DUBOIS – Penn State DuBois Spanish Professor Deborah Gill has just returned from a conference where her workshop on progressive educational strategies reached a national audience. Gill spoke at the annual conference of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP), which was held this year in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Gill, who has an unending interest in cutting-edge teaching tactics, spoke about the benefits of using high-tech resources in teaching language. Her three hour workshop was titled Podcasting and Video Blogging in the Language Classroom.
“In the workshop, I discussed the creation and use of podcasts and video blogging in basic language courses to reinforce all five language skills and how these technologies can be seamlessly intertwined into a language curriculum,” Gill said, noting that she required the participants to create their own podcast or video blogs so that they could see their value first-hand.
In a world where technology is rapidly becoming a part of almost everything we do, Gill said these technological teaching strategies are a must. They also fit the mission of the AATSP, which, according to their website is to “promote the study and teaching of Hispanic, Luso-Brazilian, and other related languages, literatures, and cultures at all educational levels. Through an exchange of pedagogical and scholarly information, the AATSP encourages heritage and second-language study and supports projects to that end.
Our mission includes collaboration with business, industry, governmental agencies, and other organizations and individuals for the purpose of enhancing public awareness of the importance of Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian languages and cultures. In line with that mission, we have been active leaders in the development of national standards for the learning of Spanish and Portuguese and are working closely with state education. departments and university departments to support the adoption of these K-16 standards.”