Podcasting

I currently subscribe to two specific podcasts that can be found through itunes. The first is called Conversational Spanish. You can search for this by going to the itunes store and typing in conversational Spanish in the search bar. I have used these podcasts in my classroom already. It gives you 10 different episodes in Spanish, ranging from 2 minutes until about 5 minutes. The people who conduct the podcasts are native speakers of Spanish and speak at the normal native speed, which I like because it gives my students an idea of what they would really hear if they were to travel to a Spanish speaking country. Unfortunately, I do not have access to itunes at my school, so what I did was subscribe to the podcast, which was then saved on my computer at home. I burned all 10 conversations onto a CD and created listening activities for my students, to go along with our current unit. The unit that we were studying at the time was based around phone conversations. Using this podcast was perfect, because there were many episodes which highlighted a phone conversation and which used many of the vocabulary words we were working with. Having my students listen to conversations at native speed was a bit more difficult for them, but it was more authentic. It is very important for them to hear Spanish from native speakers, since they do not get to experience this very often. I also like to use resources outside of the textbook realm as much as possible. These podcasts were up to date on the vocabulary used; a refreshing step away from the older textbooks we have in class.
The second podcast that I currently subscribe to is call Democracy Now, which can also be found on itunes. There is a new podcast downloaded to my home computer everyday, which highlights the political news from around the world, but mostly just the United States. It would be very easy for me to implement this podcast to any unit of study in my classes, especially when discussing current events. But for now, I use this to practice my own Spanish listening skills around the house. I am constantly trying to keep up with my language skill ability, and I think listening to podcasts in a different language is very beneficial, and very easy to access.

Global Cooperation

http://www.iearn.org/

http://www.epals.com/

I explored the two sites listed above for global cooperation between students for my LOTE classes. The first site, iearn.org is in its 20th year of operation on the web. On this site, classrooms from different countries around the world can collaborate on projects, and communicate with one another, sharing differences and commonalities. Students can learn with the world, not just about it. While browsing the site, I came upon different project ideas that I would be able to use in the classroom. A pair of classrooms collaborated for a project sharing recipes from their native cultures. As I am currently teaching a food unit with my 8th grade Spanish classes, I thought this was an interesting project to conduct. I could collaborate with a Spanish speaking country; my students would be able to share their favorite recipes with the Spanish speaking students, while the other classroom would be able to share their own favorite recipes from that specific country. After the sharing process was complete, each class could prepare each recipe, maybe even make a video of this process to post on the web. In the last mod for class, I explored voicethread.com where my students could add images and videos to the site in order to make a gallery portfolio of their work. They could use voicethread.com to post the video and/or pictures they create while they are completing their projects. Then each classroom can reflect on the food making process and the final product. In comparison to the other site I explored, iearn is more classroom/group based, rather than individually based.

Epals.com is a site students can use to communicate with their own pen pal through the internet. On this site, classrooms from around the world can collaborate with one another, however epals focuses more on individual students sharing information with other individual students from different cultures. This site has been in operation for 12 years, and emphasizes the success of its monitored accounts to promote student safety when using the web as an educational tool. This site has access to monitored blogs and emails for students, teachers and administrators. In December 2006, epals was voted "best blog for education" by professionals. Like iearn.org, epals strives for global awareness through communication amongst students from different cultures. In my Spanish classrooms, I would use epals for blogging and sending emails with students from classrooms in Spanish speaking countries. There is also a spot on the site where teachers can chat with other teachers from around the globe, sharing ideas and providing feedback to one another.

The basic goal of each site is to promote global communication with our students, so they can learn about the world without having to travel away from their computers. It is a way for educators to promote respect and tolerance of people from around the world through sharing and communicating on the web.

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.

RSS feeds - My experience

After creating an account on bloglines.com, I encountered a feed that I thought would be great to use in a Middle School Spanish classroom. The feed is from http://www.expatica.com/, which displays headline news from Spain in English. I would use this feed in my classroom in order to teach current events. I could take some of the most up to date headlines from this website and incorporate them into my lessons, relating these events to the topics being covered in class. I like how the feed is posted in English. Even though it is very important to practice reading in the target language, at times, newspaper articles from the target culture are very difficult to read for beginner students such as those in the Middle School. Having them read about the Spanish culture in English will give them a better understanding of what is going on in Spain today. It also takes away the frustration of reading a Spanish text at a difficult level, which makes learning a more enjoyable experience. Check it out!