Teaching with Technology Philosophy Statement

I have posted my second Mini Project as a Google Document. If you want to read some of my teaching philosophy, please click HERE.

Some conclusions on Intercultural Communication

There is no doubt that intercultural communication can put many challenges, but I think that in the FL education this activity can be used to enhance the learning process like no other. As we leared from the readings last week, bringing awareness on the "other's" culture and on your own, and negotiating a "third place" with yourself to adapt and enrich your cultural perspective, are proof that this type of communication offers a dimension in language learning that no textbook can offer.
Reading the many research on what makes interc. comm. a challenge, I realized that expectation and motivation are two factors that can arise tensions between the two sides, as well as personal goals, cultural stereotypes etc. Nevertheless, I think that the kind of involvement that students at any level would get from inter. comm. is extremely valuable, and as close as possible to full foreing language immersion (in fact, this kind of activity could work as the perfect introduction to the idea of studying abroad).
These are a few conclusions derived from the readings to make the inter. comm. project work better:
1. Make a clear and objective presentation of the goals of the project.
2. It would be very good to survey the students expectations on the project beforehand and based on that, work together on a solid commitment.
3. Study and explain the other culture carefully, focusing on the most obvious differences such as politeness, diplomacy, social values, religion, etc.
4. Practice seeing your reality with a different perspective. For example, a debate on religion diversity and the difference between "accepting" the other and "tolerate" the other.
5. Learn as much as possible about the persons on the other side, and explain the benefits of intercultural collaboration.

Some comments on FL and video

The possibilities of video technology in a FL class are endless. I still remember when I was learning English as a child that short videos is all we had in many classes. My teacher would show us “real life” situations with native speakers and then there were repetition exercises. Some times we would also try to transcribe the whole dialogue or fill in the blanks. Video technology today offers a lot more than this. Creating, editing and sharing videos have become very easy processes, and especially young people do it mostly for fun.

I think that some of the challenges for using this kind of technology in FL education are:

1) To design an activity that gives the chance to everyone in the class to interact simultaneously.

2) To gauge the language level of the videos according to the level of the students.

3) The understanding and use of certain video technologies can be a challenge for some students.

4) For the instructors: evaluating a video activity that requires no writing.

Here are some of my ideas for video projects in a FL class:

1) Mini videos in the TL with instructions for an arts and craft or cooking or painting projects.

2) Periodical interactions with native speakers using webcams.

3) A “jigsaw-like” video editing game on which the students need to organize the sequences to create a logic situation.

4) A semester-long video project on which all students collaborate by turns to create a story in Spanish simulating reality or, why not…science fiction!

Mini-Project # 1

I'm glad to present my CMC Mini-Project#1 proposal.
All comments and/or suggestions are very welcome.
I had fun creating this project, and I hope you find it at least interesting if not 100% feasible.
Please click here to access the document.
Can't wait to read yours!
Javier