Peer Review

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Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: This site is designed as an electronic workbook for use with !Arriba! ?
Comunicacion y cultura (2001 Prentice Hall) The vocabulary and grammar
corresponds to most basic college elementary texts. The site is a collection of
workbook exercises e.g., fill-in-the blank and short answer items that are text
specific, but can easily be adapted to other first year texts/courses.
This site is driven entirely by the idea of "visual association." Clip-art style
drawings provide the prompts for all activities.
Type of Material:: Drill and Practice
Technical Requirements:: Internet access. There is a note on the home page for Mac users regarding the
downloading of fonts.
Identify Major Learning Goals:: The student will learn vocabulary and grammar structures appropriate to the
first year of Spanish language study.
Target Student Population:: This e-workbook will be used most effectively by students of Spanish at the
first-year level. It would also be a good review tool for learners with more
experience.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: First-year Spanish

Rating:
Strengths:: The site makes good use of visual prompts, with even greater potential in a
teacher-controlled environment. It has a clear, user-friendly interface and easy
navigation. The content covers the full range of first-year materials. It has a
tightly-focused aim which it achieves very well. Every activity offers a link
to a bilingual dictionary, which is quite extensive. The author also provides
links to several exceptional grammar tutorials on the web, e.g., Barbara
Nelson's Spanish Grammar Exercises, Juan Ramon de Arana's Spanish Language
Exercises and Alix Ingber's Grammar Lab Drills. The author is planning
interactive audio exercises corresponding to the written responses. This feature
will enhance the site greatly, by engaging the listening skill.
Concerns:: Although fields are provided for written responses, they are not processed in
any way. Scoring or textual feedback might motivate the online learner to commit
to an answer in anticipation of some assistance or reward.

Correct or suggested responses are easily accessed, which may tempt the student
to click through the answers with little or no challenge to productive skills.
However, in a teacher-controlled setting, with access to answers blocked or
delayed, the impact and, in some cases, polyvalence of the visual prompts could
make them a very versatile tool.

Rating:
Strengths:: The site has great appeal to users of all ages as a tutorial to acquire basic
first-year vocabulary and grammar. The learner is guided in his use of the site
with simple and straightforward instructions, clearly visible on the page.

The site's strength lies in the variety of its practice drills, designed
interactively to engage the student. With the abundance of tasks, the site can
effectively be used either as teacher-directed or as an independent study.

The richness of the visual cues could allow them to be adapted to extended
activities in individual and group settings. Even their infrequent ambiguity
could enable real negotiation for meaning. Rich images benefit the memory in
vocabulary acquisition and also help the user to see the grammar in context. A
complex sentence pattern can be more easily understood with an image conveying a
"story", as is the case in the images on this site.

The explanations of the subjunctive constructions using noun, adverbial or
adjectival clauses make the task easy to complete (see Leccion 10, Segunda
parte). The addition of the audio component will truly facilitate learning with
an interactive and multi-sensory format.
Concerns:: The ease with which the answers can be revealed is a two-edged sword. It is very
good for the serious user who has actually generated his/her own response; for
the less than serious user, the temptation to skip directly to the answer could
subvert the productive process.

Rating:
Strengths:: For each lesson, continuity is provided by the common design elements on each
page. Within each lesson, there are clear and simple instructions for completing
the task. For example, the student reads a question or a command, responds in
writing, and then checks for the answer in a pull-down window. If there is
vocabulary that is not understood, a dictionary (Spanish/English Dictionary) is
provided with links to common vocabulary for each letter of the alphabet.

Navigation to activities is clear and quick. There is a direct link to continue
to the next section of each lesson and to other lessons. The user can also
return to previous lessons, or to the home page without difficulty.

Other Issues and Comments:: Author Gary Aitken's Comments:Your reviewer suggests that the student answers be
processed. The obstacle that I see to this is that many of the visual contexts
are so open-ended that multiple responses can be expected. I also believe that
leaving the student reponses intact allows the users to make direct comparisons
between their answers and my suggested ones. The processed pages that I have
seen do not permit this, since the 'submit' feature replaces an incorrect
student response with a correct one. Furthermore, my use of pull-down menus
makes it possible to display some of these alternative responses, a feature
which is especially important in such a visual environment where so much
individual interpretation is at work.
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