eLearning Tools Transform UC Blue Ash Spanish Courses

For many students, learning a foreign language can be challenging. And for non-traditional students, fitting courses around a busy schedule isn’t easy. 

To overcome the traditional obstacles that prevent students from mastering a foreign language, University of Cincinnati Blue Ash instructor Brian Hunter began teaching his Spanish Composition and Conversation and Extended Basic Spanish I and II courses as hybrid courses. The results were overwhelmingly positive.

“As I look back over the past 14 weeks, I’m amazed at how much ground we have covered and how much we have done,” said Frank Gurry, a student who took Hunter’s Spanish composition and conversation course. “I don’t think that would be possible without the technology and applications that we used in the class.”

For each class Hunter used Socrative, an interactive, real-time question and answer application that allows students to use their phone or other device to respond to questions and receive instant feedback. Hunter used Socrates for daily pre-class assessments and occasional exit tickets or random questions.

“I knew with proper implementation of the course material and support for faculty, I could make it a successful course,” said Hunter. 

Hunter created a course community through Padlet, an online interactive bulletin board. Embedded in Blackboard, Padlet created a personalized wall where students could share ideas and get feedback from other students and the instructor. 

In order to reduce students’ foreign language speaking apprehensions and give students exams in a comfortable setting, Hunter used the Conversations program from Michigan State University’s Center for Language Education and Research (CLEAR). For the Spanish Composition and Conversation midterm and final exams, Conversations asked students a series of questions covering a thematic topic from the material covered in class.  

“When using technology in the classroom, it allows the students to use a different mode of communication with their peers than they are used to in a traditional classroom setting,” said Hunter. “Using technology outside the classroom allows the students to communicate for a purpose.”

In the same course, Conversations also replaced the Discussion Board, allowing students to get more practice listening to and speaking Spanish. Hunter also used other programs from CLEAR, such as Practiquemos, a series of assignments that allows students to practice and strengthen their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills.

Kaltura is also an essential tool for the hybrid course, as students used it to record speaking assignments and Hunter used the tool to record screen cast/audio feedback and course announcement videos. He also created instructional screencast videos with embedded quizzes with Camtasia Studio Software.

The technologies used in the coursed allowed students to complete the course in a way that they were empowered to learn and assume more responsibility with their learning. The hybrid model also better accommodated students to fit Spanish courses around their busy schedules. In the past, the Spanish Composition and Conversation course hadn’t been offered due to low student demand. 

Hunter presented a Distance Learning Course Design Seminar in order to re-design the traditional SPAN 2015-2016 course sequence. This innovative, hybrid course design can also be used to teach any foreign language or American Sign Language course.