Susan Yoder-Kreger
Teaching Professor of Spanish
Department of Anthropology, Sociology, and Languages
University of Missouri – St. Louis
MailVU.com
Skype
glogster
Voice Board
VoiceThread
Blackboard IM
Blackboard Collaborate
ETC.
Preparation
Voice Board:
VoiceThread: Example
Discussion Board:
What can students do with language
in real-world situations
in a spontaneous and
non-rehearsed context.
BlackBoard Collaborate:
EXAMPLE
VOICE BOARD:
Using the information from the interview, tell me
about your partner. Include as much information
as you can using only the expressions and
vocabulary we have learned so far.
Introductions
VoiceThread
Spanish 2
Spanish 3
Pros and cons
La familia de Amanda
La niñez
¡Qué desastre!
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They are interesting. I have never before seen
them and in a way help me to feel more
connected to the class as a whole.
I love the VT presentations. It's as close as this
course comes to actually learning in a
classroom, and it really helps to fill in the
blanks on some of the tougher
concepts. Additionally, I think the VT website
is easier to navigate and use than some of our
other tools. It would be great to have more
material presented/worked through on VT!

I like the voicethread presentations. The
voicethread site allows you to add many
different kinds of media to the voicethread. I
like the doodling option, which makes it easier
to highlight exactly what you are presenting in
each slide.
Tools: Skype + Jing
¿Cómo es la familia?
Tools: Blackboard Collaborate
¿Qué te gusta comer?
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
Now that I understand how to use it properly, I think the
collaborate conversations are a good way to practice the
material in an actual conversation. This practice helps us to
speak the language more effectively and highlights where
we have gaps in our knowledge regarding our
conversational skills.
I understand that conversational skills are important, and
that video chats offer the best way to gauge them in a truly
online course. I honestly don't have a better solution. With
that said...
I've often sat waiting while my partner is late coming online or
getting ready for the conversation. On one occasion they didn't get
online at all, so I missed out on an evening with friends and
received a 0 on the assignment.
 As I said before, I know conversation is a necessary aspect of a
language class... It's just frustrating to have my grades be
dependent on the reliability and punctuality of others!

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SPANISH 1: EXAMPLE
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SPANISH 3: EXAMPLE