Spanish 1

An entirely asynchronous, proprietary, commercially available learning experience. Instructional designers and specialists receive a new design project annually at Commonwealth Charter Academy. My annual design project is rewriting their Spanish 1 course that serves approximately 1,600 students each year.

Audience

Approximately 1600 students ranging from 13 years old in eighth grade until they age out of secondary school around 20

Tools

edio (proprietary LMS), adobe photoshop, adobe audition, adobe premiere rush, adobe express, Microsoft 365 suite, loom, SmartSheet,Getty Images, Epidemic Sound

*Gamified content developed in partnership with Ryco.io.

Role

I developed every aspect of this course from goals, objectives, scope and sequence, and am mid-build of the108 - 60 minute lessons that include formative and summative assessments.

During this build I have been training a new instructional designer on best practices and how to follow our style guide.

All gamified content in this course and in my welcome video was conceptualized by me, and then storyboarded and developed by our good partners at Ryco.io. If you haven't heard of them - you should! Check out their page!

The Problem

Students from a wide range of cultures with a variety of abilities and first languages are all enrolled in an entry level Spanish 1 course. The student's home culture varies from macro to micro as this public school serves the entire state of Pennsylvania.

Additionally, while students have the option of attending in person classes, the majority do not. My directive is to design courses to be completed entirely asynchronously.

Lastly, each newly developed course must be entirely proprietary and able to be made available commercially. This means some assets are limited or unavailable depending on copyright and licensing.

Analysis

Analysis began in February of 2023 to start a build in September of 2024. The analysis process began with a review of the current Spanish 1 course and supplemental materials.

I noticed it wasn't designed as in line with current best practices as possible. Upon completing interviews, attending professional learning meetings with current teachers, and meetings with the world language department chair, I began to understand what teachers felt the "pros" and "cons" of the current course were.

Next, I set out to get student data. I collected demographic information of the approximately 1600 students who were enrolled in the 2022-2023 school year. I also collected grades at mid and end points in the year.

Finally, surveys were completed by nearly 100% of native Spanish speaking students who are currently enrolled in Spanish 1 to see how we might be able to more appropriately meet their needs.

The Solution

My first step in tackling these issues is to ensure I am incorporating as many Universal Design for Learning principles as possible. Whenever possible, provide students choice and variety for how information is presented to them and for how they can demonstrate knowledge.

Next, I set out to intentionally create engaging eLearning content and materials to get a student to "stay" in a lesson and follow it to completion.

Lastly, I've completed extensive training on OERs, CC licensing, and finding, reading, and understanding an organization's terms of use and licensing rules. We've also developed key partnerships with Ryco.io and BoClips to help us build assets and ensure we are providing the highest quality learning experience possible.

Design Process

Daily design life at CCA is more SAM than ADDIE, but a waterfall system all the same.

Once course goals were developed, backward design was used to develop unit goals and essential questions. Next came lesson objectives and assessments for each of the 11-12 lessons per unit (9 total units). Once these items were done, individual lessons were planned with appropriate content and learning activities.

The lessons are built in a proprietary LMS called edio, and each design is built with a variety of resources and partnerships. Not only is each lesson designed with backward design and UDL considerations, they are designed to be made commercially available and thus appropriate licensing of assets is carefully considered daily.

We work hard, have fun, and meet tight deadlines! One of our biggest partners, LearningMate, serves as editors on our courses. Each lesson goes through one to two rounds of edits before being moved into copy editing, and functionality testing.

Design Principles

Backward design and UDL are daily parts of any project I design.

For this project in particular I am constantly considering educational theory. The biggest influences on my work are Vygotsky's social constructivism and the theory surrounding one's zone of proximal development and scaffolding.

Additionally, I constantly aim to consider cognitive load theory and ensure I am never placing too much cognitive pressure on a learner by managing their extraneous load, simplifying their intrinsic load with engaging experiences like gamification (5-10 method), and maximizing their germane load.

Lastly, as this project relates to second language acquisition, I am constantly referring back to the principles of Krashen's Comprehensible or Compelling Input model. I am also relying heavily on SBL to create as authentic a learning experience as possible.

Next Steps

The course is scheduled to be finished by mid-June. A course preview meeting is scheduled for March of 2024. This will allow me to collect feedback from teachers and other stakeholders before design proceeds.

The course will be rolled out after additional training is done for teachers (on Comprehensible Input: see projects page), and the evaluation and feedback cycle will begin once again.

Teachers provide feedback as they use a course. They are able to submit it daily to report errors or issues they encounter as they work, be it bugs, broken components, or an issue with a piece of content or an asset. This is an ongoing process from September to June.

Goals

The overarching goals for Spanish 1 are centered around being able to communicate. I.e., have a basic conversation.

Specifically, the official goals of the course are:

Develop skills that enable learners to use basic Spanish within and beyond the classroom
Gain an appreciation for Spanish-speaking cultures
Negotiate meaning in spoken and written conversation
Reinforce knowledge of other disciplines through the study of Spanish

BACK

Contact

I'm always looking for new and exciting opportunities. Let's connect.

rachel@RMlearningdesigns.com