Final Project

Jamielyn Yates
APLING 678
May 8, 2014














Overview
This is a project created for my Applied Linguistics course, APLING 678, for the
University of Massachusetts Boston. This project incorporates three technology tools,
with evidence to support why I chose these tools. This section gives an overview of my
project and the technology tools chosen.
The project is designed for a Spanish 3 level class and it is based on reading and
analyzing a piece of authentic Barcelonan literature. Since, reading and analyzing
stories are traditionally done in class with paper and pencils; Ive decided to add in key
technology tools to help bring this standard language class procedure to the 21
st
century
and to the read/write web.
This project is designed for students that live in Midwestern America and so it
would be difficult for these students to relate to life in Barcelona without the aid of
technology. With technology students will be able to view pictures of Barcelona and
research points of interest on their own via the internet.
The outline for the final project is an online lesson that has been created and
organized via Weebly.com as my content management system (CMS). The lesson
uses a blog from blogger.com to incorporate student responses to questions revolving
around the text. The lesson also uses screen-casting tools by Jing to help students
understand difficult parts of the literature. Finally, students will use a Social Network
Site (SNS) to create a Twitter profile that tweets about occurrences from the story in
order to demonstrate knowledge of the story and the characters within the text.




Rationale
The rationale for my final project is first supported by multiple World Literature
Standards as put forth by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education (DESE) as listed here:
1.2b Analyze the main plot, subplot, characters (their descriptions, roles, and
significance to the story) in authentic literary texts in the target language
1.3b Prepare a written summary of the plot and characters in selected pieces
of literature (fiction or nonfiction) written in the target language.
2.1c Compare the similarities and differences in the social etiquette within the
culture studied to their own culture.
3.2b Broaden understanding of world culture through authentic spoken and
written information
It is also supported by two Common Core State Standards for English Language
Arts (ELA), which I include, because I presume the CCSS will cross over to World
Languages and I am trying to relate my curriculum to English Language Arts as much
as I can to stay ahead of the curve. Those standards are listed here:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to
support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from
the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.3 Analyze the impact of the authors choices
regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a
story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and
developed).


I have listed the Common Core and Missouri Standards that support this project
as I plan to use this unit plan in my teaching in future years. I support my unit plans with
state standards to help my students and administration understand why we are doing
the things that we do in the classroom.
This project incorporates three relevant technology tools that research has
shown to aid in student engagement and learning. It is important to have up-to-date
technology because we need to incorporate emerging technology into our schools
(Greenfield, 2009). An article entitled 30 Years after Report, Schools Remain at Risk by
Philip Elliott informs the United States that thirty years after the report of A Nation at
Risk Americas economy will suffer if schools dont step up their game (Elliott,
2013). The article delves into the need for educational reform but the point that stuck
with me the most is that students are falling behind their international rivals (Elliott,
2013) and an increase in the use of emerging technology is needed to help American
students to be able to compete with other nations. On the same note, Jacobs (2010)
states that when students arrive at school, they feel like they have morphed backwards
in time. This is particularly true about the use of technology or lack thereof in lesson
plans.
Ive decided to have my students read a piece of literature online as researchers
have found that students read more online versus traditionally reading a book. So that
by designing a lesson to read online, my students will be able to read and understand
the text better than in the classroom without the additional use of technological tools.
According to research mentioned in Thornes article Mediating Technologies and
Second Language Learning; students felt they demonstrated being engaged more in the


reading than in the traditional classroom (Thorne, 2007). Students will have all material
and assignments located at one point via a Computer Management System (CMS). The
rationale behind using a CMS in a language classroom is supported by Erbaggio (2010)
who states that by using CMSs in the classroom to deliver authentic materials of the
target language, instructors are able to positively influence students attitudes about the
language.
Warschauer (2004) states that computer-mediated communication creates a
bridge between spoken and written language in the classroom. This is possible
because of the ability to communicate in real-time across a huge distance via written
communication on the internet. By utilizing computer-mediated communication in the
classroom, one can create an easy to use learning condition to support meaning-
oriented communication and reflection (Lee, 2008). Newer technologies benefit
collaborative writing by allowing more convenient feedback and revision and a faster
response time, potentially increasing motivation and creativity (Kessler, 2012).
Consequently, by using blogs in the classroom and having students write and comment
on each others work, students can receive immediate feedback, while the teacher can
interact with the students writing as well.
Blogs are a useful tool to use in the classroom because they are a place where
students can collaborate to create a valuable shared knowledge resource for the
classroom (Scardiamalia, 2012). Huffaker (2004) supports the use of blogs for literacy
by stating that bloggers must read and write as they would in a traditional classroom but
get to do so with a media that is comfortable for them, via the internet and computers.
Palcas article further supports collaborative online resources such as blogs because


one person doesnt dominate the group as might happen in a classroom without
technology.
Another reason that Ive decided to use blogging in this project is as a way for
students to demonstrate knowledge of the story and provide a space for students to
read and write, while leveling the playing field by using a computer to give them some
space and time to think before they have to answer. According to Thorne (2007)
students felt they had a better opportunity for expressing ideas online than in the
traditional classroom. Richardson (2010) supports the notion that blogging can help all
students achieve as he states blogs help promote democracy amongst students by
giving each and every student an opportunity to share, especially those that normally
are too shy to do so in class or those that feel as though they dont have the correct
answer.
In an Educause article, entitled Collaboration Tools it is stated that collaborating
online should offer a faster transfer of knowledge and quicker feedback on new ideas
(Lomas, Burke, and Page 2008). Consequently by utilizing blogs and providing faster
feedback, students should be more engaged in what they are learning because they are
getting practically immediate feedback, versus writing a paper and then getting
feedback a day or so later.
We have studied the benefits of using a social network site (SNS) in the
classroom and I would like to incorporate SNSs into my final project. Richardson notes
an example where a class uses a SNS and the students requested to keep using the
SNS even after the class was finished (p 137). Hopefully it would create that strong
class community that the teacher mentions (Meredith p. 137). By using a SNS that the


students are familiar with more than me, students will be able to share and teach me
some knowledge of using Twitter. I wont be the only one telling my students how to
learn and what to learn (Jonasson, 1999).
Short term objectives:
The short term objectives of this lesson are to have a teaching-learning unit created for
my Technology in Education class.
Long term objectives:
I plan to use this lesson next year and I plan to use this website along with the
assessments that are used on the website. I plan to use the Jing screen cast as a tool
to help my students understand the pre-reading activity. I plan to use the final project
lesson plans for my students. Finally, and the most interesting part for me is the use of
the blogs. Since so many of my graduate classes utilize a forum and discussion base
for class discussion, I think its important to use this in high school to prepare students
for their futures in college.
Technology Tools
For my final project, I needed to include three technological tools that are
relevant and support the objectives that I set with my unit plan. For this project, I chose
to use Weblogs, Twitter, and Jing. These three tools help support the unit plan and will
help sustain student engagement and learning. In the rest of this section, I will explain
the rationale behind the tools that I chose.
The first tool that I chose for my project is the use of weblogs (blogs). I chose to
use blogs in my final project because they are a constructivist tool. Because it is a
constructivist tool, students are a part of the creation of something that can be seen by


others, as well as something that others can comment on and provide immediate
feedback. Blogging is a great way to connect students thoughts with what others think.
Since this project is designed for a foreign language classroom, it is a wonderful use of
resources to incorporate blogging that has the potential to connect students learning a
second language with native speakers of the target language. Blogging is a good tool to
help students organize their thoughts and gives them a reference point to check back
on their work. It helps them to get used to researching online and navigating websites.
(Richardson, 2010) Blogs help level the playing field by giving students more power and
consequently making it so the teacher isnt the only one providing the power in the
classroom. (Moeyairi 2010). Blogs can help teach students new literacies that they will
need to utilize in their college and career after high school.
The second tool that I used in my final project is Twitter. Roberts uses Twitter in
his classroom and tells about the pros and cons (2013). He notes that his students
seem much more engaged in the reading. He notes that grading has not been difficult
and that he has no cons to note except that because of the medium used, students
would sometimes post silly or shallow tweets. He suggests using a particular hashtag
to find tweets (this can help create the community classroom as well.) Wojewodzki
(2009) uses Twitter in his classroom to help students build vocabulary and grammar
skills so it is a great tool to use in a language classroom, especially when dealing with a
lot of new vocabulary or difficult grammar concepts. Blake-Plock (2009) talks about
using Twitter as a direct assessment of students learning in different ways such as
vocabulary and grammar and class discussion. Blake-Plock argues that Twitter helps
students take an active role in their education along with the fact that it gives them the


chance to question authority and support arguments with proof. Because Twitter is a
social media that students are used to using, I agree with McBride that students may
become so engaged in coursework that they might lose track of time while doing it
(2010).
The third technological tool that I used in my final project is Jing. Richardson
discusses screen-casting as a way to create support materials when teaching complex
skills on the computer. By utilizing software such as Jing, a teacher can create short
narrated videos online to guide students. Jing can be used to save time by letting
students view the Jing before the lesson. In the case of online coursework, one can use
Jing and its videos to take the place of normal instructional time spent in the classroom.
Explaining how to do assignments can be facilitated by Jing software. The Jing videos
help student learn at their own pace because they can re-watch the video as many
times as needed.
Bianco and McCollum (2009) state that you can use Jing to explain assignments
and to use for how to videos. It is perfect for explaining difficult concepts and ideas to
students as students can re-watch the video as many times as needed. I plan to use
the screen-casting tool to record videos that contain more difficult vocabulary or
concepts, in order to scaffold the lesson. By using technology to introduce and break
down higher-level concepts, I am able to expand the students zone of proximal
development (Vygotsky, 1978). Along with working with the students zone of proximal
development, screen-casting may help students engage as Greenfield (2009) claims
that the students like when a lot is going on at once or are more apt to multi-task and
enjoy multi-tasking while viewing technology.


Reflection
When I wrote my prospectus I was planning to use Google sites for my final
project, however, after trying but not succeeding with Google sites, I tried both
Blackboard and Weebly. I ended up using Weebly because I thought it was the better
fit for this type of project, as it enables me to embed links and post to different websites
more easily.
When creating my project, I envisioned being able to use this project in the future
in my classroom, along with that I was a little eager to make my own website. In the
process I added too much stuff on my page and it felt like it was hard to navigate and it
certainly wouldnt have been something others could use easily. I then decided to clean
up my page a little and make it easier to navigate. I originally created all of this work on
my Weebly because its easy to add information and I over-planned the lesson.
Regardless, when it got to the final weeks, I pared down my website quite a bit and it
seemed make my website so much more sleek and user-friendly.
I had set up a bunch of blog pages for students for students to answer different
sections of questions throughout the story, however, after reading Moayeris article and
how blogs were utilized in the two classrooms (Taggerts and Reiners), I decided to
pare down my blog and make it as simple as possible. Consequently, Ive changed my
blog to have fewer spaces and to make it easier for students to post and comment.
I feel that may have wasted time on adding all of this extra stuff that I then just
removed from my website but Im happy with the end result. Its easy to use and has
relevant technology that will help students read and understand their text.




References
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Blake-Plock, Shelly. (2009). Best Practices in a Twitter-enhanced High School
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http://teachpaperless.blogspot.com/2009/05/best-practices- in-twitter-
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Common Core Standards Initiative. (2012). English Language Arts Standards:
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