Una nueva mirada en la mediación pedagógica al encuentro con el sentido del aprendizaje en los procesos educativos

Universidad Nacional: Una nueva mirada en la mediación pedagógica al 150 learning was fulfilled through the interesting activities. Furthermore, Lacina (2005) concluded that teaching grammar on the web becomes a very interesting practice for the students and it is exciting when it is taught in context. Some secondary words represented in the word cloud involve important aspects that were supported by the website. For example, it is easy to observe words referring to vocabulary, reinforcement, macro skills, spelling, constant feedback, culture, and interaction. In general, the website not only reached its general objective but also fulfilled some other elements from language learning and teaching. In relation to the contextualization of the activities provided by the website, most of the students mentioned that the website promoted culture, and it helped them not only to reinforce the grammar knowledge but also to learn more about cultural aspects from Guanacaste. Siemens (2004) mentioned that “Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning” (p. 4). This previous information refers to how students easily connect or associate their ideas and it is supported by the connectivism theory which explains how people connect and learn throughout technology. Conclusions Nowadays websites are not only innovative strategies to support the learning process but also a need that most students require. When working in the first objective of this research, which was about identifying and categorizing the grammatical difficulties and learning needs that students had in the development of their learning process, the researchers concluded that students required innovative activities not only to reinforce their English language learning process but also to help them feel involved in their own learning environment. It is important to mention that students are on a digital era, so pedagogical practices cannot stay without innovation. On the other hand, professors have to go above and beyond and keeping websites and resources updated to respond to the students’ needs. Moreover, a very important social and learning need was the contextualization of the activities. In this case, the researchers contextualized the grammatical activities with topics related to Guanacaste regional elements such as touristic spots, food, recreational activities, and culture to promote a better understanding of the grammatical structures since students were learning with their own cultural environment. Lastly, this technique also promoted a positive involvement and motivation in the students towards their learning process. After assessing the website, which was also the third objective of this research, the students evaluated the website very positively because of the constant feedback they got. Thus, after analyzing this result, researchers concluded that students benefit themselves when working with exercises that provide constant real-time feedback. The website helps them identify possible mistakes and errors, proper grammar structures, vocabulary, and basic general rules that are necessary to reinforce the students’ grammar knowledge and consequently some other productive and receptive skills like speaking, writing, listening and reading as well as culture, which is considered another skill.