GauchoSpace's quiz feature

I think the quiz feature is currently my favorite GauchoSpace tool (although that might change as I experiment more with lessons). There's a lot you can do with it: I've created at least one quiz for just about every course I've taught, and for quite a few courses, I've made multiple or even weekly quizzes. I particularly like that you can include images, videos, and/or sound files: I think it makes the quiz more dynamic, and the multimodal aspect also makes it possible to test different kinds of knowledge. The image below, for example, is from a quiz I made for a hybrid course I taught last winter: 

The print is too small to see here (and is also in Spanish), but the question is: "According to Melissa [a person interviewed for a short reading students had completed], many Latin Americans are 'kind and friendly'. Which of these pictures contains people that are like that?" Students had to look at the images and decide which one best represented those concepts, both of which are vocab words introduced in that chapter. Option B is the only one with friendly, smiling people: the others are either cold or bullies. Based on which option students selected, I was able to provide them with customized feedback, which I really liked, and I could also quickly and easily pull up the results to see how people did: what the average was for first attempts vs final attempts, the mean class grade, how long each student spent doing the quiz, etc. 

Have you used GauchoSpace's quiz feature? How do you like it?

CBA? More like LOL.

I was a bit disappointed that the van der Kleij et al. article didn't find more substantial results. Computer-based assessment is something that figures fairly heavily into the classes I teach: much of the homework my students compete is via an online platform that has automated versions of some of the textbook activities. While there are some redeeming aspects of this platform--for example, there are animated grammar tutorials that students can watch (and that I can assign to make sure that they watch), and the videos are usually fairly well done--one of my biggest critiques is the quality of feedback students are given. When they get an answer wrong, they're told that they got it wrong, but they aren't told why. After they've exhausted their two allowed attempts, they're shown an answer key with the correct answers, but once again, they aren't offered any sort of explanation as to why their answer was incorrect, why the correct answer is the correct answer, and what they can do to improve moving forward. My "solution" to this has been to try to give them much more elaborated feedback on the homework they had in during class, and to give them credit for this homework based on completion rather than accuracy. This approach seems to have at least partially mollified my students, but honestly, my preferred way of fixing this would be to ax the online platform and use GauchoSpace to design my own activities. :D In a perfect world (read: in a world where I actually had the power to throw out part of the current course requirements and put in something that [I think] would work better), I'd do it in a heartbeat, but things like power and, of course, available time are currently not in my favor. :-/

What have your experiences been with CBA? Do you find the type of CBA offered to your students to be effective? If so, why? If not, what would you like to change about it?

Using Zoom for virtual classes

I was pleasantly surprised by how well our virtual class went: having taught with Zoom over the summer, one of the things I liked least about it was that it made doing think-pair-shares incredibly difficult to do (how on earth were students supposed to pair off and share ideas orally between themselves before sharing with the class?). I'm still trying to work out a solution to that for language teaching, but it seemed like the chat rooms and Google Docs worked reasonably well for our class, and we were able to have a good follow-up conversation afterward. The fact that Zoom allows for meetings to be recorded is also great for people who might not be able to make it to the meeting, students who might wish to review the material again, or even researchers who might like to analyze things like turn-taking and other facets of computer-mediated communication.

What did everyone else think? Would you consider using Zoom in your own classes (as instructors)?

Why do so many online platforms fail, and not even productively?

Productive Failure is my favorite of Vander Ark's eight principles of productive gamification. I've worked with a lot of different online platforms over the quarters, and even when the activities are decent, the feedback provided is usually terrible: most of the platforms will just tell students they got an answer wrong without telling them why, which is a really big pet peeve of mine. How are my students supposed to learn if they don't understand what they did wrong? The whole point of productive failure is that students are able to test hypotheses and receive feedback that then lets them modify their hypotheses as needed before trying again. If you're a student who is struggling with a brand-new concept, which is more helpful to you: the knowledge that you got an answer wrong, or the knowledge that you got an answer wrong and here's why and here's a tip to help you do better next time?  I understand that providing detailed and constructive automated feedback can be time consuming on the part of publishers, but if you're going to do something---and especially if students are going to have to pay to access that something---then at least have the decency to do it right.

Using Socrative in the classroom

I'm a big fan of Socrative. The classes I teach are usually fairly small (~20 students), but occasionally, I've had larger (~30 students) classes (I know the bio people are probably in hysterics over my calling 30 students a "large" class). When I have more students in the classroom, it's a bit trickier to get a quick feel of how well they're understanding the material, and it's also harder to make sure everyone is engaged in the lesson. To help remedy this, I started using Socrative in my larger classes (and occasionally in smaller classes where a tech survey reveals that all or nearly all of my students have some sort of device they could bring to class). My students seem to really like it: post-use surveys revealed comments indicating that students liked the anonymity and felt more comfortable taking risks when answering questions because they weren't as afraid of getting the wrong answer, and it was really helpful to be able to see in real time what they were and weren't understanding. Additionally, it makes it easy to turn any discussion into a task-based activity: I'd put students in pairs or small groups and tell them that they could only submit one answer per group, so they had to reach a consensus before submitting their answer. It's also really easy to use on my end and is dead simple on the students' end: they're able to use it easily from the first time, so I don't have to spend a lot of time "training" them how to submit answers.

Check out their website and click "watch demo" for a quick overview; alternatively, here's a detailed tutorial for those who are interested in learning more about how Socrative works.

Evaluating student participation through co-assessement

I've used co-assessment for several quarters for student participation, and I love it. The way it works is:

• there are two feedback modules on GauchoSpace: one in Week 5, another at the end of Week 10
• at each point in the quarter, students first evaluate themselves; they rank their participation on a 50-point scale, give themselves a specific score, then justify that score by checking off items they've done to deserve that score and adding additional comments if necessary
• I then review their scores and comments. If I agree with their score, I leave it as is; otherwise, I adjust it accordingly. 

The reasons I like this system are:

• it gives students a chance to reflect on their own performance and holds them accountable for it. In the Week 5 module, a lot of students mention their perceived shortcomings and state how they are going to make up for them in the second half of the course...and many of them do just that: they speak up more in class, come to office hours, etc. I think for some students, the mid-way point serves as a "wake-up call" that helps them do better in the second half of the course.
• students are generally satisfied with their grades. The grades they give themselves are usually very reasonable and in keeping with my own notes/perceptions, and in the event that a student is too hard on his- or herself, I make sure to give him or her a fairer score. 
• they do most of the "hard work" for me: all I have to do is look at the grade, decide if I agree, and move on to the next student. It takes less than 10 minutes per feedback module.

Does anyone else use co-assessment in their classes? If so, what have your experiences been? If not, is it something you would like to incorporate into your class, and how might you go about it?

Experimenting with Panopto/GauchoCast

I've tinkered around with Panopto/GauchoCast in the past, but I've never actually incorporated it into my teaching, so I'm excited to give it a go for this class. I think I'm going to see about preparing a Powerpoint and feeding that into Panopto so that I can play around with the finished product, and maybe I'll deliberately include a part that I'll want to edit out in "post" so that I can try out the editing tools. In terms of my topic, I was thinking about reflecting on some of the technological hiccups my students and I ran into in our online Spanish 1 course from this past summer: fortunately, things usually went well and without trouble, but we did encounter a few issues that took some patience and creativity to work around.

What are you guys planning to talk about in your videos? Have any of you used Panopto/GauchoCast before?

Minds (racing) online

Was it just me, or was reading the Miller chapter like

*flags this*

*highlights that*

*makes note of this other thing*

*has breakthrough related to own field/area of interest*

*finishes reading and goes immediately to amazon.com to buy the book*

*etc.*

because, to use the parlance of texting and the internet, OMG! One of my main research interests is the design of (hybrid and online) courses and curricula, so this reading (and the rest of the book) are now officially on my Ph.D reading list. I think the part that most resonated with me was the point Miller made about the importance of keeping students interested and engaged in learning material, something that might be particularly difficult when there isn't an enthusiastic and knowledgeable instructor to transmit the information. For my dissertation, I want to explore the teaching and learning of second language pragmatic knowledge (specifically within Spanish) using virtual learning environments, so developing fun, interactive lessons that are also effective in providing students with necessary information and then evaluating them is what I anticipate will be one of my biggest challenges. I like the idea of designing branching, "choose-your-own-adventure" types of activities; for example:

• You're meeting your (Mexican) partner's parents for the first time, and they only speak Spanish. Your Spanish, meanwhile, is limited to simple phrases such as greetings and introducing yourself (and in a noticeably non-Mexican accent at that).
• As you walk forward to greet them (going in with a handshake), your partner's mother leans in to kiss your cheek instead! What do you do?
• You sit down in the family room, and your partner's mother asks if you have eaten and offers you a snack. What do you do?
• While you are all seated, your partner's abuelita (grandma) enters the room and moves to greet you. What do you do?

These are all things that I as a second language learner with a Mexican partner would have really liked to have learned in the safety and support of a second language classroom rather than via the trial-by-fire approach of finding myself in (what felt like) a very high-stakes situation at a time when I was only just beginning to learn Spanish. 

(For any who are wondering, the "correct" answers are: lightly touch cheeks while making a kissing sound and saying, "Mucho gusto", smiling and politely accepting the offered snack (regardless of whether or not you are actually hungry), and standing up to greet the abuelita while making sure to use the polite form of address.) ;)

Collaborating on a slideshow using Google Slides

I really liked the ideas behind the in-class activity we did with Google Slides: I thought it was a fresh way of getting students engaged about content creation. I'm not sure if a similar activity would work in my class, though: given that all instructions and interactions would need to be in Spanish, the added stress of having to negotiate in a second (or sometimes third or fourth) language AND navigate new technology might be a bit much for most students. There's also the danger that, since anyone can edit the finished product, we'd run into a slight hiccup like we did in class where the format got a bit thrown off for a while. Still, I think there's definitely some merit to the idea: I can see, for example, how presenting Google Slides as an option for in-class presentations would benefit students with hectic schedules who just can't find time to meet up for collaboration, and the fact that all group members would have access to it would eliminate the danger of "Oh crud, we have to present today and Mateo has the presentation on his computer and he's not here!"

Other than Douglas, who mentioned that he had experimented with this sort of activity in his classes, has anyone else ever tried it? If so, what was your experience like, and how likely are you to repeat the activity in the future?

Using Facebook for pedagogical purposes

As someone who has used Facebook in multiple classes in the past, I found that the findings in the Manca and Ranieri (2013) article were largely in keeping with my own, more casual observations. I've created Facebook groups for 4-5 of the lower-division courses I've taught, and I have mixed feelings about these groups.

On the one hand, I really liked how I was able to quickly relay information to my students: I would send an email, then copy/paste it into a status update in the group, and I could see at a glance who and how many people had seen it. Given that some students are still not in the habit of regularly checking their university email accounts, this was usually a very effective way of communicating with them. I also liked the ease with which new materials, such as videos, pictures, links, etc., could be added and commented on, and whenever multiple students "liked" a particular resource, it let me know that they found it useful (or at least amusing/interesting enough to acknowledge--I'll take it!).

On the other hand, I was essentially giving students access to me via a more personal side of my life. Granted, my profile picture is professional and my profile is set to private, but still: they knew "where" I was on Facebook, and I knew "where" they were. Also, there was generally very little interaction in the groups: although I made it clear to students that they were welcome to post relevant resources/initiate discussions, this was rarely done, and most students seemed to regard the page as a sort of "resource feed" that they would check prior to exams.

Given that more and more of my students are telling me that they don't really use Facebook (honestly, neither do I: like them, I mainly skim through it to keep up with family), I've stopped creating Facebook groups, and I haven't had any complaints. I'm familiar with and regularly use other online platforms--Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, etc.--but so far, I haven't had enough students in a single class who were also users of a site to warrant the creation of a class page (although Instagram seems to be gaining steam).

What about you guys? Have you ever used, or do you currently use, Facebook groups in your classes? Do you have other online platforms that you use or that you would like to use in the future?

Reflecting on "reflecting" and other design principles

At least in my department (Spanish & Portuguese), the idea is for TAs/instructors to use the types of design principles suggested in the Moreno & Mayer (2007) article: guided activity, reflection, feedback, pacing, and pretraining.

From a learner point of view, I feel like all of these things have helped me learn better in the past, but it's hard to tell how much of that is true and how much is just my perception: I might as well say that I'm an auditory-visual learner for all the empirical proof I'd have to back up my claim. Still, we know that in general, these principles help students learn, and I've had instructors use these principles in classes I've taken, and I have done well in said classes, so it certainly seems like they might have helped me (then again, I'm pretty sure most grad students have heard and internalized the phrase "Correlation does not equal causation").

Returning to the instructor point of view: which of these principles do you regularly use in the course(s) you teach, and how do you implement them? Are there any limitations that keep you from implementing one or more of the principles? Do you have other principles you (would) like to implement?

Una excursión literaria (my attempt at translating "lit trip")

My Spanish 5ers and I are currently working our way through Cajas de cartón by Francisco Jiménez, and I'm toying around with the idea of making a Google Lit Trip of the locations mentioned in the book (mainly because I've never made one before and want to learn how, but also because I think it might help my students). The nice thing is that, once the protagonist and his family arrive in California at the beginning of the story, the rest of the story takes place within the state but in various cities a lot of students might be familiar with: Santa María, Fresno, etc. I found this tutorial on YouTube, and it seems pretty straightforward. Have any of you ever made a Lit Trip before? Which class did you use it for? What was your experience/do you have any tips/suggestions for someone making one for the first time?

Discussing Best Practices for Powerpoint and Other Presentation Software

It seemed that most of us in today's class have definitely been on the receiving end of an overly complicated Powerpoint lecture. You know the kind I'm talking about: entire slides devoted to large chunks of text, complex graphs that we never seem to be able to grasp before the slide changes, and speakers that read verbatim (often in a monotone) what they've written on every slide. Anyway, I was curious what everyone thought of the best practices presented by Dr. Michaels in today's class: which, if any, do you routinely follow when designing a presentation? Are there any that you might be interested in adopting, but that you worry might not best serve you in your field? Any that you just don't see yourself ever using? What about other Powerpoint/presentation dos and don'ts that weren't covered in today's talk?

Behaviorists and Cognitivists and Constructivists, oh my!

As I'm sure happened to a lot of us, today's class left me considering the three different schools of thought touched upon in the Dede article and how each might be present and/or beneficial to my field (second language education, specifically the teaching of Spanish to university students). Here are my thoughts:

• Objectivism/Behaviorism: I feel like it's popular in second language acquisition to bash on this one, but I don't think that's entirely fair. As we discussed in class, there is value in being able to recall facts quickly and correctly, and when learning a second language, there are plenty of things you just have to memorize/internalize (e.g. basic vocabulary, verb conjugations, etc.) before you can move on to the "next step". When I study a new language, for example, I often spend a great deal of time on drill websites like conjugemos making sure that I can correctly conjugate a verb because I want to be able to express myself clearly and accurately. I also drill with picture flashcards (i.e. picture on one side, term in whatever language I'm learning on the other) so that I get used to making instant connections between a physical representation of an object and the term for it in the target language rather than relying on mental translation, and I frequently recommend these methods to my students because they have worked well for me over the years.

• Cognitivism/Pragmatism: This one fits it quite nicely with second language teaching, in my opinion.Through drawing upon their preexisting grammatical knowledge of English, students are able to make connections with Spanish grammar that help them make sense of what they read in the textbook and practice saying in class. I as an instructor aim to present information in an organized, sequential manner à la Krashen's input hypothesis and try to help my students develop strategies for processing/recalling new information.

• Interpretivism/Constructivism: This one is also heavily present in today's scholarship on second language education, particularly within the communicative approach. The idea that the instructor is a guide rather than an expert who lectures all the time and the concept of using authentic activities to help learners develop new skills are things I've been taught since my undergrad days, so Interpretivism/Constructivism and, to a slightly lesser extent, Cognitivism/Pragmatism definitely feel the most like "home" to me when it comes to what happens within the classroom, whereas the types of mechanical drills associated with Objectivism/Behaviorism are something best left (in my opinion) for individual study outside of class.

What do you guys think? (How) do you (think you should) utilize elements from each of the three schools in your field?

Selling your digital soul to Google and other companies

We also talked today about the often hidden legalities that come with using various online platforms. As a researcher who has used Google Docs in more than one study and multiple times in classes, I feel like this is something we absolutely need to be conscious of: what exactly are we allowing companies to do with our information when we accept the terms and conditions? Granted, I don't feel particularly alarmed over the prospect of "Big Brother" knowing what I'm up to (it's really not that interesting), and I've never asked students to submit personally sensitive information via outside sources: in fact, all of my Google Doc surveys and projects have been completely anonymous. Still, I'm sure there are plenty of people/students out there with a much less nonchalant view of things, so it is good for us to be aware of how these things work and to ensure that we're not asking students to unintentionally reveal information they may wish to keep private. Does anyone have any other sorts of experience using non-GauchoSpace technological platforms/resources in class? What are your thoughts on protecting student privacy?

Unpacking the digital learning characteristics of so-called "Digital Natives"

I was really interested in Table 1 from this week's article by Lai and Hong. I was born in 1989, so in Prenskian terms, I am a digital native, as are all of my current students born a few years later in the 90s. Based my own observations of and interactions with both students who are younger than me and colleagues closer to my own age, I would say that there don't appear to be very many general differences in learning styles and preferences, at least between people in their late teens and twenties.

Like many of my students, I have a laptop and a smartphone and use both on a daily basis. I generally do prefer to use the internet when doing research, but I always begin with library databases and/or online scholarly journals. I would tentatively guess that at least some of my students follow similar practices when doing research, but I would imagine that many also rely on the "satisficing" answers of Google or similar search engines. My attitude toward group work varies according to the task: if it's an in-class small group or paired activity, then I don't mind, but if it's a high-stakes project that requires coordinating schedules over several days/weeks and hoping that everyone is punctual and pulls their own weight, I would much, much rather work alone, and many of my students have expressed similar preferences. It seemed like many of us in class also disliked group work, so where does this idea that digital natives adore collaborating come from? Any thoughts/ideas?