Face to face: Vlogging and Facebook in the Spanish classroom at UWI, St. Augustine [PowerPoint presentation]

Abstract

The Internet has become an important tool for any learning process, and foreign language teaching is not an exception. In the Caribbean, access to the Internet has increased tremendously and the student population is composed of mainly digital natives that enjoy the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). This study is an ongoing action research that aims to analyse students' perspectives on the introduction and use of two different technological tools in the Spanish classroom: a weekly video journal and the social network, Facebook. The Facebook experience consisted of the creation of a group for the class to provide a forum outside the classroom, and it has been piloted with three Spanish classes at the Centre for Language Learning, at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus since September 2012. The online video blogging has been taking place as part of the course assignments with specialist students of the Spanish BA programme at the Campus since September 2011. The data have been gathered through online questionnaires that combine both qualitative and quantitative methods, including open- and close-ended questions and 1 to 5 measurement scales. Preliminary analyses suggest that the students consider this type of experience as a very effective learning experience that increased their motivation and their skills for autonomous learning

Description

Paper presented at the Biennial Conference of The University of the West Indies Schools of Education, 23-25 April, 2013, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

Table of Contents

Keywords

Foreign language education, Spanish, Internet in education, Facebook, Social networks, Video blogs, Blogging, Action research, Student attitudes, Undergraduate students, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Conference papers, Trinidad and Tobago

Citation