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I want to thank my students for their cooperation and enthusiasm! Without them this video wouldn't have had the same impact and value. I am highly motivated and enthusiastic in finding the best Web 2.0 tool for them. They are learning Spanish and having fun at the same time.

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Please click HERE to get to my comment posted on Sally's Blog page.

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Here is my LINK to Sanaa's blog on "ToonDoo." It is an amazing Web 2.0 tool for any language classroom!

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In my search for Web 2.0 tools available for Spanish teachers and students, I found “musica.com.” Musica.com is an educational Spanish Website powered by Google. Since my students are not able to travel to Spanish speaking countries or attend Spanish concerts or events, I decided to implement this tool in my classroom. It provides so much engagement and has helped to increase their motivation and improve their pronunciation. With musica.com my students are not just learning Spanish songs. They are participating in the Spanish forum, downloading their favorite Spanish songs to their MP3’s and cell phones, playing games, creating videos, and much more.

Learning Spanish through music is helping my students to remember vocabulary and expressions faster and easier. With musica.com students are able to write their comments in Spanish and chat with native Spanish members. Another advantage is that students can read the songs’ lyrics while watching and/or listening. Discovering this Web 2.0 is helping me to keep students engaged while learning grammar rules and vocabulary. I have assigned homework where students needed to search for the most popular Spanish song or video, and participate in the “foros de música” (music forums). Recently my students posted a comment in Spanish for their favorite Spanish song. They copied and pasted the link in a Word doc. and e-mailed it to me. I was amazed! Students completed their assignment and expressed their enjoyment.

Why “musica.com?” Music integrates right and left brain learning to help students internalize grammar patterns, remember vocabulary, and develop more native like pronunciation. Also it is known that music is a powerful tool. Friedman (1997), in his article “Drumming to the Rhythms of life,” said that listening to music with rhythmic cues improves motor coordination in stroke patients and in those with Parkinson’s disease, helping them walk up to 50 percent faster. My students have been using this Web 2.0 for two weeks, and I am amazed with the results. At this moment I am using musica.com with my advanced classes, but I am planning to incorporate this tool into my Spanish 1 curriculum next year.

Friedman, D. (1997). Drumming to the rhythms of life. Retrieved from http://www.healthysounds.com/feature9.htm

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Google Maps video

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Here is my link to Laura's blog about Web 2.0 tools. Click here

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Here is my link to Terrie L Whitley's Blog Posting on Dvolver. I would like to learn more about it.

Link: Dvolver

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“Google Maps” is an amazing and helpful Web 2.0 tool! In the past, teaching culture from Spanish speaking countries was based on information found in textbooks, encyclopedia, and old videos. Now I am using“ Google maps”! Today more and more World Language Teachers are incorporating this tool into their lessons. As Krauss (2007) said, today’s technologies—and the merging “mashups” (it refers to Google Maps and Google Earth) help teachers to perform eight essential learning functions.

1. Ubiquity

2. Deep Learning

3. Making Things Visible and Discussable

4. Expressing Ourselves, Sharing Ideas, Building Community

5. Collaboration

6. Research

7. Project Management

8. Reflections

This month I started using “Google Maps” to teach geography and culture. It took me a week to create a few maps using the Google Map application interface and following directions from the tutorials. They are open to the public so teachers can use these projects after reviewing them. Most of my students knew how to search for places using “Google maps,” but they never used this tool to learn in depth about places like “Machu Pichu” in Peru or “Surfing in Costa Rica.”

By doing research I found out that many schools districts are incorporating this tool to teach different subjects. Warrensburg R-VI school district, for example, (http://www.warrensburgr6.org/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=382) has a Web page dedicated to “Google Maps.” I have to say that these examples are well organized and interesting. Personally I believe that “Google Maps” is a powerful tool that brings novelty and support to my learning environment. Students can explore the world without leaving the classroom. Google Maps can be used to create project-based learning that goes hand in hand with Bloom’s Taxonomy, Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences theory, and Brain-Based learning theory.

Krauss (2007) stated that starting with the essential learning functions technology could deliver a learning project. Unlike the quickly evolving tools themselves, essential learning functions are stable. In project based learning, having the functional ability to make things visible and discussable or to foster collaboration will always be important, even as the tools change (Krauss, 2007).

The following links will take you to “My maps.” These projects are examples of how Web 2.0 applications can be used to build new learning environments. I used them to introduce my students to this Web tool and they love it!

1. This project was created for Spanish 1 students. They explored all the Spanish speaking countries and learned their capitals and culture at the same time:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=117643342551515675530.00047fc458fa0b1e302d3&ll=2.153009,-52.294922&spn=106.9358,223.59375&t=h&z=3&iwloc=00048028ac023b9e1d6a5

2. This project was created for my Spanish 2 and 3 classes. They explored and learned about famous museums in Spain:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=h&msa=0&msid=117643342551515675530.00048034af20a6f365809&z=17

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I have been searching for a Web 2.0 tool for about 2 months, even before this class started. I learned about three Web 2.0 tools (SpanishPod, Lenguajero, and Jog the Web). I kept exploring and testing “Jog the Web.” This Web 2.0 tool has been an excellent tool for my action research project. My Action Research project is in good shape thanks to “Jog the Web.” I was designing “WebQuests” to motivate my students in learning Spanish, but I needed a Web 2.0 tool to deliver and share them with the world. I created two main projects for my students using “Jog the Web.”

“Jog the Web” is free and provides a slide show to viewers. It is a step-by-step approach through Web sites allowing the teacher (author) to annotate and ask guiding questions for each Web page. Students will answer these questions on paper or reply by posting their comments. In my classes, Jog the Web provides scaffolding and high critical thinking opportunities while students are learning about the Spanish culture and language. It also helps students to develop strong research skills. This Web 2.0 tool can be used by teachers to teach many other subjects or by businesses to create presentations. Also users have the opportunity to search other teachers’ lessons, presentations, or projects. Moreover this is an excellent Web 2.0 tool for collaboration and discussions.

So far this Web 2.0 tool has been reliable and workable for all my students. It is friendly and easy to use and follow. The most important thing is that my students’ motivation has increased in the last three weeks. I have designed about 25 WebQuests, but I recently taught two of them through “Jog the Web.” My goal is to reach more 21st century learners through the use of my WebQuests via “Jog the Web.”

Here are two links of my Online WebQuests: "Puerto Rico" and "Mi Rutina."

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I chose the following five (5) RSS Feeds for my professional use:

Spanish Language: News & Videos about Spanish Language-CNN.com:

I chose it because I like to update my Spanish students with what is happening around the world using Spanish news. Sometimes I use these blogs with my advanced students. These blogs are good to practice their reading skills.

Univision: Tecnología (Univision: Technology)

I actively participate in this Univision blog. It also keeps me updated with the last technology available in the market. Moreover I get a lot of recommendations and advice.

TeachPaperless

My school is trying to save paper, so administrators have encouraged the staff to use less paper. In my classroom I have reduced the use of paper by 25%. Reading these interesting posts helped me to accomplish this task in my classroom.

Apple Hot News

I recently chose this RSS Feed because my school is getting iPads for the Language Department. Next year, our students are going to use iPads, so I am learning about this new Apple tool. I would like to keep myself updated before using them in my classroom.

Top Spanish Web 2.0 tools

I think that this one would help me to choose the best Web 2.0 tool for my next assignment due this weekend. I read a few of these post and search some of the Web 2.0 tools available to Spanish teachers. I already have one in mind, but for now I will keep checking and participating.

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As a Spanish teacher I have found the value of using blogs to connect with my college’s Online students through the college Web page. It is done mainly for answering questions and Spanish conversations. My Online students are familiar with blogs and also use them on a regular basis. I haven’t used this Web 2.0 tool with my high school students yet. After reading articles about the use of blogs in secondary education, I have become more enthusiastic. One on my major concerns with using blogs among high school students was their level of maturity and their ability to write and respond to blogs on a somewhat professional level. I would want them to reflect on what they are writing, continuing to write over a period of time, and engage each other in sustain conversations. Hopefully that would lead to further thinking and writing critically about topics discussed in the Spanish classroom.

According to Downes (2004) in his article “Educational Blogging,” blogs in education can be used to replace the regular class webpage by posting class time and rules, assignment notifications, suggested reading, and exercises. He also stated that teachers could post links to Internet items that relate to the course. I have found many links that are highly interesting and relative to the many cultural topics we discuss in the classroom. Third, blogs may be used to organize in class discussions. This is exactly what I plan to do to give my students a preview of an upcoming cultural or discussion topic. Fourth, some teachers also use blogs to organize class seminars and to provide summaries of readings. Finally Downes mentioned that students could be instructed to write their own blogs as part of their coursework.

When thinking about the uses of blogging for my Spanish students, the blogging environment could help them expand on classroom topics of discussion such as immigration, cultural differences, family values, etc. Hong (2008) in his article “Exploring educational use of Blogs in U.S. Education” stated that rather than as an information resource, blogging has changed the role of the reader. Readers are no longer passive recipients of the information from the Web but become creators of the content by either posting entries on the blog or making comments on the entries posted by others. Hong (2008) continued saying blogging is a powerful tool that enhances communication, foster critical thinking, and encourages collaborative learning, and has great potential in education.

Downes, S. (2004). Educational blogging. EDUCAUSE Review, 39 (5), 14-26.

Hong, W. (2008). Exploring educational use of blogs in U.S. education. Volume 5,

No.10 (Serial No.47) US-China Education Review, ISSN1548-6613, USA

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