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University of Puget Sound Spanish
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Harry
Vélez Quiñones Associate Professor, Foreign Languages and Literature (Spanish) velez@ups.edu Spanish 202: From Student of Spanish to Information Provider Date Awarded: URL: www.ups.edu/faculty/velez/Span_202/Home_202.html Project Goals and Objectives: The curricular goal for this course was to demonstrate to students the range and flexibility of the Spanish language. The final project for this course consisted of websites designed by students on topics of their choice. My goals for this course were fully realized. Twenty-two projects were submitted (see: extant project links below). Themes developed in these sites include art (Picasso, Frida Kahlo, personal photography), popular culture (comics, Ska, Salsa, etc.), politics (activism, US intervention in Latin America, liberation movements in Latin America), travel, ecology, teratology, etc. In order to achieve the above stated goals students had to become proficient in the use of several computer programs, namely: Claris Homepage and WS FTP. In addition they needed to use of Eudora Mail and Netscape Navigator. Another technology mediated
goal in Spanish 202 was to increase the students' command of written
Spanish. To this end students had to carry out intensive work using
a web-based conferencing software, WebBoard. Also, a writing assistant
for Spanish, ATAJO, was made available for them to help in the drafting
of longer writing assignments Outcomes: Students met in a computer laboratory for a total of six days during the first seven weeks of classes. There they received instruction and hands on practice on all the software mentioned above. After this period, they had access to the services of a peer consultant who specialized in one-on-one training. Although this set up led to the attainment of my goals, it is clear that six days is too long a period to devote to the learning of computer skills. In the future, this period needs to be pared down as much as possible. The intensive use of qualified peer consultants from the very beginning appears to be a promising avenue to remedy this situation. The use of WebBoard as implemented in this class was a resounding success. Students wrote a variety of short assignments (grammar exercises, short expository paragraphs, brief analyses, etc.) an average of 3 times a week. They received immediate feedback on both content and grammatical accuracy via e.mail. The quality of their writing appeared to increase. Requiring them to visit Spanish language and culture sites in order to carry out written assignments also deepened their feel for Hispanic cultures. One problem with WebBoard is the difficulty of tracking individual input to the system. One hopes that the new version of the product will permit such checks. Although, fully satisfied
with the level of success achieved in this pilot Spanish 202 program,
there is still work to be don before we can apply it across the board.
Some problems include the following: |
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