Carmen Jany

Fall 2006

Certificate in College and University Teaching Portfolio

CV

Websites

• Mixe
  Dictionary
• Ling 101
• Span 2
• Span 3
• German 3

Professional Development at the University of California, Santa Barbara

Course in Instructional Technology and Project (Int 223)

I have always been interested in incorporating technology into the classroom to facilitate learning and to keep pace with our constant modernization. I believe that the internet is an excellent teaching aid where I can make additional materials available for students and for instruction beyond the classroom. More and more, students get used to finding resources online and to access all course materials from their computers rather than going to the library. This can save them a lot time. However, as a teacher I need to consider the possibility that not every student owns a computer and may depend on using a campus lab. Hence, I only use new technology for instruction whenever it is appropriate and useful and make sure that students are comfortable with it.

Given my interest in instructional technology, it was clear to me that I needed to take Int223 to get acquainted with some of the issues related to using technology for pedagogical purposes, to develop computer‑based materials for instruction, and to be able to efficiently incorporate technology into the classroom. I decided to take both parts of the course in order to get the theoretical background, as well as the practical experience by creating my own project. In Int223A we discussed the underlying theories of learning and teaching with new media. I gained knowledge of some of the technological tools that can be used for developing instructional materials. This was extremely helpful as I had never thought about the cognitive principles of learning with media or that technology may inhibit learning rather than assist students if not developed and used in a certain way. At the end of the first quarter we had to design a project in which new technology was used in an effective manner to facilitate learning. At that time I was involved in documenting an endangered Mexican indigenous language and was not sure how to use the knowledge gained in this course for my project. After thinking it through and discussing it with my professors, it became clear that using technology and the internet was an excellent alternative to what I had originally planned. I decided to take the second part of the course to implement my project. Originally, I had intended to create a dictionary on paper for language documentation and preservation. I realized that with the assistance of my professors I could create that same dictionary as an online resource. This makes it immediately accessible to a wide audience and I am able to include sound files to demonstrate pronunciation and pictures to illustrate culture‑specific items. After the second quarter I had the basic elements of my online dictionary in place and am now in a position where I can expand this project. The online dictionary can currently be accessed here.

While I was taking Int223 I started to teach a linguistics class as a teaching associate. I decided to put my newly acquired knowledge immediately to use and created a class website on Moodle, a course management site operated by Instructional Development. Having this site I was able to point my students to pertinent online resources, to make additional materials available to them, and to include optional practice assignments, without flooding them with handouts. At the end of the course, the students expressed that they really liked having the class website, and many of them used it frequently. Overall, I am very glad that I took Int223. It helped and encouraged me to use new technology for educational purposes and it contributed significantly to my professional growth as a teacher and researcher.