iPads Create Familiarity in Learning Spanish

For students in Krista Greene's Spanish class, learning a foreign language has become less foreign and more native with the incorporation of interactive devices, games and apps. 

In Greene's Spanish I and Spanish II classes at the high school, students spread out within her classroom and outside in the hallway, iPads in hand, creating Spanish language stories, videos for youTube, reviewing vocabulary with Quizlet and posting photos on Instagram depicting current studies. 

The classes center on independent study and interactivity, she said. 

"You want it to be student-focused," Greene said. "You don't always want it to be teacher-focused."

Greene, a Hatboro-Horsham High School teacher of seven years and third-generation alum, said an $11,670 grant from the Hatboro-Horsham Educational Foundation covered the purchase of 30 iPads, which her students share from class to class as part of her iSpeak Spanish initiative. 

"You're doing a lot of the same activities, but the students are interested," Greene said, adding that the social media aspect increases student engagement. "They're practicing outside of class."

The iPad and its 30 free applications are used in conjunction with the courses' textbooks, but Greene said she envisions a time when the books could be a thing of the past. 

"This is everything in one," she said, holding up the lightweight iPad. "A lot of schools are already replacing the textbooks."

Sophomore Kris Snyder said he had an idea that he might be able to use iPads in Spanish I at the time he registered for Greene's class. 

As he scoured his iPad for suitable photos of "Lobo," or wolf in Spanish, he said the "easy accessibility to all the apps" was a definite plus. 

Shanna Milligan, a freshman, said the Quizlet app–which helps by reciting and reviewing vocabulary words–makes test preparation easier. 

"It's much easier to study Spanish with them," she said. 

And Greene, as an added bonus, can track how much time students study with the app. 

"Sometimes we'll challenge each other," she said. 

But, other times, Greene said she gives students "free time" where they can play games. 

Keeping it fun and constantly engaging her students is what makes Spanish language learning less foreign and more commonplace.