Overall Reflection

Having completed this course (with the exception of the webpage), I would like to take this opportunity to sit back and reflect on my progression as a future teacher throughout this course. When I first began the class, I already carried a bit of a defeatist attitude toward technology and my ability to successfully implement technology in the classroom. My mom, a digital immigrant as a result of her mere age, had complained of her school's requirements regarding the use of technology in the classroom, and how teachers were expected to teach themselves and each other new forms of technology with nearly no guidance or training. Of course, nine times out of ten, the technology somehow malfunctioned and valuable class time was spent trying to reboot machines or retrieve information mysteriously "lost in cyberspace."

Even in the classrooms I have observed over the past two semesters, technology has rarely been a positive addition to the classroom. My high school practicum teacher used technology constantly in her classroom, and as a result of exploring new technological options, the effort spent lesson planning and even instructing extensively diminished. Students blamed failure to turn in assignments on technological malfunctions, they spent the class period mindlessly practicing Spanish through isolated, meaningless Quia activities, and teacher-student interaction decreased as a result. On the other hand, my middle school practicum teacher shied away from technology to the point that the most technologically advanced piece of equipment in her classroom, besides students' laptops, was an overhead projector. In both cases, technology was misused in the classroom, and it did not give off a positive impression as I started into this course.

However, as time passed and I spent entirely too much time and effort on creating technology projects to accompany meticulous lesson plans, I realized that I did not need to know every single intricacy, inside and out, of the technology that I was using. Although it is beneficial, it is unrealistic, and I do not believe in sacrificing instructional time or planning time to perfect the font color of a SmartBoard presentation. Teachers can use technology effectively without becoming experts or undergoing formal training in the field, and many times, it is a learning process for teachers themselves to use technology. I don't expect to enter the field having taught myself everything about the technology in my classroom, but over time, I can develop myself as a user of technology by taking risks and exploring new forms of technology. In many cases, students are even a helpful resource, as many of them take a side interest in technology and are delighted to share their knowledge with others.

So, despite the frustrations, trials, and tribulations that this course has caused, I find myself more comfortable and at peace with technology. I did not leave this course a technological expert, nor will I ever become one, but I do believe that I have done myself and my future students a service having introduced myself to the basic forms of technology that I can now develop little by little in my classroom. Foreign language often goes hand-in-hand with technology, and it is my responsibility as a professional to utilize technological resources in my classroom.

Podcast

This podcast would be used before the WebQuest created a few weeks ago on studying abroad in Spain. It would most likely be the overall introduction to the four-day WebQuest project to give students an overview of what they will be doing and to use visuals as a way to communicate the broader purpose of their WebQuest assignment. There is a brief introduction to each city explained during the podcast, so that students have a general understanding of the two cities they will be exploring, but it does not give specifics regarding each city, as part of their assignment is to research the attractions, geography, and characteristics of Sevilla and Santiago de Compostela.

I chose to do the podcast entirely in Spanish because I think students will be up for the challenge at the Spanish III level. It is my voice, so there is no strong native accent to make comprehension difficult, and I think it adds to the authenticity of the project, since a lot of their abroad experience will take place in the target language. There is a constant employment of visuals, and I think that this will be enough of a scaffolding to allow students to capture the gist of the podcast even if they cannot understand each individual word. I did not use a lot of text during this podcast, since the visual representation of each city is the essential purpose. I think it would benefit students to see an overall visual that piques their interest in studying abroad and cause them to want to explore more, as opposed to telling them that they are going to explore cities without giving them the motivation and interest to take the initiative.