This year, STA Spanish teacher Julia Gargallo had the option of buying either traditional paper textbooks or electronic books for her Spanish III class and decided to try something new.  Now, with the netbooks, the class can read and complete activities from the online book in or outside of class.

‘We couldn’t have done [the online class] without the netbooks,’ Gargallo said.  ‘They give us access in class to the book. And I’m not a technologic kind of person, but I want to try.’

Some of the online resources available to the class include the online textbook, the homework practice book and tutorials, as well as CDs with soap operas and cultural movies.  One new feature is the pronunciation guide, which allows students to listen to words as they learn them.

[simage=55,max,y,center,]’At home, [students] can play the words and hear how to pronounce them correct[ly] ,’ Gargallo said. ‘In the paper book, they only read them. But here they can read it and at the same time, be listening.’

In addition to the pronunciation guide, junior Alex Mediavilla also likes the convenience of the online dictionary because it allows her to quickly find the definitions of any words she doesn’t know.  However, slow loading time also makes activities more difficult.

‘It’s difficult sometimes because the pages take a while to load,’ Mediavilla said.  ‘If you want to look at a vocabulary list that’s on a separate page while you’re doing an activity, it only shows one page at a time. Then it’s difficult to look at two pages at a time because you just have to keep going back and forth.’

Unlike Mediavilla, junior Hannah Hitt finds it easier to complete activities online than in the paper book.

‘[The online activities] instantly tell you whether or not you got them right,’ Hitt said.  ‘They give you more time to find out what the right answers are and correct your mistakes. It makes [Gargallo’s] job easier and my job easier too because we can learn more and waste less class time.’

As for problems with the internet, Gargallo is working to ensure that students can still study without the online book. Students must now make summaries of each chapter and take notes on grammar points. Not only does this add extra points to their grades, but it gives students a way to study in case of failed internet connection.

[sthumbs=33|32|53,200,3,n,center,]’One thing that I worry is that the students don’t take as many notes as they used to,’ Gargallo said. ‘The only access they have to the textbooks is the internet. If the internet is not working, they cannot study for the test [without] good notes.’

Although some Spanish III students have complained to Gargallo about transitioning from print sources to the web, Gargallo believes they are improving everyday. Currently, she is looking at a resource that would allow students to chat in Spanish.

‘Even though we have some problems, [online] is the way to go,’ Gargallo said. ‘I think with practice, we will be able to solve everything. We just need practice and to have a positive attitude.’