One doesn t read on-line materials the same way one reads books, Prof. L pez stresses. The process is more immediate and more interactive. Vocabulary, reading comprehension, and review are available at a mouse-click. A student can also click to related Internet sites to learn more about the artists and their work. The reach Professor Sylvia L pez has incorporated technology into teaching Spanish, Hispanic literature, and culture.
Students work with interactive infromation that includes images, vocabulary, and music.
Working on computers at various sites on campus, including the MLL s recently renovated language resource center, her students produced digital works that included a short story or poem, a brief biographical piece on the author of the piece, a historical context, a glossary, questions on the literary piece, and a bibliography. In addition to conducting traditional library-based research, students surf the Internet for relevant information, both text and images. The multimedia software lets them incorporate appropriate sounds, such as Hispanic music. Students bring their creations on disk to the language resource center, a computer-networked space designed for multimedia learning and presentations, and show their class what is, in the end, an exercise that provides a new way of interacting with a traditional text. There are some wonderful presentations.