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If you are interested in another language Online course, have a read of lgroves Weblog as she is completing the BBC’s Italian Online Course.

You can have a read of lgroves Weblog to see if the course is for you.

Through the completion of this Unit (my last) of Spanish Steps, I have learnt quite a lot of the Spanish language to enable me to shop for essentials around Madrid. An example of what I learnt is “Hay un supermercado por aqui?” – which means “Is there a supermarket round here?”

This online course effectively uses different kinds of techniques to teach people with different learning orientations. Sound files are used for people who have an Aural learning orientation. Games and activities are also used in this course to teach people who are kinesthetically oriented in their learning. For people like myself who have a read/write learning orientation, transcripts and activities that involve reading and writing are also used. And for people who are visually inclined with their learning, they can learn through the various slides used as well as the video files contained in the Website.

Therefore, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time learning Spanish through Spanish Steps. My only regret is that I don’t have enough time to delve into all of the content due to my other University commitments. However, I am glad to say that I highly recommend this course someone who is about to go to Spain for a holiday.

Today, I completed two more Elements of Spanish Steps in the “Shopping” Unit. These first two Units involved learning about numbers, bargaining and other topics that would help you to shop in Madrid.

One thing that I noticed today from completing these first two Elements was the fact that the first two elements of each Unit are of the same difficulty level. This means that a Learner can complete any Unit of the Spanish Steps in any order.

I have also noticed that the Spanish words and phrases that I have learnt through this course is starting to stick in my brain (evidence of how effective this course is). While I was walking to class today, random Spanish words and their meanings randomly ’popped’ into my head. This has probably been the result of having slides, activities, games and transcripts being repeatedly used for teaching the content, allowing what has been taught to stick into my head through repetition in various forms.

I have also found another way to enhance my learning. In my last post, I said that the different activities following the original scenario presented in each Element provided the learner with too many new words to learn. However, I have found that if I wrote down these new words and their translations from these activities, my learning would incorporate these new words – enhancing my learning experience. Through this, I have also proven that my preferred learning style is really read/write.

This second Unit of Spanish Steps teaches the learner how to order a meal at a restaurant, order breakfast at a cafe and how to introduce themselves to people.

What I have noticed from completing two Units of Spanish Steps is that the nature of all of the activities in all of the Units in this course are similar in nature. I find this particularly helpful as it provides a structure for the content that can be easily followed. It also allows learners to guess what the next activitiy is and what may be involved.

As my assignment requires me to complete six to eight hours of an online course, I have decided to complete half of the Spanish Steps course, as it will take more than six hours to complete all of it. From completing the first two Units, I have calculated that it takes me an average of two hours to complete each Unit. As Spanish steps has six Units, it will take me six hours to complete 3 Units.

As I continued with the Spanish Steps course today, I have noticed that the degree of difficulty of the course has increased.

I have noticed that as you progress through the Elements and Units, the course assumes that you now have knowledge that has been taught from the previous Units. This is especially the case with Grammar. In the first few Elements, the course introduces the Learner to simple grammar such as ‘un’ and ‘una’. As the learner progresses through the course, learners are taught about the different applications of ‘el’ and ‘la’ as well as the plurals of ‘los’, ‘las’, ‘unas’ and ‘unos’.

As I progress through this course, I continue to discover learning techniques that are helpful for my favoured learning orientation of read/write. Examples include printing transcripts out and repeating the words with my mouth, writing the English translations to every Spanish phrase and reviewing transcripts before every new lesson I take.

However, I have also had problems with the activities in this course. This is no more evident in Activities 2,3 and 4 in each element, when they introduce new words. I find it quite overwhelming when new words are introduced into these activities, as it was quite a task to learn the new words and phrases that were taught in the opening scenario of each Element. Another affect that I noticed when introduced to new words in these activities was the lack of motivation that I experienced. This comes from completing the activities incorrectly because they are based on the new words taught in the activities, rather than the words that were taught in the original scenario’s of the Elements.

Here is where I like to take the opportunity to thank James Farmer for developing Edublogs. As a University Student who is studying Human Resource Development, I find this tool especially useful in helping student’s metacognition – helping them to learn how to learn by providing a platform for reflection. Like the what the Australian article says, Edublogs helps students like myself to share information and sources that may be helpful in completing our assignments.

I especially like the fact that edublogs uses WordPress so that people like me who don’t know how to design web pages, or use Flash or HTML, can still publish they work on the Web.

I continued on today with the completion of “Finding Your Feet“, the first Unit of the Spanish Steps Course.

Completing the Unit involved completing 4 elements that had around 4 activities. Throughout these activities, Learners can learn visually through the use of Slides, kinesthetically through a wide range of games and activities and verbally by hearing the Sound files – aiding in the correct pronunciation of Spanish Words. Learners who are write/read oriented (like myself) can also take advantage of the learning experience on this site, as they can learn by printing out transcripts, as well as having every word displayed on screen.

Through the completion of this Unit today, I have not only learnt to aid my learning by printing out the transcripts and writing the English translations next to them, but also by writing as many notes in regards to the correct pronunciation.

At the end of each Unit, there is also an interesting challenge. The challenge for this Unit involved the learner being called “Jamie Blond”, a Secret Agent that needs to travel around Madrid. This challenge requires the Learner to regurgitate the content of the Unit, and use what was learnt to complete the stage.

My first experience of Spanish Steps course has been very good. I feel like I have learnt quite a lot.

I have learnt the basics of taking a taxi ride and checking into a hotel in Spanish. These were only two elements out of the five making up a unit. This Spanish Step course has around about six units. I may or may not complete all six units because of my busy schedule of completing other University Assignments.

My Learning technique for each element is to print out a transcript of the slides, watch the slides and repeat them with my mouth to get the correct pronounciation. Then I would write down the English equivalent to the Spanish words on my printed Transcript. I would then repeatthe Spanish words and then watch replays of the Slides. Afterwards, I would complete the first activity of re-arranging the conversation, matching the Spanish words to the correct slide.

Afterwards, I would complete the second activity of guessing what some Spanish words meant. These words were loosely connected to the scenario of the slides. The third activity stretched the Learners ability to adapt to new information as it encourages to apply what has been learnt to new Scenario’s. Through these Scenario’s in this activity, new words, grammar formations and phrases are also taught.

Finally in the last activity, the Learner then needs to be involved in a similar scenario to the original elemental slides by typing out the correct responses to the scenario.

A really helpful aid in these elements, is the fact that replays of the slides, with written and sounded words are shown after every activity. The repetition enables rote learning and further reinforces what has been learnt.

Today will be the day that I commence my Spanish Steps Online Course. After reading the Online User Guide, I have a far better idea of what is involved in the course.

Firstly, Spanish Steps is a step-by step online tutorial teaching beginners phrases that would hopefully get them around Madrid. Most of the course uses a slideshow layout, which displays as well as sounds out key Spanish phrases.

There is also a notable feature of being able to print out transcripts. As my Learning Style Preference is Read/write, I will probably find this feature very useful in aiding me to learn the basics of Spanish.

Afterwards, there are a few activities that the Learner can complete to further reinforce their learning. The activities involve re-arranging conversations with each slide, guessing the meaning of Spanish words, listening to words and grammar related to the unit and many other activities. You can also play an online game at the end of each unit which challenges you to use the Spanish that you learnt from the course unit.

Found a pretty interesting weblog post by a Lost in Space about e-Learning, Learner Readiness.

Lost in Space argues that an important part of determining Learner Readiness for Learning Programs is to match the appropriate mediums for learning to an organisations working environment. This is so that the Learning experience of employees in an organisation can be as effective as possible.