Using Technology in F2F is possible too

Copyright and Fair Use
I always enjoy TED’s videos. They are so contemporary and interesting. In this case, I was watching it with a little apprehensiveness. I was always totally against of taking music without paying rights to the author who made it. However, after watching this video my conception changed. I ought to agree that children use Internet in a complete different way today: they are making TV, they are MIXING sounds and making them their own. We need to recognize that we cannot stop what it has been started… a DEMOCRATIZATION of culture and rights. I love these notions of “spreading amateur culture”; “for the love and not for the money”; “digital technology is the revival of the vocal cords”; “common sense has not yet revolted”; “digital technology for this generation is how our kids speak”.”. Policy makers have to be well aware of changes and adapt laws to what is happening right now. Very head opening video!
While I was Reading Ko & Rossen I got curious about how Blackboard manages copyright laws. The chapter did not scare me at all. I do not think sophisticated software is going to go looking for what I put in my classes. I suggest students to watch some videos; I rarely post pictures that are not free or were not made or modified by me (that is why I love Photoshop!). Nevertheless, I wanted to know what Blackboard does about this and I found this link from the library of Wichita University about Copyright and Blackboard. It is a chart of items that are OK to post:
http://library.wichita.edu/govdoc/copyrightbladkboard.pdf
Also Miracosta’s library website has very important information and a video of Fair Use Best Practices that really helps understand everything and refers to mixing videos like TED’s video does.
http://library.miracosta.edu/copyright

Accessibility
Accessibility was a very important matter when I was working on my first online teaching certificate in 2005. We had to buy two books about it and analyze several websites. It seems like today more sophisticated software has better capacity to accommodate the proper needs of students with disabilities than 7 years ago.
I have to find out if Miracosta has a specific statement to place on our syllabi for online classes and students with disabilities like it has in the F2F classes.
Blackboard has been awarded for making its platform accessible and here is it’s commitment:
http://www.blackboard.com/Platforms/Learn/Resources/Accessibility.aspx

1. What might be the advantages and disadvantages of using a class blog or student blogs for your class?
Reading Ko and Rossen and listening to Lisa’s slidecast made me very jealous. I want to teach history or literature, art or writing! Blog is definitely a very effective format for sharing and showcasing students’ writings; looks like one can do incredible things with this tool and make the class interactive, fun and student centered.
Since I do not teach any of the mentioned subjects, and the case studies presented in the book do not apply to what I teach, I will write about what I can use in my foreign language classes. I have some experience with my students in my F2F classes using blogs and discussion board in blackboard. I usually teach the first or the second level of Spanish. Students are not required to write more than 200 words 5 or 6 times per semester. One of these compositions is posted on the discussion board in Bb. By the way, following Pilar’s idea, I sent every student a voice email with my comments and feedback about the compositions… they loved it! The next writing assignment is for the students to read 3 classmates’ compositions and write comments. Sometimes I do not understand a word they say to each other… but they do! And that IS communication 🙂
I cannot ask students to analyze material or do peer review at the level I teach; however, I can use the idea of a “guest speaker” using YouTube videos or iTunes podcasts of distinguished Spanish speakers for listening and comprehension activities.
Using the web
I agree with Ko and Rosen in that students might spend a lot more time of what they have just clicking and looking for material on the web; it could be frustrating and distracting. I would definitely consider giving them the specific place where they should go. I did experiment with this on the lab where students have to go to a big clothing store in Spain and buy products with certain amount of money. I also use Spanish online magazines and news sources in my classes and can definitely find the way to use them in an online class.
I loved the rubric… but needs a lot of work adapting it to my subject.
2. Engrade looks very friendly to use and could be a very good tool. In my case, with all the resources provided by Miracosta and Blackboard, I do not see the need in my classes.
3. Could a Google Site or web page make a good welcome for students?
Yes, I think it is a great idea to have it public so students can see it before the class starts. I did put all the important documents this semester on Google Drive and give the students the QR code and the short url the first day of classes. Those with smart phone left the class with all the important documents with them. Students loved it and I saved a lot of paper to the university!!

Here is the Google Site I made:

https://sites.google.com/site/spanish102fall2012/

I joined Diigo in 2010 and I have now 384 bookmarks. I used to share the links of websites and videos I visited during my classes when I taught at a private elementary school. Parents were scared of what I was going to show their children when the school bought a projector for every classroom (you know, Latina, from South America… dangerous). The principal wanted us to show only videos from her list. No one of them was in Spanish or had anything to do with what I wanted to teach (culture or language). Then, I made public lists in Diigo for every grade and sent the link to the parents. I told them that everything we see in class will be saved in the classroom list. Many kids really appreciated because they could go home and re-watch videos they liked and share them with their parents. The principal also could that way see whatever I showed in class (although she never did) and everybody was happy! I love Diigo, Diigolet and all about it! The exercise we did this week of highlighting an article and make sticky notes is an excellent way to make students read, comprehend and share. I can definitely use this with a Spanish article or newspaper.

I couldn’t find any pitfalls for Diigo; however I did find Second Life challenging for the students and also very easy to get distracted and deviate focus from the learning objective. I do not think I would use Second Life in my online class; but I did enjoy playing with it and seeing myself beautiful and traveling to gorgeous places!