Vida Sana - Capítulo 0
How to use this book
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
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Bienvenidos, estudiantes!
Welcome to Vida Sana, an ultra-innovative textbook that aims to help you expand your Spanish language abilities and reflect on various aspects of Hispanic cultures in the field of health professions. With this book, you will grow your Spanish communication skills, explore Hispanic cultures, compare and contrast linguistic and cultural differences, connect Spanish to your area of interest in health professions, and participate in your communities as bilingual superheroes!
This book leverages AI so you can create your own learning materials. We will use artificial intelligence to adapt content to your specific needs! Additionally, you will learn how to give instructions to a chatbot in order to focus your learning and practice long after the course is done!
0.1. You as a learner
Each student going through this book has a different linguistic background and goals. Some students are second language learners (don’t come from a Hispanic background and learned Spanish in a classroom setting). Other students are Heritage Language Learners (have Hispanic backgrounds, learned some Spanish at home and are now studying it formally). Whether you learned Spanish in a classroom or at home, this book is for you! The most important thing is that you recognize your current language abilities and set your goals!
Are you a second language learner or a heritage language learner? Share your linguistic background below. (write in English or Spanish, whatever you prefer for now) |
Escribe tus respuestas aquí… |
If you are a second language learner or a heritage language learner who did not acquire Spanish at home and completed two semesters of Spanish, we will consider you a beginner for the purposes of this course. You probably speak at sentence level and are comfortable with everyday common exchanges like greetings and expressing likes and dislikes. In this course, you should strive to acquire more vocabulary, accurate pronunciation, and some stronger writing abilities. As you go through this course, you should work on putting together strings of sentences while incorporating new vocabulary. You should also work on narrating and describing accurately in the present tense and presenting opinions in simple terms. You will find plenty of opportunities to do all of the above in written and spoken form! Make sure you complete all the exercises labeled as “beginner.”
If you are considered a “beginner", share three things you want to do from the list above, otherwise, skip this part. (write in English or Spanish, whatever you prefer for now) |
Escribe tus respuestas aquí… |
If you are a second language learner who has completed four semesters of Spanish, or a heritage language learner who already speaks fluently, we will consider you advanced for the purposes of this book. You probably speak with strings of sentences or even paragraphs, and comfortably speak in present, past and future somewhat accurately or fully accurately. In this course you should strive to expand your vocabulary and develop stronger writing abilities. As you go through the course you should work on speaking and writing in paragraphs and even using extended discourse. You should also work on narrating and describing accurately and extensively in all tenses, and expressing and supporting opinions at length. You will find plenty of opportunities to do all of the above in written and spoken form! Make sure you complete all the exercises labeled “advanced.”
If you are considered “advanced", share three things you want to do from the list above, otherwise skip this part. (Escribe en español) |
Escribe tus respuestas aquí… |
Not sure where you stand or what your goals should be? Contact your instructor and they will help you figure it out.
0.2. Discovering your needs
Each student going through this book will have different needs. It is important you identify what those needs are and work toward meeting them.
Do you need to get stronger in speaking? Make sure you make full use of all the speaking exercises that are included. You will get a chance to speak expressing ideas and opinions in our weekly videos, and also talk to your chatbot! Your chatbot is a great speaking practice partner, make ample use of it!
How are your speaking abilities in Spanish? What would you like to improve? (write in English or Spanish, whatever you prefer for now) |
Escribe tus respuestas aquí… |
Do you need to get stronger in writing? Make sure you make full use of our writing exercises! You will get opportunities to write short answers, sentences, paragraphs and essays! For our essays you will get AI assistance with spelling and grammar! Chatbots never sleep, so you will have a tutor at all times!
How are your writing abilities in Spanish? What would you like to improve? (write in English or Spanish, whatever you prefer for now) |
Escribe tus respuestas aquí… |
Need to expand your medical / health vocabulary? Be intentional about extracting words from readings and vocabulary lists and using them when you write and speak. Keep a list of key terms you want to commit to memory! You can even program your chatbot to quiz you!
What techniques have you used in the past to learn new vocabulary? (write in English or Spanish, whatever you prefer for now) |
Escribe tus respuestas aquí… |
Need to get stronger in listening? Read along as your chatbot reads the content of the book to you. This will also help with pronunciation and intonation! Have conversations with your chatbot. If you need your chatbot to speak slower, ask it to pause between words.
How are your listening abilities in Spanish? What would you like to improve? (write in English or Spanish, whatever you prefer for now) |
Escribe tus respuestas aquí… |
Need to get stronger in reading? Read each of the essays in the book three times if needed. The first time, read it through without stopping, and try to understand as much as you can by recognizing words you already know, looking at cognates (words that sound similar in Spanish and English - like decision = decisión), and inferring meaning of words you can’t figure out right away. Remember you don’t need to understand every single word to understand the reading. After the first time, look up a few words that you feel will clarify meaning, and then read the whole essay a second time. Make note of the new words so they can become new vocabulary words for you to study! If there are simply too many words you don’t understand, translate the page with the Google doc translation feature, read it in English recognizing words in the Spanish version that you may have missed. Finally, read it again in Spanish reflecting on the overall meaning and the key words you may have learned in the prior step.
How are your reading abilities in Spanish? What are some of the strategies you use when reading in Spanish in order to understand? (write in English or Spanish, whatever you prefer for now) |
Escribe tus respuestas aquí… |
0.3. Tech tools for learning
This ultra innovative textbook makes use of some of the latest technologies to enhance your learning. Here is what you need to know about them in order to engage with the material.
Chat GPT - if you have dabbled with this AI chatbot that uses natural language processing to generate human-like responses in real time, you might know some of its amazing capabilities. If you have never used it, you can access all its powers by going into openai.com, and signing in, or downloading the app on your phone.
Have you used ChatGPT? How have you used it? What do you know about it? (write in English or Spanish, whatever you prefer for now) |
Escribe tus respuestas aquí… |
In this textbook we will use the chatbot in three ways.
First, you will use Chat GPT to generate written content tailored to your health field of interest. In each chapter you will use the provided prompts and fill in the blanks with the required information. After generating the content, you will turn it in as part of your chapter work. You will also be asked to provide the link to the chat. See how to do that HERE
Second, you will use the Chat-GPT’s live chatbot feature (spoken) that is currently only available in the phone app. In each chapter you will have to realize at least one live conversation with the chatbot after building your knowledge and vocabulary through prior tasks. See how to do that HERE
Third, you will use Chat GPT as a tutor and proofreader. As a tutor, you can use Chat GPT to help you practice vocabulary and quiz you. As a proofreader you can use it to identify grammar and spelling mistakes on your original project essays, so you can then rewrite following its suggestions.
Microsoft Copilot - We will use this AI tool to generate images for your project presentations. All students have an account through their university account so you will be having fun with it in no time! Access it HERE
Have you ever used Microsoft copilot to generate images? Have you used other AI to generate images? When? How? (write in English or Spanish, whatever you prefer for now) |
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Padlet - If you have already used this video discussion board you know how fun it can be, but did you know you can also use it to create formal videos with graphics and slide presentations? In this course we will use Padlet to interact with classmates, present our projects and record our chatbot conversations. While the first two will be shared with the whole class, the individual chatbot conversations will only be open for instructor view. Access Padlet HERE. Your instructor will provide the course code.
Have you ever used Padlet? How did it work out for you? (write in English or Spanish, whatever you prefer for now) |
Escribe tus respuestas aquí… |
Google slides - Most students are familiar with this Google version of Powerpoint. You will use it to create slide presentations for your projects that then you can record on video while you present. You will also get to share the link to your presentations with your professor!
What slide program do you use regularly? What are some of the projects for which you have used slides? (write in English or Spanish, whatever you prefer for now) |
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0.4. The do’s and don'ts of AI use
As you can see, use of AI is not only encouraged but also required for this course. However, it should only be used as specified in the book in order to complete the tasks that require it. AI should not be used to create responses or essays that require input from your brain because the whole point of this course is that your brain learns how to use Spanish. This does not mean AI can’t assist you, it just can’t replace you.
Have you used AI to assist you in your learning? How did you use it? (write in English or Spanish, whatever you prefer for now) |
Escribe tus respuestas aquí… |
Here are examples of inappropriate use of AI for this class:
Readings - You run your reading through Google translate or Google Docs translate feature before reading it yourself in Spanish and trying to have your brain extract meaning. To see how to read correctly, please read the “Need to get stronger in reading?” paragraph in section number 2 above.
Comprehension questions - You write your responses in English, run them through Google translate and paste the response in Spanish. Please don’t do that! You need to write directly in Spanish from your brain. I fully expect your answers to be choppy so don’t be afraid to not be perfect.
Essays for your projects - You write your essay in English, run it through Google translate and turn it in in Spanish, or you prompt ChatGPT to write it directly in Spanish. Please don’t do that! The way you get to practice and learn how to integrate newly learned Spanish vocabulary and expressions is by building sentences and paragraphs in Spanish with your own brain. The first version of your essay should be messy and choppy and have mistakes. I will require you to hand in that first version together with a better second version. You can write that second version after running the first draft through ChatGPT so it lists grammar and spelling mistakes that you can manually correct in your second draft. This two-step process will solidify lessons for your brain to learn.
You may notice in all the examples above, AI is being used to do the first step of readings and writings. For this course, the first step ALWAYS needs to be done by your brain. Afterwards, you can ask for AI assistance to translate, create, proofread, etc. We want you to leverage AI to assist you, not to do your work for you. If you are ever in doubt of when or how you can use AI in your work for this class, please reach out to your instructor!
Share your thoughts about the importance of learning with your brain. Acknowledge your understanding of the expectations of AI use in this course, and include any questions you might have at this time. (write in English or Spanish, whatever you prefer for now) |
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This work by Alegría Ribadeneira and Alexandra Ribadeneira - Pérez is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.