WebQuest

Introduction

In the United States today Spanish is the second most spoken language aside from English. Most of the United States' immigrants are primarily from Spanish speaking countries. Look around at the world around you; many of the daily products you use have Spanish labels alongside the traditional English. Experts predict that one day the United States will be a bilingual nation. As a progressive nation this is a fact that we cannot ignore. With all of these immigrants coming to the US and finding jobs, participating in society, and living in our homes, it is crucial that we should have some basic understanding and communication skills of their language.

This WebQuest is designed for you to further explore Spanish culture and language. You and a partner will construct a basic menu of traditional hispanic cuisine based on the country of your choice. You and your partner will then record a dialogue in the instance that one of you is the waiter/waitress while the other is the customer.

Task

You will research foods along with food customs of Spanish speaking countries on the internet. Remember that you and your partner can choose whichever Spanish speaking country you would like. After the research is completed you and your partner will then:

• Include at least five authentic dishes of the country you picked.
• Include a short description of the menu items you have selected. Pictures would be nice too!
• Include prices of the items in the currency of the country you have selected.
• Have a name for the restaurant, pictures, other side items, etc. Be creative!

The second part entails a short dialogue with you and your partner. Construct a dialogue based on the scenario that you and your partner are at the restaurant you have created. One of you will be the waiter/waitress while the other will be the customer. The dialogue should consist of:

• Greeting
• Order placement
• Bill/Payment of meal

The dialogue is to be recorded on one of your cell phones. Once the dialogue is recorded on your cell phone you and your partner are to each create an account on Utterli.com. After the account is created, upload your dialogue. Once the dialogue is uploaded send the link to my e-mail.

The menu can be created in whatever medium you and your partner choose. Typed or handwritten menus with both be accepted. Use this opportunity to showcase you and your partners creativity.

WebLog 5

One idea I came up with to show how technology relates to progress and relates to human history is if Plato or Aristotle had a blog. This would agree then to what Roland Barthes informs us "that the narratives of the world are infinite and never restricted by medium, whether it be textual, visual, or audio information on the Internet or drawings on the walls of a cave....these narratives are transhistorical." He seems to propose that it is the story we want to remember and that technology just aids that story.

If, let's say, Aristotle had a blog back in 322 BCE we would not be so limited as to what we know about his philosophical ideas today. What we have today from Aristotle comes from memory of his works, not the actual words of the author himself. What if there were more to be known about his works? Let's say that technology such as blogs were available at that time, our beings now would be richer in intelligence. Technology does not hinder the intellectual but rather aids in the intellectual's ability to spread their knowledge. Books written with a typewriter, scrolls written with quills are all means of technology used for expression.

In some instances, these intellectuals build things as mean of expression. According to David E. Nye's article, "Can We Define 'Technology'", says that "technology" was not even a used word when Abraham Lincoln was president. Technology was referred to a form of art. Sculptors such as Michaelangelo's "David", are admired as a form of art displaying beauty. People such as Alexander Graham Bell who created the first telephone should also be regarded as creating a work of art. The only difference is that Bell's design has function or purpose rather than just beauty. Both individuals each created an object from thought alone they just served different purposes.

Another idea that came us in the Nye article was that you cannot "unlearn" the technology that we already know. We cannot go back into time and prevent the invention of electricity and cars. First of all, it would completely change the way we live today. We would have no car to drive to work, no cell phone to call our relatives; our lives would be topsy-turvied because of our reliance on technology. If we were to "unlearn" technology of today, are we posing to just forget about it completely and just keep all technologies the way they are now? It's preposterous and absurd. We need constant care or in a sense technology to keep up with what technologies we have now. If we were to abandon these technologies buildings would crumble, more trees would be cut down, and everything that we are so used to would eventually disintegrate. Once again we would use pen and paper to write; horses and carriage as means of transportation. It seems as we would be going against all of our intelligence as humans going back to these prehistoric methods. What intelligence would we as humans be able to demonstrate if there was no one to push the boundaries. Eventually, after a long period of time, history would repeat itself. Somebody would have the idea to fly or invent a car. Disregarding all of this technology we have today would be as they say a way of "reinventing the wheel".

WebLog 4

The first Web 2.0 app I found to use is called Zotero. It is a way to successfully use online resources. Zotero cites the web sources you use and has its own interface so you can file all of the pages you have visited. It saves pdf files as well so that you can take notes on the reading and highlight important information and quotes. The beauty of it is that it will cite the source for you whether it be APA or MLA citations.

The second Web 2.0 app I found is WiZiQ. This app allows for a teacher to student based form of communication. With WiZiQ the teacher can schedule private online classes with your students. You can also schedule public online classes that other teachers and learners can see. All the classes that are given are automatically recorded to that they can be accessed again by students. The virtual classroom is my favorite part. With WiZiQ's virtual classroom you can communicate with your students by audio, video, or text chat. You can also share documents, powerpoints, and whiteboards.

The third Web 2.0 app I found is Quizlet. It is an online way to make flash cards and to have students quiz themselves. The computer will all do it for each student automatically.

The fourth Web 2.0 app that I will use is Engrade. It can be accesses by students and teachers and is a way for teachers to record the grades of their classroom and then for the students to see what their grades are.

The fifth Web 2.0 app I found is wiggio. Wiggio is a way to keep the class organized. It allows you to keep a shared calendar of a group and will also send important reminders via text message to the members of the group.

http://spuddy.pbworks.com/

WebLog 3

I chose option B and chose to interview students.

The first student I interviewed said that the ideal course website should include an interactive syllabus. He said that it should contain online resources that would be beneficial to visit in the class and then leave space for power-points and such.

The second person I interviewed stated that she didn't like online based course sites because she believed it to complicate the process to much. When I asked her to elaborate she said she prefers to have something tangible in front of her. She also said that she likes when a teacher hands her things and then explains them.

The last person I interviewed said that his perfect course website was one that enabled him to easily communicate with other students in his class. It would be ideal to have a site where students could discuss what was taught in class and would help him focus on what he learned. the last thing he mentioned was that by seeing what everyone thought about what they learned in class it would be much easier for him to master the material.

Web 2.0 Applications

One of the most helpful that I have available at my fingertips is the John Carroll e-mail.  It provides all students and faculty with an @jcu.edu address which makes it easy to get ahold of teachers and other students in your class.  It saves a lot of time because you don't have to physically walk to the professor's office to ask a question.  It is also beneficial to have e-mail to send teachers and other students your assignments.  Whenever I am working on homework sudden questions pop up.  It's nice to have an easy form of communication such as e-mail to ask these questions and they usually guarantee a fast response.  

As I was looking through the Web 2.0 applications I found one that would also be beneficial to my learning.   It is the Zoho Notebook beta or Ubidesk and are similar to what we know as Blackboard.  With Zoho and Ubidesk you can share many different files with other people in the network.  You can have video, audio, word, internet files that you can post and receive feedback on.  This is nice when you have big papers and projects due to allow other people to view your work before you submit it.  I know that when I am working on a huge paper and keep re-reading it over and over there are little things I miss such as spelling or wording that I miss.  So if you have someone proofread something for you they can usually see the little things better than you can.  With this tool it is also a way for the teacher and the students to communicate on a whole and it is convenient. 

The Linktive application is also another great one to use.  It's a application that lets you compose a bunch of links that you recommend.  This would be a good tool for the professor to have so he/she could compose a list of websites that go along with the class.  It is also a nice way to let the professor display the internet sites he/she does approve of when doing research papers.  I know there are a lot of professors that approve and disapprove of different internet sources.  

I stumbled upon another interesting Web 2.0 application called Slatebox.  It is a way for you to build graphs and charts to get your ideas to show.  I watched a few YouTube videos on how it works and for me to successfully put out good work, I definitely need to see it in front of me.  

Hey There!!!!

1. My name is Natasha R. and I am from a small town by Lake Erie called Geneva. It's small and nothing much ever happens there but it's home to me! It's not really the place that matters it's always the company.

3. When I graduate (hopefully sometime soon) I plan on teaching middle school history. I have always been fascinated with times before our own.

4. Whenever I get asked if I have any hobbies, I always sit there and think, "well shucks, what do I do in my free time?" I guess my hobbies would be hanging out with some of the most fabulous people, reading books (I always read the last page first), watching movies, my dogs.

I actually had a very awesome travel experience this summer. I went to Europe for a few weeks in August and traveled all around. I saw some great sights & the food was to die for. I went to Venice, Paris, Ljubljana, Munich, Zagreb & Amsterdam. Amsterdam was definately my favorite place. There were people walking everywhere, people sitting in quaint little cafes sipping coffee & I went to the Van Gogh Museum! It was nice to see the other side but I was glad to come home. It's funny how you come to miss things.

5. I really can't answer this question directly. I don't mind taking intellectual risks because I usually just say what is on my mind, and if I end up being wrong it's no biggie.

6. Me as student is a bit disorganized and flighty! I try to get everything together but always end up losing something and misplacing things. I don't mind participating in class. I actually think the more I engage in class discussions the better of I am.

7. I am a very visual learner. Anything with pictures & colors I find appealing.

8. I would have to say the most important invention in history would be the telephone. It's so nice to dial a number and catch up with an old friend. Although it would be cool if we still had telegrams and people still wrote love letters.

9. cell phone *
car
television (but I don't watch cable) *

10. My typical day consists of coffee, plain dealer (not online) class. Usually sitting on the computer for endless hours then eating.

11. I don't really think that there are any technologies teachers use that are inappropriate. Although watching those cheesy 70s videos in class were never fun. I liked School House Rock though and that was on television. I would always sing it in my head over and over again, so hey it worked right?

12. I think we need to DO hands-on activities because they hold interest.  I think we need to STUDY new technology and programs that go along with it.  I think we need to BE question askers and should not be afraid to ask questions or be afraid to think our questions are stupid.  I think we should AVOID just talking and lecturing and actually see some stuff.

13. Question #1- What knowledge should we expect to have when this course is over? 

      Question #2- What are the tests like??