WAY back in 1991 I studied under Itziar Laka in the Linguistics program at the University of Rochester (we, her students, used to privately call her "the borg" because she wore black leather, head to toe, and she was tough as nails.) She was also brilliant and she had studied under Noam Chomsky at MIT.
For her syntax class she required that we write a paper about the usage of the English word "they're." Word-processed (not typed), 40 pages minimum, including sentence tree illustrations. (I hope that right now you're feeling happy that you are studying Spanish and not linguistics).
It was not so common, then, for students to use computers to write their papers. I struggled. In fact, I remember spending a lot of time in the college's computer lab during the historic ice storm of 1991.
To think I ever preferred to type a 40 page paper on a typewriter!
Now I face a decision about technology in my own classes. I would prefer to require that all students in on-line classes create and post a video for their oral presentations.
In the past, I've given students a choice. I asked for feedback, "Would you prefer to use the telephone or YouTube?"
One student, just last semester, replied, "what is YouTube?"
It will take extra time for students who don't already know how to create a video with sound, edit it, and upload it.
Students might have to travel to a campus, borrow someone's computer/microphone, or seek out technical advice.
Will they thank me? Have I become "the borg?" (That last link includes a treat for Trekkies, Star Trek wallpapers for your computer).
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http://voicethread.com/share/888343/
ReplyDeleteCheck out my first VoiceThread! This site allows you to add comments to a photo with your computer's microphone or an ordinary telephone (it even calls you!)(you can also doodle). This is a strong contender for a way to create oral presentations for the on-line Spanish class.