Melisa Dracos

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Philosophy of Teaching

Course Description

ANGEL in the classroom

Teaching Samples

Spanish Resources

Use of Technology in the classroom

Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese

Spanish Basic Language Program (SBLP)

Use of Technology in the Classroom

Reflections on use of Technology:

I choose to take advantage of the technology we have at our disposals here at Penn State because I find that it greatly enhances, facilitates and diversifies the language learning process for my students. By using visually and audio enhanced Power Point presentations to present grammar and vocabulary lessons, I have found that not only is it easier to make the material comprehensible and meaningful for the students, but it also heightens their interest and enthusiasm in learning the language. When students realize that the drill-based learning and traditional grammar exercises that they were exposed to in prior language classes have been replaced by authentic written and audiovisual materials that encourage them to focus on the meaning of the target language, they often develop a new excitement for the language that they never had before, which in turn gives them motivation to participate in class and work towards becoming effective communicators in Spanish. Furthermore, by incorporating pictures, videos, music, blogs and websites from Spanish-speaking cultures into my lessons, I provide learners with authentic media materials that allow them to connect the Spanish language with a unique culture as well as view it as a living language used by millions of people, both in and outside of the United States.

Technology also provides a means by which I can accommodate individual differences amongst my students as well as encourage them to be active learners that carry the responsibility for their own progress. Students work through the weekly online lessons and activities in ANGEL at their own pace, receiving immediate personalized feedback that helps each individual student recognize her strengths and weakness so she can focus her attention on the particular area (e.g. listening comprehension, reading comprehension, grammar, vocabulary) where she needs the most improvement. Then, utilizing the grammar and vocabulary learned in ANGEL, we can use classroom time to focus on interpersonal communication activities, which is an effective pedagogical tool that cannot be completely replicated through any present technology.

Pedagogical Innovations with Technology:

In addition to using ANGEL with my classes (see a detailed description of how I utilize this resource on my ANGEL page), another means by which I implement technology into my classroom in an innovative way is by incorporating links to websites and YouTube videos into my Power Point presentations. Not only do we make use of these resources in class, but students also enjoy spending more time exploring these ‘real world’ online materials at home when they return to the Power Point presentations. For example, when we discussed Spanish art in my class, we took a virtual tour of the Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain.  

I also consistently incorporate music videos and movie clips in Spanish into my lessons. For example, after discussing the success of famous Hispanics that have immigrated to the United States, we then focused on the particular success of one of these individuals – Shakira – by watching one of her music videos and discussing the meaning of the lyrics.

I believe that pedagogical innovations such as the ones illustrated above not only aid in the provision of language input, thus helping students progress in learning Spanish, but they also give a sense of “real world” relevance to the language.

The Pennsylvania State University: Copyright 2008
Last updated on October 27, 2009 3:57 PM
email: mjd1021@psu.edu