Spanish 551: Integrating Technology into Lang. Learning S 10:00AM-1:00PM - Room: T232 Professor: Esperanza Román Mendoza Telephone: 993-1232 E-mail: eromanme

Department of Modern and Classical Languages George Mason University Office: Thompson 235A Office hours: S 1:00-1:30PM and by appointment

• Course Description
• Objectives
• Materials and skills
• Assessment
• Tentative program
• WebCT Course Website

 Course description

SPAN 551 has been designed for students who want to learn about the different uses of the technology in their present and future careers as researchers and teachers. SPAN 551 covers both theoretical and practical issues, with a special emphasis on the Web and its possibilities as an educational tool. The course is open to both beginners and advanced computer users. The course will be taught in Spanish.

Objectives

• To learn about the different types of software that have been created for computer-assisted language teaching.
• To learn about the different available authoring tools.
• To learn how to use web-based learning environments, both as a student and as a designer.
• To learn how to evaluate educational software.

Materials and Skills

• Access to the Internet and e-mail account
• Selection of reading materials available in the WebCT site (http://webct.gmu.edu:8904)
• Ruipérez, G. Enseñanza de Lenguas Asistida por Ordenador y Traducción Asistida por Ordenador en Internet. Madrid: UNED, 2000. (CD-ROM to be distributed in class)

Assessment

The progress made by students in this class will be evaluated by the following criteria:

1. Class preparation and participation: 20%
2. Class presentation: 25%
3. Written Assignments (to be posted on the Web): 25%
4. Final project: 30%

1. Class preparation and participation

Participation means active involvement in the class. Students are encouraged to contribute in class discussions on the articles they have to read at home. In addition, this grade includes your participation in class exercises and hands-on activities.

2. Written assignments

Every week, students will receive a reading or research assignment to perform at home. For these assignments, there will be a discussion open in the WebCT site. Students are encouraged to participate in all discussions but they are only required to contribute to five of them. The collaborative activity with the University of New Hampshire will be mandatory. (More information on this in class)

3. Class presentation

Students will work throughout the course in the development of a language course site using WebCT. On the last day of classes, students will present their project to their peers. Students will have access as users to all course sites.

4. Final project

Students will submit a written project related to one of the following issues:

1. Imagine you are a principal at a school and you have $250,000 for hardware and software infrastructure. How would you spend the money? How much would you spend to cover your ideal technological environment? Explain.

2. Find out the distribution and use of computers in three schools located in the counties close to George Mason.

3. Interview three experts on CALL. Use the Internet to contact them, and to find information on their research.

4. Select a website related to the integration of technology into Spanish learning and analyze it. Please, consult instructor to avoid problems with the site selection.

5. Subscribe to a discussion list related to the teaching of Spanish and analyze it. Please, consult instructor to avoid problems with the list selection.

It is highly recommended that students post their final projects on the homepage section of the course website.

HONOR CODE: Collaboration is the best way to learn a language. You are encouraged to help each other and to make use of outside resources. Nevertheless, on assignments that are submitted for a grade, your work must be yours alone. Plagiarism is also a Honor Code violation. Consult the GMU Honor Code for information.

Tentative Program SPAN 551
Day	Theory	Practice
September 1	Introduction. Basic equipment. Cyberspanglish	WebCT (user)
September 8	History and development of CALL/TELL	Word Processors The WWW as information source Search strategies
September 15	Design principles in technology-enhanced language instruction	Presentation programs Web portals
September 22	Criteria to assess and select technology-enhanced instructional materials	CALL software Grading tools
September 29	The teacher as developer of technology-enhanced instructional materials	Hotpotatoes, Quia, Filamentality Chats and other communication tools
October 6	Feedback and error analysis	Markin Software WebCT (designer)
October 13	Web-based instruction: types	WebCT (designer)
October 20	Individualized work
October 27	Web-based instruction: assessment	WebCT (designer)
November 3	Web-based instruction: interaction	WebCT (designer)
November 10	Web-based instruction: management	WebCT (designer)
November 17	Research in CALL/TELL	Web-based authoring tools for language learning (ACE II)
November 24	Copyright, censorship and other related issues	Web-based authoring tools for language learning (ACE II)
December 1	THANKSGIVING
December 8	PRESENTATION OF WEBCT PROJECTS

LAST DAY TO ADD THIS COURSE: SEPT. 11 - LAST DAY TO DROP THIS COURSE: SEPT. 28

Up-dated: August 2001
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