Spanish Podcasts for Beginners

I searched for a while on the web and found a few sites that had many spanish language podcasts like podbean.com and learnoutloud.com. In both of these I found a series of podcasts called "Spanish Podcasts for Beginners." As I explored the various podcasts, they start by introducing a topic and a few vocabulary words and phrases that are then used in a conversation between two individuals using diverse situations. I liked the fact that they coach you into practicing the pronunciation of the words and then have you listen to the dialogue. I think this can be easily added into my teaching by listening to these dialogues in class. These would serve as models of conversations by native speakers of a different dialect than mine. It would expose students to the dialect and also serve as a means for listening comprehension excercises. This would give them broader exposure to the diverse dialects and accents of Spanish speakers. Students could also listen to these at home and practice their speaking more. I would have to sit down and find the podcasts that match the topic I am teaching because the titles are by lessons, not specific topics, but it would still be worthwhile. I listened to lesson 2 (4 minutes) and was able to pair this up with my travel unit. I plan on using it when I get to this topic because it is good practice for the speaking task of the final exam in June. The more exposure they have to various topics and conversations, the better prepared they will be because it will be a "natural" setting for them.

Global cooperation project with TalkShoe

In the last module I explored TalkShoe which is an internet community where you can join, listen or create discussions on-line where others would join in by your choice of topic. TalkShoe can be used in a global cooperation project where you post a specific topic and have others from around the world join your discussion via the internet or landline. The only difficulty might be getting enough people from around the world to join in and speak understandably in the same language. In my case, I would want for my conversation to be conducted in beginner-level Spanish, to involve my students, and it might be difficult to get beginner-level Spanish speakers with global cooperation where you can have diverse dialects and fluency of the Spanish language. Using a class and classroom oriented website may benefit more since you can easily find a "perfect" match for your classroom students.

GlobalSchoolNet.org and ePals

I chose to compare GlobalSchoolNet.org and ePals. When I went to GlobalSchoolNet.org It interested me because it had an inviting mission statement "to support 21st century learning." That in itself was eye-catching and interested me to read and explore more. I really like the various services they provide: collaborative teaching methods and stategies that can be shared, inservices they provide. I really think their services are attainable and profitable not for just teachers but for education as a whole with their consulting services and presentations they provide. I think they have a reputable and respectable status in education since they have been around since the 1980's. They started out with 2 collaborating teachers and have been able to expand to a world-wide audience and collaboration through the use of technology. This respect and honor is noticeable through the many awards they have received. As far as their services, they offer, there are too many to mention but the one that interested me the most was their "Project Registry" where you can post or look for projects for your class with members across the globe. I like that it is sectioned off according to date, age level, geographic location, collaboration type, technology tools or keyword. It is very easy to just pick out what is most important for your project and purposes and then browse through and begin to collaborate with others and begin your project. I think this could be really useful for finding other Spanish classes of native-speakers of Spanish to pair off with and communicate in real-life situations versus the plain, old and boring situated speaking that could be uninteresting to this era and generation of students.
ePals I also found is just as reputable and respectable through the various awards and testimonials that were posted on their website. I found it was very easy and safe to use. I like the fact that you as a teacher, along with any other administrators, can monitor the emails, posts and conversations. You can choose language to "ban" from being used and as a consequence you can suspend an account or change their names and/or passwords. I really like the added security for the classroom match, school mail and school blog. I looked through the variety of projects they also had available and I really liked the "The way we are" project I think this could be very useful in having students understand the target culture. I am going to explore and try to set this up with atleast one of my classes. I think it could be very useful in getting students to understand the many similarities there are as human beings and the different perspectives we have due to our geographic areas and values.
Overall, I would recommend both of these global collaboration sites I really think they are both useful and beneficial. It's really up to your personal preference which you choose.