For the first time, the department of Romance Languages and Literatures is offering an introductory course with the option of taking it online.
One section of Spanish Elements I and one section of Spanish Elements II will be taught online instead of in the classroom.
The class will be taught using an interactive distance education program on the WebCT server designed by Loreto Sanchez and authored by Johns Hopkins professor Dr. Barry Weingarten.
Weingarten, the Spanish language coordinator, helped develop an internet based Spanish language course for the University of Maryland University College.
According to Weingarten, the students enrolled in the online section at the University of Maryland showed equal if not better proficiency in all aspects of the foreign language.
Weingarten credits this to the amount of one on one interaction and special attention that all students received from the professor via the online class system.
In the past, the department of Romance Languages and Literatures has chosen to only offer upper-level classes in an online only format.
Students had the option of taking courses such as Medical Spanish online. However, in this instance, due to a lack of funding, the department was forced to alter their offerings.
"As a result of across-the-board budget cuts at the university, we lost a full-time faculty position as well as money for several adjunct spots.
"This meant that we had to eliminate some of the course offerings that we had initially scheduled, and in order to accommodate as many students as possible with fewer course sections, we took several measures: faculty will teach an additional class each semester at no remuneration; class size will increase from 17 to 20 in the elementary and intermediate levels and from 15 to 17 in the advanced levels, and one section each of Spanish Elements I and II will be taught online with a class limit of 27."
Even though the course is being taught online, Weingarten believes that students will have an adequate amount of interaction with the professor.
Students are required to have weekly chats with the professor either by phone, office hours or through the voice function on yahoo messenger.
As the professor, Weingarten is making sure that he is available for nocturnal hours as well.
"It's not like they are not going to get special attention." Said Weingarten.
Aside from an orientation meeting this Tuesday, the only time students will be required to attend class will occur during the three scheduled exams.
According to Weingarten, "The format of the class, in addition to the fact that a T.A. will be assisting in the grading of weekly assignments, makes it easier to accommodate a larger number of students with no effect on class quality."
As a pilot program for students beginning to learn Spanish there are concerns among students that the system might not work.
"At first I was skeptical about taking it online, considering it was a foreign language and I needed help speaking it, but I think the system might work. I'll give it a try." Said freshman Cathy Slaughter.
In the future the department hopes to expand the program to students studying overseas.
While this program has been implemented in these situations before, in this particular case students have an added advantage.
"This semester all enrolled students are on campus and have the added advantage that normal distance education students don't have: they can come directly to my office to chat in Spanish or get help with a problem they might be having with the class," said Weingarten.
