Málfríður - 15.03.2012, Page 29

Pilar Concheiro Coello is an
expert in the field of Spanish as a
foreign language. She has worked
for the Spanish Ministry of Edu-
cation in collaboration with the
University of Santiago de Com-
postela and Instituto Cervantes
in their teacher training courses.
Currently, she works at the Uni-
versity of Iceland, where she
teaches B.A and M.A programs,
including the Master in learn-
ing and Teaching of Spanish in Multilingual Contexts
(MULTIELE). She is also a teacher at Kvennaskólinn
í Reykjavík and at Keilir, where she has developed a
special course in Spanish for cabin crews. Her main
field of interest and research, where she has published
several articles, is the application of new technologies
and their influence on the learning process.
Introduction: a new educational approach.
“High. schools. are. obsolete .. By. obsolete,. I. mean.
that.our.high.schools.–.even.when.they’re.working.
exactly. as. designed. –. cannot. teach. our. kids. what.
they.need.to.know.today. .. .. ..Training.the.workforce.
of.tomorrow.with.the.high.schools.of.today.is.like.
trying. to. teach.kids.about. today‘s.computers.on.a.
50-year-old. mainframe .. It‘s. the. wrong. tool. for. the.
times .. Our. high. schools. were. designed. fifty. years.
ago. to. meet. the. needs. of. another. age .. Until. we.
design.them.to.meet.the.needs.of.the.21st.century,.
we. will. keep. limiting. the. lives. of. millions. of. stu-
dents.every.year .”
.................................Gates,.B ..(2005)
The. Internet. and. Web. 2 .0. have. been. a. social. change.
in.the.world.of.communications . Our.way.of.relating.
with.other.people,.to.seek.and.obtain.information.and.
even. to. learn. has. changed. and. is. conditioned. by. the.
use.of.new.technologies . .
The.study.and.practice.of.a.language.involves.inter-
action.and.communication .  If.students.use.social.net-
works. and. other. technologies. for. this. purpose,. their.
incorporation. into. the.educational.context.as.didactic.
tools.can.have.positive.implications,.in.terms.of.the.atti-
tude.of.learners.towards.the.learning.materials.used.in.
class,.and.positively.influence.the.process.of learning ..
What.primarily.characterizes.the.Web.2 .0.applications.
is. that. they. facilitate. information. sharing,. interac-
tion. and. collaboration. among. its. users,. concepts. that.
fit. perfectly. into. a. socio-constructivist. approach .  Its.
application. to. language. teaching. provides. teachers.
with.new.possibilities. for.designing.materials,.but. . it.
is. necessary. to. implement. a. methodology. in. accord-
ance.with.these.new.tools . The.fact.of.using.them.in.an.
educational.environment.implies.a.change.in.the.peda-
gogical. perspective. of. teachers. and. students:. a. more.
student. centered. approach,. where. the. teacher. serves.
as. a. guide. during. the. learning. process,. not. the. only.
source.of.input,.providing.the.students.with.necessary.
tools. for. their. learning. process .. We. must. not. forget.
to. mention. the. Informal Learning. described. by. Cross.
(2007:16). as. “the. unofficial,. unscheduled,. impromptu.
way.people.learn”.and.the.Connectivism Theory which.
states.that.knowledge.is.acquired.through.connections.
established. in. a. net. where. individuals,. information.
and.institutions.are.involved .
2. Woices
2.1. The application
1Woices is a.simple,. free.online.application.created by.
Xavier.Guardiola . It.enhances. the.ability.to.create audi-
oguides.and virtual.paths . It.is .an.application.that com-
bines.the.possibilities of.podcasting with an.item such.
as. ”Google  Maps“. along. with  more. options. like.
including. text.descriptions, pictures. that. significantly.
illustrate  the. description. and  the. resulting. audio. file ..
The. purpose. of  Woices  is. to. provide  a. serv-
ice  where. people  can. record. and  share. sto-
ries  and. information. about. a. specific. location ..
With. Woices  you.can.create, share.and hear.“echoes”,.
audio.recordings.that.are.linked to.a.geographic.loca-
tion that you.want.to.share ..They.can be.about history,.
art,.curiosities related.to.a. .place, personal.memories,.
advice and.opinions . 
Woices in the language class
Pilar Concheiro Coello.
MÁLFRÍÐUR 29