Using asynchronous interactive iSpring lectures to support beginner Spanish students

By Dr Emily Chandler, Nikki Hayes and Dr Natalia Ortiz Ceberio
 

biografias

Dr Natalia Ceberio Ortiz tackled 2021 with a revised vision for her lectures. Her instinct was that having first-time Spanish learners in breakout rooms on Zoom would only work if they felt confident in participating. For this reason, she decided asynchronous lectures would be best to help students learn beginner Spanish. By using pre-recorded lectures as an opportunity to prepare, students could take part in tutorials more fully.

Enhancing pre-recorded lectures with interactivity has the potential to increase students’ engagement and confidence. For this reason, Natalia decided to create a suite of new iSpring lectures for Intro Spanish A and B. These lectures draw on the new interactive course textbook, highlighting resources students can find there. The iSprings also have a selective focus to help students learn more deeply. Natalia is currently working with Dr Emily Chandler (PVCESE Educational Delivery Solutions) to bring these new lectures to life.

As part of this ongoing project, Natalia begins by building a lecture presentation in PowerPoint. The lecture intersperses textbook excerpts with Natalia’s audio explanations. For Natalia, it is vital that her personality comes through in the audio narration she records. She leaves jokes, asides and laughter intact in the audio. When Natalia makes the PowerPoint presentation available to Emily through SharePoint, Emily uses iSpring to add interactive multiple choice and short answer quizzes and videos. Emily also ensures that each slide and quiz has a unique title. This helps students navigate the lecture more effectively when they review.

The module is then made available on Moodle for students to undertake in their own time. Students are free to watch lectures at any time before their tutorial. They are invited to post questions or responses to the lecture in an Ask Your Teacher forum on Moodle. This emphasises that the iSpring lectures do not represent a one-way delivery of information. They are the basis for students to undertake active learning and communicate with teachers and classmates.

Using iSpring lectures within Introductory Spanish A and B has benefited students immensely. Course tutors report that students arrive at tutorials more prepared and confident to take part than in previous years. MyExperience results from Intro Spanish A show students overwhelmingly agree that online learning activities in the course were beneficial for their learning. The care taken to ask for student feedback and foreground the lecturer's personality has also helped establish a learning community.

To talk about options for asynchronous and interactive lectures in your course, contact Educational Delivery Solutions using the EDS consultation form.

 
Ceberio

Dr Natalia Ortiz Ceberio is an Education Focussed academic in the School of Humanities and Languages. She teaches all levels of Spanish and Latin American Studies. Her latest research explores the experiences of Spanish female migrant workers to Australia in the mid-20th century.

 

nikki hayes

Nikki Hayes is an Education Solutions Developer in Educational Delivery Solutions, PVCESE. She has extensive teaching and educational developer experience and enjoys helping students and academics achieve their learning and teaching goals through great learning experiences.

 

Dr Emily Chandler

Dr Emily Chandler is an Education Solutions Developer in Educational Delivery Solutions, PVCESE. She holds a PhD in Media, Film and Theatre and is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is passionate about accessibility and equity.