How Annoto Transformed Dr. Iliana Portaro's Spanish Courses at Southern Utah University

At Southern Utah University, Dr. Iliana Portaro teaches two Spanish courses - Spanish 3100: Conversation through Film and Spanish 3300: Introduction to Literary Studies - using a flipped-classroom model. By layering Annoto onto the video her students already watch, she turned pre-class preparation into active, collaborative learning and gave students low-stakes ways to practice listening, speaking, and analysis in the target language.

• Institution: Southern Utah University, Department of Languages and Philosophy / Interdisciplinary Studies
• Courses: Spanish 3100 (Conversation through Film) and Spanish 3300 (Introduction to Literary Studies)
• Class size: 25-35 students
• LMS: Canvas
• Use cases: Quizzes, Discussion, Skills Assessment, Flipped Classroom, Feedback

The course

Dr. Portaro teaches two Spanish courses, each with 25 to 35 students, using a flipped-classroom model to boost engagement and learning. In this model, students prepare before class, and Annoto helped enhance interactions beyond individual student-teacher exchanges, allowing for more collaborative assignments. The courses focus on Spanish literature while expanding vocabulary and developing advanced speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills, helping students engage with complex ideas in Spanish.

Revamping the curriculum

Annoto was fully integrated in homework assignments, class discussions, and assessments.

As an educator, it is not uncommon to hesitate revamping curriculum to incorporate new tech tools. However, from the very beginning Annoto proved to be very user-friendly, and the feedback from the students was extremely positive.

Practicing course skills

To reinforce course objectives, Dr. Portaro embedded three to five Annoto quiz questions into recorded PowerPoint lectures that reviewed literary terms and material previously introduced in class.

The Annoto quizzes were easy to set up and provided students with immediate feedback. The format is also very accessible for the students. It was also beneficial to give students additional feedback or information on specific questions.

The goal of the quiz was to give students a low-stake opportunity to practice their listening comprehension skills, while also reinforcing the course content. The quiz structure also allowed students to slow down and focus.

Practicing discussion skills

To prepare for class discussions, students watched weekly films. I used Annoto to create various questions focused on scene analysis using cinematic terms in Spanish. The ability to watch clips multiple times and make precise annotations enhanced engagement compared to past discussion forums. Students regularly commented on each other's work and often exceeded requirements by sparking new topics and supporting each other, whether they needed clarification or had differing understandings.

The flipped classroom

In a flipped-classroom, there is an essential emphasis on student preparation before a class session. Before Annoto, the activity flow while students completed assignments to prepare for class discussions was majorly bi-directional, centering on the students and myself. Annoto allowed me to expand the student interaction in my classroom and creatively innovate my assignments. It was also reassuring to see how students had interacted with the content and their level of engagement. This also saved class-time since we were able to move through the material more effectively.

Capabilities used

• In-Video Comments
• In-Video Quizzes
• Analytics

In her words

Annoto not only expanded student interaction with their peers, but it also improved how they interacted with the course content. For example, in Spanish 3100 (Conversation through Film), students learn how to analyze film in Spanish, practice their communicative skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing), and expand their cultural knowledge of Spanish-speaking communities.

Dr. Iliana Portaro, Southern Utah University, Department of Languages and Philosophy / Interdisciplinary Studies