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?