Google Street View

Google Street View is awesome! If you haven't used it in your classroom, it's definitely something that you should think about. Google Street View is a great way to incorporate culture into a lesson - ancient ruins such as those from Pompeii are even within Street View's database. This tool allows teachers to bring history and cultural lessons to life via the internet. This is important for foreign language learners because many students may never have the opportunity to visit such historical sites in person. Using Google Street View stimulates learners to be more interested in current lessons and feel more connected to the material.

When I did a thematic unit on Pompeii, I introduced the unit in two ways. First, I showed a painting, L'ultimo Giorno di Pompei (Pompeii's Last Day) and asked students questions about what they saw in the picture - what did they think was happening? What did they think the painting was called? (Students did not know the title of the painting.) Afterwards, I "walked students through" Pompeii via Google Street View.

This can be a great tool for ESL Learners in New York City, too. Nobody is familiar with every borough and area of NYC. Street View is a great way to have students explore and become more familiar with areas, especially if they are new arrivals.

It is really cool that such a thing is so easily accessible and free. I think it is a great educational tool if used properly, and is one that can really facilitate student interest.

Go!Animate

I love Go!Animate! I took note of it during Allison's presentation.

On Go!Animate, students can create videos where they choose a scene and their own characters. Students input text for each character to say. After you type in the text for your character, you can choose which language you want the character to speak. So I put in Italian text, and then chose the Italian flag so that my characters would sound like Italian speakers. Students can also choose emotions for their characters as well. Students and teachers may use the website for free, though if you want more features, it costs more money.

I made my own Go!Animate here and had a lot of fun doing so! I think it's the coolest thing. It is also great for students who are shy and may not like presenting. I think this is a good tool to practice writing. Instead of producing writing assignments with boring paper and pen, you can create a dialogue and produce a video all in one.

Blackboard

I have been using Blackboard all through college and graduate school, and never thought twice about it. In our last class, we were exposed to different softwares that universitys use. After exploring some other softwares, I have come to realize that I like Blackboard for its structure, simplicity, and cleanness.

A view of our course on Blackboard.

Blackboard acts as a forum and platform for student and teacher communication. Students can post on threads, ask questions, share their work, and post assignments in certain sections. Ana and Mimi shared in class that Blackboard's template is not able to be changed - it includes announcements, staff information, course information, assignments, external links, a discussion board, and library research. If it were my first time using Blackboard as an instructor, I'd be grateful for its structure, but like Ana said, when you get used to it, it may become more of a nuisance that nothing can be changed. I can't believe how expensive it is, either - that's crazy! I can't imagine what NYU pays with all the students that we have at the university.

I've enjoyed my experience using Blackboard as a student. I think it's clean and well structured. I'd probably enjoy using it as a professor or teacher since I am so used to it now. I don't think it would be too different on the "other side" (the teacher side).

Microsoft Publisher

I have never used MS Publisher until class this week. I've heard it, but never saw it/used it before. I was actually under the impression that MS Publisher was a bit ghetto. I'm not sure why.

MS Publisher is a great tool to use for culminating projects. Students can make their own newsletter or magazine using the software, which acts as a great template for such assignments or tasks. I personally think this software is great to make newsletters for parents. Over the course of the year, students can work towards a biannual or seasonal (four times a year) newsletter, to keep parents updated about the happenings of the class. I think this is particularly good for younger students, because they especially seek to make their parents proud of their work. In doing this, it helps parents to be more up-to-date and involved in their child's education.

Older students can create their own magazines that can be "published" as a project. This would be great for a culminating project, or a project that is done over the course of the semester. In a class such as foreign language, students can write small articles or blurbs using new tenses or vocabulary that they have learned. Before "publishing" their magazines, students would hand in rough drafts to their teacher, so that they can revise their work towards a final draft.

Rosetta Stone

All yours, for $499.

I have never bought or used Rosetta Stone on my own, so it was interesting to watch as Ana fiddled around with it in our last class.  I've talked with a friend who has used it previously (before studying abroad in Italy), and she loved it - until she got there. She felt that she learned a lot at home on her computer, but when she was thrown into her new life in Florence, she felt lost and confused. She also felt disappointed in the "progress" that she made, because it didn't seem like she made any progress at all.

Rosetta Stone's promise.

Trying out Rosetta Stone on a language such as Arabic or Chinese must be difficult.  Being that you start out just repeating vocabulary, it can be hard to properly dictate tones or even understand how to properly say the word.  Many of the words from Greek Rosetta Stone just sounded like mish-mosh to me.  I felt the computer's audio-lingual method was not working for me all - I was basically mumbling what I thought the computer was saying, most definitely without proper diction. But I guess this is Rosetta's way of throwing you into the language. I find it's extremely difficult to identify and read the written word in languages that do not use the Roman alphabet.

Still, I will always think that a master teacher or the host country are better ways to provide spontaneous immersion of the language.  I like Livemocha better than Rosetta Stone from what I have seen thus far - Livemocha is much more interactive than Rosetta seems to be.  It is also much more affordable. $499.00 (Rosetta Stone) or Livemocha (free).  This is a deciding factor for most.

One of my concerns about Rosetta Stone is that it will replace the teacher in the foreign language classroom. Not because it is better - but because of money. Yes, it is expensive for the individual - but $500 is much cheaper than a teacher's salary. Many schools are already having students learn on Rosetta Stone. It's disheartening and frightening to say the least.