An update on the first for credit Spanish online class launched Fall 2013. SPAN 1001UA

Enrollment – 104 students

Instructor - Danielle Geary (EdD in Online education)

 GT-specific elements included in the curriculum

1. Course partners: students have been partnered for the duration of the semester for 3 reasons:

• It connects them to a real, live classmate in an otherwise computer-based course.
• It fosters a relationship for more authentic conversation practice.
• They help each other to acclimate to the online learning environment and portal.

2. Videos graded by the professor and returned with feedback;

Grades include many iLearn exercises, 2 videos, and 2 exams, which seem to provide a sufficient student work load

3. WebEx Q&A Sessions

4. Asynchronous format with the option to work ahead

5. One main portal for sign-in instead of two

6. Professor’s own videos that provide grammar explanations and student motivation

7. Professor has created a Facebook group whereby members will join without having to “friend” each other, to protect privacy concerns. FB will be used as the class forum!

Student responses/reactions

1.) Self-starters really enjoy working on their own and working ahead and not having to attend lectures, while more “dependent” learners struggle a bit with organizing their time and meeting deadlines on their own (though reminders, encouraging messages, videos and other information are sent almost daily).  Overall, students seem to be happy with the course and with the prompt email replies and constant stream of information to help them along.   

 2.) Students VERY rarely come by the instructors office or connect to WebEx hours.  Instead, they email the instructor.  Email seems to be their preferred mode of communication over all others, including phone calls, Skype, FaceTime, and in-person.