Using Technology in F2F is possible too

I spent more than 6 hours this week reading, watching videos and exploring tools. Unfortunately, I did not find many connections with what I do or I will do. I enjoyed learning about MOOC and its possibilities; I loved the idea from the beginning; education should be more than a blackboard and a photocopy; more than a lecture and exercises. Sometimes, it feels like we are living already in the future. There is so much to do, to create, to develop, to give. Education is transforming itself into something completely new and I am glad I live to see it.

Regarding Web-enhanced and blended courses, I must say that I did not find anything new in the readings. I use web-enhanced material for all my classes all the time; I give interesting projects to my students with options for those who do not like to use technology and are not fond of it. I used to incorporate Wiki, Voicethread, Glogster and other fascinating tools in my F2F classes, but I got a lot of frustrated students who could not get a good grade in the project just because of glitches on the software or difficulties understanding them. I hear all the time that we are teaching digital native students; I feel that most of community college students are an exception to this. I have to say that a majority of my students do not feel comfortable using technology in the classes, not even posting on the Discussion board in Blackboard. This week, I had a student who did not get a grade in her composition because she did not post it right (she saved it as a draft and I did not see it).  I wish the book would have covered more about blended courses; how they are conducted and more examples of it. I am glad Rachele DeMeo published her video of her own blended course on her posting this week, Merci Rachele!

I loved Cris Crissman’s introduction to this week’s video and how she ends.. Pedagogy first… capture that!  Thank you Cris, your video was clear and easy to understand, just like a good photograph 🙂

 This week I thought a lot about participation, class management, and class “landscape” as Eric Robertson calls the online classroom. There was a lot to read and diverse; I enjoyed reading the articles and the book, even the Moodle Tool Guide which made me explore a little bit Moodle and its possibilities.

You are probably tired of read on my blog that I do not teach online but I am eager to start. And here I go again; exited to be close to the day I have my own online class. The instructors on my department are constantly helping me and giving me ideas. They showed me their classes and that helped immensely.

I am very comfortable with Blackboard 9. I am the kind of person who likes to try new things all the time and in the times when Blackboard was not mandatory to use for the F2F classes I had my class set and used it every semester since. I participated in lots of workshops and conferences about Blackboard and other technologies. Now that I “played” a lot I think I know what is comfortable for me and what is better for the students of Spanish. I would not dare to create a class from scratch; I would use Blackboard for sure (Voice Board, Voice Email, Discussion Board, and syllabus). I will also use Google (Google Voice, Drive, Sites, and Forms), Skype, and Facebook.

 I read Ko and Rossen suggestions for participation points and also consulted my colleagues about what they do for participation. I am thinking and I am almost convinced that I would like to use Facebook for participation. I have to design a rubric that specifies what students need to do to get the points and make sure I do participate also in it. I use Facebook personally all the time to be informed about what my kids and grandkids do. I also like to stay in touch with my friends in Argentina. My Facebook is all bilingual; I write half in English and half in Spanish; I read half English and half Spanish. That is what gave me the idea of a group Facebook page where students post information about them, videos in Spanish they like and etc. I believe it is going to create a sense of community and will allow me to get to know my students. I love to hear from my classmates in POTCERT about this 🙂

I leave you with a phrase I really liked from Rebuilding the LMS for the 21st Century:

“A phrase we use a lot on our campus is that we feel it is our responsibility to train our students for the world they’re going to inherit, not the world they live in now, and certainly not the world we grew up in.”

Thank you POTCERT for allow us to post our comments with our most comfortable way. To me, speaking is a lot easier than writing. I made two videos talking about the readings of this week. I hope you do not fall asleep watching them. 🙂

Of course, I could not embed the videos in WordPress. Hopefully, we have a tutorial somewere!

Enjoy!

AND NUMBER 2:

Preguntas más frecuentes en la clase de español en línea:

  I know how difficult could be your first online class! I hope you can find the answers you are looking for here. If not, please send me an email and I will make sure you get an answer ASAP.

Profesora Laura Carlsson

1. Where do I start?
Start here. MiraCosta Online Education’s webpage  responds all the questions you might have from  technical assistance to tips for online students (do not miss this one).

2. How many hours per week do I need to spend in this class?
Your on ground  classes required you to attend 5 hours a week on campus. That is the minimum mandatory time you will spend in this class. Like any class you will need an extra hour per day to do homework and study. To get organized, I suggest you to set aside 2:30 hs per week day and see if that time works for you.

3. I am not a very organized person, what should I do to do well in this class?
First, make sure you keep your inbox clean. You will be receiving important emails from me. If you do not have Google account I suggest you to get one;  due dates are going to be posted there and you can copy them to your own calendar. And the most important part of being organized is time management. Here is an article that will help you with that.

4. Where do I call for help if the online workbook is not working well?
The publisher. I cannot help you with any problems related to the book.

5. How can I make sure I do not disrespect my classmates or my teacher?
Like in any environment, we follow the corresponding etiquette. For the web, is is called Netiquette. Read “The Core Rules of Netiquette” an excerpted from the book Netiquette by Virginia Shea.

6. What are the most important links I will need to use during this semester?
a. Blackboard; b. Online textbook; c. Instructor’s email; MCC’ Help Desk