Mendoza: Spanish

Week XIII: Introduction: I was very excited to get started because the first semester was great and I learned more than I expected.

Week XIV: Creating Class Elements, Part 1: I love taking pictures as most people do. I always wanted to create content with images that I take in a daily basis and make them part of my classes. This is a valuable tool. I also explored other tools such as QuickTime Player.

Week XV: Creating Class Elements, Part 2: Wow, this week was great because I began to explore new and neat tools. Thinglink is a great tool because it allows to link different multimedia and it is fun.

Week XVI: Creating Class Elements, Part 3: Another great week. This week I discovered a new tool: Prezi. What I liked about this new tool is that you presented your information is a very creative way. Instead of a linear and a traditional timeline, I was able to break from it. Adding sound was very easy too.

Week XVII: Online Students : This week was all about my students and how I would best help them clear up any questions that would prevent them from accessing all the course material. It gave me that opportunity to think deeply on how my course information and material was reaching them and if it was clear. I also began using Google Drive and Dropbox.

Week XIII: Classroom Management: This week was enlightening because I realized what students did outside of class was as important or even more important than what we accomplished inside the classroom.

Week XIX: Online Education Theory: This week I shared how I encourage my students to make connections outside of class, participating in cultural events. Throughout the year fortunately there are many cultural events that allow my students to live and experience authentic Hispanic customs. Every year we explore Día de Muertos, attend concerts, visit restaurants, see plays, etc.

Week XX: Educational Technology and Instructional Design: This week I explored the importance of tech and instructional design and how I for a while went without technology.  Our department and some colleagues have encouraged us to explore and incorporate more technology in our classes. I am very happy I listened and now I am a new and reinvented professor because of it. There is a lot more I would like to learn. I think I am in the right track though.

Week XXI: Web-Enhanced, Hybrid and Open Classes: Wow, I used free online resources and I have a few favorites. However, I was unaware about the abundance of free courses and resource available on the Internet. This week I explored MOOC.

Week XXII: Personal Learning Networks: I was in the recent past a very quiet professor. This program allowed to rediscover myself and my voice. I love technology and I can put this passion into good use. I am very happy because I am making new learning networks.

Week XXIII: Presentation: This week I wanted to explore other tools: reflector, QuickTime Player, 4 Apps (soundcloud, Audioboo, Tellagami and Educreations).  In my area it is important to find different multimedia by which our students can share and practice what they are learning in class.

Here are the names of the four apps that were mentioned in my presentation: Audioboo, Soundcloud, Tellagami and Educreations. All the apps are free on the App Store. I linked them. Good luck and thank you for watching.

This week I was particularly intrigued by the video “Sharing: The Moral Imperative.” Shareski’s point of view on sharing is phenomenal.  In the past months, I have been actively sharing ideas and resources with my colleagues and thus creating a community and a network that is allowing me to grow.  Sharing in a large scale is a scary, new concept for me, but I do believe sharing has many benefits not only for the students but for yourself. It has allowed me to create learning networks on different campuses and on the Internet.

In the past I was not a big sharing type. I was actually very shy around my colleagues and limited my participation in our discussions in meeting and workshops, and I would find myself listening from the more experienced educators rather than sharing my own experiences as equal educators. I know for a fact that I have many great ideas to offer.  This program has created a safe space for me to express my ideas and share them with all of you.

In the future I do want to share more. I was also inspired by Dan Meyer from Santa Cruz, California, who shared his work that took countless hours to complete. I want to become part of the big chain of resources online and perhaps inspire one person and in return inspire me to do more.

I agree with the primary philosophy of open courses, which is to change the lives of many people in the world as stated in George Siemen’s post on Theory and MOOCS (massive open online course). These open courses are literally changing how information and learning is distributed and shared with people all around the world.  I tried some of the open classes offered at Udemy.  Even though most of the courses were not open or free, I managed to sign up to a few courses, and their content was very good.  The plethora of free courses is immense. I came across a broad range of videos lessons in Spanish from señor Jordan, a teacher from Missouri and a complete Spanish 101, 102 and 201 videos absolutely free.

Connectivism has become a great theory that I like and hope to learn more about. I enjoyed how it was introduced in  What the unique idea in connectivism. The following video was so enlightening that I decided to post it on my Blog for future reference. The video hits the nail straight on the head, and it illustrates how connectivism works and how professors empower their students to explore, discover and  connect thus creating an active and autonomous student. This semester my students from my f2f and hybrid courses have made real connections with the Hispanic culture in our beautiful San Diego. I am also flipping my class using the web and other free resources.

When I began teaching I was very in love with technology and used it frequently in class, creating PowerPoint presentations, using Youtube videos and music, but I slowly began to thrift away from it. After a while I divorced from technology.  My main focus and energy was mainly directed toward improving my  pedagogy and especially my Instructional Design.   My main goal was to learn and then help students make meaningful, long-lasting connections with the class content. Some of the learning theories that interested me were Cognitivism and Behaviorism.

Recently my fire and passion for technology ignited once again, but sadly I often overdose on technology and I wonder if the students overdose too. When do we stop? How do we know? Sometimes nostalgia hits me and I long for those remote time where students were not easily distracted by buzzing, flashy or vibrating sounds. I do believe in having a well-balanced class, taking advantage of the great resources and tools EdTech (E-learning) can provide for the instructor and for the students. I strongly believe technology can provide that long-lasting connections and learning I so eagerly search for. I loved when Jordan Molina on her post asked how much harder does an online teacher has to work to inspire her/his students. In my opinion, not much because personally I have been inspired by cyber-friends whom I have never met.  It is a mysterious connection I cannot describe well. Do you have a online friend, teacher or instructor who has inspired you?

As an instructor I find myself going back and forth from Instructivism to Constructivism to Connectivism.  I love to teach, just like Jaime Escalante did.  Sometimes I feel like a parent trying to show their children the correct way. I often get too passionate and involved.  Sooner or later I do need to let go and have them try new things on their own. :'(

In my classes, group work is of upmost importance and we also experiment with new things in class and out. I strongly encourage students to take advantage of what the Hispanic cultures offers us here or close to us. I ask them to make connections:  see la bufadora, taste a creamy chirimoyo, touch a bull by it horns :), make chorizo con huevos and smell a fresh cup of Colombian coffee outside of class.

However as we begin to move toward a more connected world, I am beginning to enable my students to connect with it and since we have the ability to do that more and more via Internet, students can benefit instantly. In my field making authentic connections is important. Now with new technology it has become easier to experience authentic moments. For example we can talk to someone in Argentina or Spain via Skype, learn about Rigoberta Menchú or go to Youtube and see how chicharrones are prepared.

This week there were many things to consider. From our reading, Teaching Online, I was mostly intrigued by these points: Keeping clear and frequent announcements, encouraging participation by graded activities and group work, having synchronous communication and also providing feedback.  I have been using Blackboard as my CMS, but I have been exploring other CMSs and LMSs to enhance learning.  I see myself moving forward, maybe that at a rapid pace, but indeed moving forward with great tools for the new generation of students.

In the article Rebuilding the LMS for the 21st Century there is great point made about having students come out of their higher education having skills beyond their own academic learning. Frequently I ponder how I can enable my students to leave my class with great knowledge and skills they can used in real-life settings.  We do need to move toward a student-centered, collaborative and across campuses framework and provide a better 21st century education for our students.  We need to keep up with our ever-changing world.

In Lisa’s article Insidious pedagogy we are reminds that the pedagogical goals need to be considered above all and complement it with a CMS or LMS.

This week I was very happy and pleased to read all the magnificent posts; I learned a great deal.

Last week I attended a conference where I was introduced to Google Drive. I have been playing with it since and so far it has been very interesting. This week’s work was a great way for me to put Google docs into action.

Here is my FAQ doc that I created in Google Drive. I do have something similar in Blackboard for my hybrid class. I am sure that in the future I will have refined questions and answers to better help my students.

From the reading I realized that I should not make assumptions about how savvy or knowledgeable my students are about technology or online classes in general. It is my responsibility to have a clear and straightforward course. It was also enlightening to read about the myths.

The survey was fun to create. I see myself using surveys to get feedback from students about my courses at the end of the semester or even earlier. I might even consider given extra credit if students complete a survey.

I again had a blast creating my work this week. I used for the first time Screencast-O-Matic and I loved it. I also used Powerpoint to create my slides and Prezi for the final project. I unfortunately did not add subtitles or images. 🙁 I did not want to overload my creation with images. Any comments are welcomed.

Please click on Start Prezi and then on the slide to listen to the audio.