Spanish 1 Hybrid Online Course

Title: Elementary Spanish 1 - Sections 3163 and 3164
Course code: Spanish 01
Credits: 5

Instructor: Marķa Palacios de Erickson
Email: erickson_maria@smc.edu
Phone: (310) 434-4586
Website: http://homepage.smc.edu/erickson_maria

Description: Using the Natural Approach this course introduces the students to basic vocabulary and fundamental sentence structure in the present and preterit tenses. Basic aural and reading comprehension is developed and students hold simple conversations and write short compositions about present and past actions.
Transfer: UC, CSU

Prerequisites: No previous courses are required, but you must have well developed computer skills, and a minimum of 16 hours available each week solely for this course.

IMPORTANT: This is a HYBRID course. It has three weekly components:

  1. Class Meeting: You are expected to attend class on campus once a week. Section 3163 meets on Tuesdays from 7:30 PM to 9:35 PM in Drescher 217. Section 3164 meets on Wednesdays from 7:30 PM to 9:35 PM in Drescher 221. The mandatory meeting is for face-to-face interaction and for testing, with a quiz or an exam scheduled every week. If you cannot attend all of the weekly meetings in their entirety, you should not be taking this course!
     
  2. Lab Requirement: To meet the lab requirement, you must arrange to log half an hour a week at your convenience in the SMC Language Lab (Drescher 219). You will be asked to access specialized language programs available in the lab and to make and save recordings on the lab servers. The lab is open Mondays-Thursdays 8:00am-9:45pm, Fridays 8:00am-4:00pm and Saturdays 11:00am-2:45pm.
     
  3. Online Activities: You are expected to visit the course websites at least four times a week - but ideally, once a day. There you will find assignments, lecture materials, interactive exercises and text and voice discussions that can be accessed at your convenience, as well as chat and conference tools for scheduled online meetings with your instructor and your classmates.

Objectives:
This course provides the students with basic oral and writing skills while acquainting the students with the language and important elements of the culture of the Spanish-speaking world. The course prepares the students for further language acquisition and should arouse their interest in the Spanish-speaking world.

Course Expectations:
Even though there are differences in delivery between the traditional and the hybrid Spanish 1 course, the hybrid course DOES duplicate the content of the traditional course. As in the traditional course, no previous knowledge of Spanish is required. We start from scratch since the course is designed for persons who have never studied Spanish before; but we move at college level intensity or what could be called a very dedicated beginner's pace. Since this is a 5 unit course, you should have available a minimum of 16 hours weekly to do nothing but Spanish: 3.5 hours online, 2 hours in class, 0.5 hours in lab, and at least 10 additional hours a week dedicated to studying and completing assignments. You only meet with the instructor face-to-face once a week but there are multiple tasks to be completed during the week, so you must be a self-motivated and self-directed student and you must be able to follow printed instructions carefully and to organize your time efficiently so that you meet the deadlines specified.

Spanish 1, whether traditional or hybrid, is a course designed for beginners, but the students that actually enroll come from many different backgrounds. There are students who have never studied language before and students who are already fluent in Spanish, students who have studied Spanish for two or three years in High School and students who are attempting Spanish for the first time but who have learned several other languages at home, at school or in their travels.

If you have never studied a language before or have had difficulty with language learning in the past, this hybrid course may not be the best way to go. Spanish 31A would be a better course to attempt first. The numbering (31A) is misleading; it is a lighter, slower-paced version of the first part of Spanish 1 and a great introduction to language learning in general. In the Spring Spanish 31A meets MW 8:30a-10:30a in MC 12 starting March 9.

If you can already understand and speak Spanish because of your home environment, and have enrolled in Spanish 1 to improve your writing skills or to gain confidence in your ability to speak the language correctly, Spanish 1 is not the best class for you. SMC has a customized class to meet the special needs of students in your situation: Spanish 11. In the Spring there are two sections of Spanish 11. Section 3175 meets MWF 9:30p-11:00a in Drescher 217 and section 3176 starts March 9 and meets MW 1:30p-4:50p in MC11.

Tech Requirements:

This course will make serious demands on your computer system and skills.

Hardware and software:

We will be using a textbook with a variety of web-based components and resources and a robust internet course delivery system with features such as document sharing, threaded discussions, chatrooms and an online dropbox. We will also use interactive web exercises, internet voice recordings, online conferences and word processing and email functions, including attachments.
Your computer skills need to be fully developed from the start and you need to receptive to acquiring a few more. Students with inadequate computer experience tend to feel very overwhelmed. They lack the time to acquire computer proficiency AND language proficiency simultaneously, in this interdependent context.

Required Materials:

EN LINEA + VISTAS, Third Edition Student Edition + MAESTRO Web-SAM
VHL Direct Price: $145.00
ISBN-10: 1-60007-848-6
ISBN-13: 978-1-60007-848-4

This Package includes:

EN LINEA logo   VISTAS, 3rd edition, textbook cover
  • eCourse - eDelivery (EN LINEA)
  • Student Edition - Hardcover (VISTAS)
  • Supersite Student Passcode - Bound into Textbook
  • Maestro Web-SAM access code - eDelivery

The course materials are NOT sold at the SMC Online Bookstore or the SMC Campus Bookstore.
They are available as a package through the Vistas Online Bookstore at http://www.vhldirect.com/smc/all/.

You may be able to find used copies of the Third Edition VISTAS hardcover textbook or the 3-hole-punch Companion version.
The other three items, however, consist of access codes to online resources and CANNOT be purchased used. 
They are mandatory and can be bought separately.
The eCourse code can be purchased at http://www.vhldirect.com/program.php?pid=13 for $120 (ISBN: 978-1-60007-333-5).
The other two items, the Supersite Student Passcode and the Maestro Web-SAM access code can be purchased at http://www.vhldirect.com/program.php?pid=27 for $70 (ISBN: 978-1-60007-823-1).
The total cost of these three access codes bought separately is more than the package, which includes a new textbook.