Jan
28
Facebook as an Educational Tool: Integrating Learning In and Out of the Spanish Classroom
The Facebook group "Español Cursos Internacionales. Lengua Intermedio 3-4" was created to serve as a platform for students to complete different assignments for their summer language course, as well as to promote interaction and cooperation between classmates and between students from a different section.
The teachers, who acted as group administrators and facilitators, prompted the students to join the private group using their Facebook accounts. The first task consisted of writing a personal introduction and several greeting messages to other students. The subsequent activities included practice for the vocabulary and grammar points that were being covered in the face-to-face class: weather expressions, food, likes and dislikes, commands and giving directions, future tense, family members, etc. For each topic, the students needed to write at least a few sentences in Spanish, and, in some instances, a paragraph or two. The final assignment was a reflection on their time in Salamanca, using the past tenses.
Most texts submitted to the Facebook group were graded for completion in the homework and participation category. On the day that the homework was due, in the classroom, the responses were read out loud, and the group as a whole spent a few minutes looking at each other's comments and peer-reviewing the language in them. For the longer compositions, the teacher assigned a numerical grade and gave more extensive feedback.
Target language
Spanish
Level (CEFR/ACTFL)
Beginner (A)
Beginning date
03 / 07 / 2017
End date
27 / 07 / 2017
Created by
Cursos Internacionales de la Universidad de Salamanca (ES)
Implemented at
Cursos Internacionales de la Universidad de Salamanca (ES)
Audience
- Higher Education
- Lifelong Learning
- Other
Educational technologies and tools
- Social networks [Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Flickr, YouTube, Tumblr, Instagram, Google+, etc.]
- Devices [computer, laptops, smartphones, tablets, TVs, video consoles, interactive electronic blackboards, etc.]
- Asynchronous and synchronous computer-mediated communication [videoconference, Hangouts, Skype, email, forums, social networks, etc.]
Teaching methods
- Face-to-face learning/blended learning/online learning
- Autonomous learning
- Collaborative learning
Contact information
Paloma Fernández Mira, MA
Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
Appalachian State University
mirapf@appstate.edu
+1 828 719 7025
Clara Téllez Pérez, MA
Department of Romanic Languages
University of South Bohemia
ctellezperez2@gmail.com
+34 661 01 61 57
How to cite this best practice?
Fernández Mira, Paloma; Téllez Pérez, Clara. (2017). "Facebook as an Educational Tool: Integrating Learning In and Out of the Spanish Classroom". Online: https://foco.usal.es/en/fichas/facebook-as-an-educational-tool-integrating-learning-in-and-out-of-the-spanish-classroom/. Repositorio FOCO [23-04-2024].