to stimulate students' interest and to take initiative on their own, suggesting some topic which were relevant for themselves and for the class. Next semester I am teaching the same course and this time I will insert the group in the syllabus as a complementary requirement. Each student will be given credit for their participation this time, and maybe I will introduce even Voicethread, another tool we learned to use in our computer class. To asses students' participation to the blog I think it is necessary the instructor constant presence to stimulate their conversation and also to guide (very simply) to elaborate more on the material read in class. If next semester I will have the same enthusiasm and participation I had this past one, well I will make the blog a constant presence in all my classes. The only doubt is to use this tool in beginners classes. I am not sure the students will have the knowledge and the tools (in terms of vocabulary ans syntax) to fully enjoy the experience.... but maybe Voicethread will work in this case. There is always time to try and improve. Ciao a tutti, Renato Renato on class projects.
This semester was very interesting because I actually used the material from this course to implement some of my classes. The first experience was with composing a song on “subjunctive” which is a hard topic even for Italians. The idea stemmed from the clip we watched in Barbara’s class “First semester Spanish love song.” Students composed each line using a specific form of subjunctive and I in the end three of them performed it for the whole class. One of the students told me that he was singing the song during one of his test I asked the students to make a little clip and port it on YouTube but they were… well shy. But it was a nice experience anyway.
The second idea I took from our class was to create a blog on line, a group, using the tools that Google offers for free. In this case the class was composed all by majors and even if it was not mandatory, all of them participated. We had menus on line, ideas, articles I suggested and articles the students read on their own. It was a good tool to stimulate students’ interest and to take initiative on their own, suggesting some topic which were relevant for themselves and for the class. Next semester I am teaching the same course and this time I will insert the group in the syllabus as a complementary requirement. Each student will be given credit for their participation this time, and maybe I will introduce even Voicethread, another tool we learned to use in our computer class.
To asses students’ participation to the blog I think it is necessary the instructor constant presence to stimulate their conversation and also to guide (very simply) to elaborate more on the material read in class. If next semester I will have the same enthusiasm and participation I had this past one, well I will make the blog a constant presence in all my classes.
The only doubt is to use this tool in beginners classes. I am not sure the students will have the knowledge and the tools (in terms of vocabulary ans syntax) to fully enjoy the experience…. but maybe Voicethread will work in this case. There is always time to try and improve.
Ciao a tutti,
Renato

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