www.wiziq.com

The synchronous tool that I explored on the web was wiziq.com.  This tool can be beneficial to the teacher as well as the student.  Once you set up an account at wiziq.com, you can become a virtual tutor for students all over the world.  I know this is supposed to be a professional site for educators, but I thought that when creating your personal profile, the site asked for too much information.  You could include what state exam you took, which certifications you have, how much education you have in your field of work etc.  It is optional to include all of this information, however I always feel wary about giving so much information about myself.

More than a classroom tool, I believe teachers can use this site for their own professional development.  You can connect with other teachers from around the world based on your interests.  You can also read and listen to presentations given by both teachers and students that relate to your interests.  As a teacher, you can download these powerpoint presenations and use them in your classrooms.  I found informational presentations on the Incan Empire and The Spanish Explorers just by typing in Spanish as one of my interests.

I am not sure if I would use this site with my students.  I would have to become more familar with the site first.  However, I would use this site to communicate and collaborate with other teachers, especially teachers who are native speakers of Spanish.

The asynchronous tool that I explored...

The asynchronous tool that I explored was voicethread.com.  This tool can hold any type of media, including video, photos and text.  You can even make voiced comments on the types of media you publish. The material you publish can be either posted as private or public, which is a great feature if used in the classroom.  To sign up for voicethread, you simply have to create a username and login.  There is even a specific login for educators on the site.  Here, if you have to include additional information about your school, such as what grade you teach, the school's zip code and web address.  I just created a personal login for the time being.

What I really liked about this site is you can add media from Facebook, as well as link your voicethread account directly to your blog on blogger.com.  I added a few photos from my last trip to Spain, and gave each picture a title.  I added the voicethread application to my Facebook account, as well as linked it to my blogger account. 

As a Spanish teacher, I would use this site to publish videos and photos for my classes to view that dealt with topics we were discussing in class.  Using voicethread would be a great way to teach culture, since often times it is difficult to add into lessons during a regular 40 minute class period.  If I could post my personal photos from my experience in Spanish speaking cities, as well as videos that I find online or that I have taken myself with a camera, my students would be able to post their reactions to what they view online at home on their own time.  They could even practice their speaking skills in the target language by posting a voiced comment in Spanish on the material published.

Microblogging Tools - Twitter vs. Spoink

After creating accounts on both Twitter and Spoink, I used both applications for a week. I simply posted very short comments on what I was doing at the moment for both accounts. After using both for a week, I have come to the conclusion that they are not very different at all. Both were very easy to use, and very easy to set up. I do prefer the graphics used for Twitter compared to Spoink, however I do like the idea that Spoink can be accessed through your cell phone and AIM account. This makes Spoink easier to update throughout the day. Other than these minor differences, I think both Twitter and Spoink are comparable, and I will continue to use both on a regular basis. As for using either microblogging tool in the classroom, I would want to gain more experience myself using the tools, before I go ahead and create accounts for my LOTE classes.

Microblogging in the classroom

I found a great article on www.edweek.org entitled "Educators Test the Limits of Twitter Microblogging Tool", which explains the short history of Twitter and gives examples of how this application can be used successfully in the classroom by both teachers and students.
The article states that Twitter is a "powerful professional development tool" for educators. It is a great way to network with others and to be constantly learning about new technologies that are becoming available. The way that our students work and learn is continually evloving. Instead of just being able to memorize and retrive information, students now need to learn how to navigate information. Using Twitter allows students as well as teachers to develop this important skill in today's workforce and way of life.
However, Twitter has many downfalls when used in the classroom, because of the lack of control that a teacher has on this application. The question of whether this site is "safe" for our students to use comes in question. For this reason, Paul R. Allison, a teacher in East Bronx, has created a site called "Youth Twitter", which allows teachers to edit students' tweets by granting them "adminitrator" status. Using "Youth Twitter" gives teachers more control on what their students are posting and who they are posting to, making this site safer than Twitter.
Teachers who have experience with both Twitter and Youth Twitter in their classrooms have asked students to post links to online projects, respond to questions and to interact with other students. One teacher even used Twitter as a platform for a collaborative story written by students.
After reading this article, it is clear that there are many benefits to using Twitter in the classroom, as long as there is some teacher control. It seems that Twitter is a useful tool for educators to collaborate with one another, but when students are involved in posting, it would be a better idea to use the Youth Twitter application simply because of the increased control. Our number one priority as educators should be to keep our students safe, especially when using online tools such as Twitter.
As a teacher of LOTE, I would use these applications in my classroom to have students post their opinions on current events in the world. I would also have my students create posts on information they may have found on certain cultural aspects of the language we are studying. For example, Day of the Dead, a traditional Mexican celebration, is approaching at the end of October, begining of November. I could ask my students to do some research online on the Day of the Dead, then have them post the information they found to their classroom Twitter account. This way every student is participating, and they are developing their navigating skills on the web.