Vistawide
ACTFL Video Contest Winners
The Flashcard Exchange
Helpful Tech Tools for Teachers
ACTFL announces "Not just a language class" Podcast Winners
SCOLA Review

Using Online Video in the Language Classroom
Make Skype more than just another desktop icon
Max Author Updates
Let the Dry Erase markers dry out; try Skrbl!
Metacognition and 21st Century Skills: Exploring the use of technology in your classroom
The NEALLT Conference - Ithaca, New York
Technology for Classroom Feedback and Interaction
Teacher Collaboration & Newsgroups
Virginia Goes Live with Virtual Chinese
Podcasting: The Language Lab has left the building!
Going Global with Technology

Vistawide
by Thomas Braslavsky
NCLRC/The George Washington University

If you are looking for a large online repository of information on language-learning, you may do well to check out Vistawide (www.vistawide.com), the self-proclaimed “information source for language learners and language learning on the web.”

The site, run by a group of “lifelong language learners and educators with both formal training and practical experience in language teaching and learning,” provides a wealth of information on learning foreign languages, going abroad and finding practical applications for a foreign language college degree.

Though the homepage is a bit disorganized, it is still simple to navigate to any portion of the site through links to the different sections. These include specific sections about Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish. Each of these pages has many resources, including the history of the language, information about the cultures that speak it and study tips. The site also recommends effective language learning materials and books.

Another section of Vistawide deals with language learning software. The site includes short descriptions of different language learning programs – some free and some not – in over 25 languages. These programs range from vocabulary learning to games and translation. There are also downloadable dictionaries in various languages, as well as a collection of free downloadable fonts for different alphabets.

The site also includes resources on careers involving foreign language skills – something that could be very useful in encouraging the study of foreign languages. For those unsure of how to pursue language learning, there are descriptions of the available options. The study abroad guide gives good advice to college students considering the option, and the pages on grants and scholarships aid students in finding ways to help finance their study. Vistawide also has a forum that was formerly used to discuss languages. Although it is currently closed “due to excessive abuse,” the forum is planned to reopen soon.

This website should be useful for teachers who want to provide their students with helpful online tools and advice for learning languages. Large amounts of information on so many topics related to foreign language study make Vistawide a worthwhile online resource for the foreign language teacher and student.

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ACTFL Video Contest Winners Announced
by Thomas Braslavsky
NCLRC/The George Washington University

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) has announced the winners of its 2009 Video Podcast Contest. As part of the organization’s Discover Languages…Discover the World! public awareness campaign, the competition invited students grades PK-16 to submit short video podcasts promoting foreign language study. The submission dates were from September 25 to December 15, 2008.

With this year’s theme of "Languages for Life!", the contest asked entries to show how useful learning a second language can be to an individual’s future. Entries were judged according to the categories of content, creativity, execution and effect, and candidates were expected to refer to the five C’s of the national standards of foreign language education: Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons and Communities.

Entries were divided into categories based on education level (elementary school, middle school, high school and postsecondary), and there were two sets of winning videos: those based on feedback from judges and those with the most popular rankings from visitors to the website.

The winning videos found creative ways to promote foreign language education, including a Batman skit, a few news reports, a silent film and a spin off of a popular YouTube video – a commercial for a foreign language energy drink. To watch the winning videos, visit http://www.actflvideocontest.org/.

This was ACTFL’s second annual video podcast competition, sponsored in collaboration with The Center for Language Education and Research (CLEAR) and the Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT). Once again, the many videos that were submitted creatively encouraged viewers to understand the benefits of learning new languages.

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The Flashcard Exchange
By Tom Braslavsky

The Flashcard Exchange is self-proclaimed as “The world’s largest flashcard library.” This online collection holds more than 16 million flashcards on subjects ranging from science to foreign languages, all uploaded by its users. Sets of flashcards are organized by tags, and there is a search bar for finding card sets by tag or title.

If one chooses to register for a free account on the website, there are options to store relevant flashcards on a “clipboard” and create a list of “favorites.” There is also an online study tool which can be very helpful to language learners studying vocabulary or other language-related subject matter. This study tool has various options for presenting flashcards to the user, and it can track one’s accuracy in giving correct answers or translations. It gives the user an idea of learning progress and allows one to go over incorrect or unanswered questions. Also, in preparation for an exam or as an added learning tool, users can create and store their own flashcards on the website. The cards are also printable and downloadable to Word, Excel and Acrobat. The site even has a special program for flashcards on an iPhone.

The Flashcard Exchange is a useful resource for language learners and educators because it provides, free of charge, an enormous repository of shared study tools. These can be used both in and outside the classroom to study vocabulary, phrases and grammar. The flashcard creator tool also provides an enormous asset to those teaching or learning new material.

http://www.flashcardexchange.com/

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Helpful Tech Tools for Teachers
by Leah Wilner

Quia Books

Quia books are foreign language textbooks that are supplemented with student workbooks and online learning aides. Each chapter in Quia has corresponding online grammar, vocabulary and audio resources, as well as interactive homework problems that can be graded and submitted online. This type of learning encourages students to teach themselves grammar at home, therefore these books are most helpful to students who are practicing their verbal skills in class. 

http://www.quia.com/

Tech Soup

TechSoup.org offers nonprofit groups dependable technological assistance in the form of free information, resources and support. In addition, TechSoup Stock offers nonprofits technology products that have been donated or highly discounted by nonprofit and corporate technology partners. This website is an excellent resource for teachers who would like to buy updated language software or another computer for language practice.

http://www.techsoup.org/

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ACTFL announces "Not just a language class" Podcast Winners

By Benjamin Redmond

As part of the national public awareness campaign Discover ‎Languages…Discover the World, ACTFL, in association with CLEAR and MERLOT ‎sponsored a video podcast contest for K-16 language students earlier this year. The ‎contest theme “Not just a language class” encouraged students to share personal ‎motivations for studying a language and to demonstrate the importance of language ‎learning beyond the classroom. Students were asked to answer questions relating to the ‎length of time they have studied a given language, why they chose to study this language, ‎as well as to detail how their experiences in the language classroom have affected other ‎areas of their lives. In addition the entries were expected to address the application of the ‎five C's of the national standards in their entries.‎
Contest submissions were accepted from January 14 to February 15, 2008. The ‎entries were divided by categories according to academic level; elementary school ‎students (K-5), middle school students (6-8), high school students (9-12) and post-‎secondary students. The winning entrants were offered cash and product prizes worth up ‎to $500 for their efforts.‎
The entries covered a broad range of languages, including Arabic, Spanish, ‎French, and Mandarin. Students applied a variety of creative approaches to the task; ‎telling stories about interactions in their language of study, imitating popular television ‎shows, and even setting a continuous recording camera in their school hallway to capture ‎the “confessions” of numerous language students. The entries were narrowed down to a ‎list of finalists, which can be viewed here: http://www.actflvideocontest.org/register.php. ‎A winner in each category was then selected from the finalists and the results were ‎recently announced.

The winners from each category are Nikki and Marissa (elementary); Neil, ‎Ankush, Vinay, and Kush for Spanish: a Step outside the Classroom (middle school); the ‎UCLS Filmmaking Club for “Confessions of a Language Student” (high school); and ‎Ben, a Stanford student, for “Make someone smile-study a language” (post-secondary). ‎Take a look at the winning videos and view many of the other quality entries as well at ‎http://www.actflvideocontest.org/.‎
The ACTFL video podcast contest encouraged students to take an active role in ‎considering the value of language learning for themselves and sharing it with others. ‎Projects like these that encourage an exploration of creative capacities and their ‎application to the task of language learning help keep the classroom exciting for many ‎students. If you have the classroom resources to do so you may find it useful to ‎encourage your students to take on a similar project in the hope that they discover for ‎themselves why language learning has such great value in the classroom and beyond.

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SCOLA Review
By Ben Redmond

A customer service representative contacted me not long after I had submitted an email request for information about SCOLA’s website, granting two weeks of full access in order to explore their content. Language teachers and learners alike may be familiar with SCOLA’s cable and satellite TV channels, which re-transmit native language news broadcasts from around the globe 24 hours a day. With online access, you can watch streaming newscasts from each of their six region-specific channels and you have the freedom to select from any programs broadcast over the course of the past week.

While World TV Online may be the definitive feature, SCOLA’s website offers a number of distinct sections, each contributing to foreign language learning and an understanding of world cultures. Every week SCOLA uploads one "Insta-Class lesson" in each of 30 different languages, accompanying a selected newscast with its transcription, detailed translation, and questions to test comprehension. Unfiltered newscasts, while rich in vocabulary and particular examples of vernacular, can be tricky for even the most experienced language learners to tap into. Each "Insta-Class Lesson" increases the accessibility and value of a newscast as an effective resource for the student.

I previewed both the Italian and French "Insta-Class lessons" and found that the transcriptions were almost exact and the translation followed closely, clarifying instances where my own comprehension lacked. SCOLA also provides Insta-Class lessons following the same format for a number of non-European languages including Korean, Arabic, Farsi, Tajik, and Chinese.

The "Specialized Word Video Search" is another great tool for students. The lexicon search feature was especially helpful, allowing users to browse, in English, by the first letter of a foreign language word that may need clarifying. Once an instance of the word is found in the video archives the student can hear it used in a news broadcast, which eases difficulties in pronunciation or confusion regarding appropriate word usage. The Foreign Text section should also be noted, as it provides access to foreign language newspapers from a number of different countries, which may not be widely distributed.

I appreciated the fact that in addition to the download option for audio and video file, they are embedded on the site, which means that you do not have to launch an external application to play them. I found the customer service department to be extremely accommodating, offering to help me navigate the site by phone if I had any questions. Overall, the website expands on SCOLA’s TV services, effectively providing users with a number of helpful features to aid their study of language of culture.

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Using Online Video in the Language Classroom
By Abbe Spokane, Program Coordinator, NCLRC

In the last year, the amount of video content on the Internet has grown exponentially. There is surely more video out there than one person could ever watch in their lifetime. Unfortunately, online video has a reputation of being inappropriate, amateur, strange, self-indulgent, disturbing, and/or just plain useless. None of these are necessarily true, and if you know where and how to search for it, online video can be a quick, inexpensive way to introduce authentic material into your language classroom.

The Ubiquitous YouTube: www.youtube.com

Probably the best known venue for videos on the internet is YouTube. The site is basically a giant repository for all manner of digital videos that varies widely in quality (everything from professional footage to fuzzy bootlegs). YouTube’s biggest advantage is also its biggest downfall; there are videos of just about anything you can think of, and lots that you would NEVER think of. The good news is that YouTube runs on a simple search engine that most of us are familiar with. You type what you’re looking for into the search box, and up pops a listing of videos that match your terms. The trick with YouTube is to know exactly what you’re looking for and be as specific as possible in your searches. For example, searching "French Film Clips" brings up a link to "My Artsy Fartsy French Film," which, though entertaining, is not rich in educational value and includes almost no actual French. But if you can think of a particular film or director, you might have better luck. Searching "Marcel Pagnol" turns up clips of his two most popular films, both of which my high school French teacher still shows in class.

YouTube is also a great place to find videos on current events or politics. Try searching a particular person’s name or a news headline. You could ask students to compare/contrast news broadcasts or political debates in the U.S. with those in the target culture. It’s also a great place to find commercials--short, self-contained, authentic video often with relatively simple language and lots of context. Sharing a YouTube video with your students is easy, too: just copy the video’s website address from your browser’s address bar and paste it in an email or other document, or copy the "embed" link to place it on your class webpage.

One of YouTube’s best features is that you can download the new version of RealPlayer for Mac or PC (free at http://www.realplayer.com/ ) and choose to display the option of downloading videos from YouTube. If you place your mouse on the video as it is playing, a button will pop up above the video giving you the opportunity to "Download This Video." This means you can save a video you find to your computer and play it from RealPlayer anytime without connecting to the internet. Videos sometimes "disappear" from the site, so you may want to save ones you use for future classes.

Beyond the Tube

If you’d rather not sift through the millions of videos on YouTube, or you prefer to browse a smaller collection of videos, there are plenty of other options. Many newspaper, magazine and television station websites have collections of free videos. In the NCLRC’s Culture Club Internet Media Room (http://nclrc.org/cultureclub/computer_lab.html) you can find links to sites in several languages. If you’re looking for English-language videos to supplement culture lessons, you might want to try Fora.tv (http://fora.tv). This website has partnered with dozens of organizations and media outlets to make a collection of online videos sorted by topic, region, or producing organization. You can browse through a "channel" that interests you, or search for a specific topic. There is also an Education channel with hundreds of thought-provoking videos of interest to educators in the U.S. and around the world. Fora.tv contains consistently high-quality videos, many with well-known speakers, but beware, some videos are long and can be slow to download.

Wherever you find them, online videos can be used for all sorts of activities in the classroom. The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) has a list of tips for how to use online videos in language classrooms, (http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/tutors/video/) as well as sites for individual languages with information on where to find online video content (http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/). If you find that what you’re looking for just doesn’t exist on the internet, you can always try making it yourself. It’s not as difficult as you think, and you can upload your masterpiece to the internet for other teachers to use. If you’re interested in learning more about producing digital videos for your classroom, join us for our summer institute, "YouTube Video and Beyond" from June 24-27, 2008 more information HERE.

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Make Skype more than just another desktop icon
By Ben Redmond

Foreign language teachers should already be familiar with what Skype has to offer. Now hosting nearly 220 million user accounts worldwide, it has become the preferred alternative for affordable international communication. By offering free global Internet calling Skype has built a vast network, while successfully managing the sale of premium features and extras to become a financially viable entity (in 2005 eBay acquired Skype for $2.5 billion). Awards have been lavished on this young communications giant by everyone from Time to The Economist, recognizing its innovation and influence in the field of global communications. For these reasons and many others, savvy language instructors have already joined the Skype generation. They recognize an unparalleled possibility; with Skype, instructors can offer students the experience of true interaction with native speakers of almost any target language while bypassing the hurdles of international travel.

Conversing via a text-based instant messenger, calling from one computer to another, and making videophone calls is all free. And Skype is simple. You need only a microphone (built-in or external), speakers and the latest download of Skype’s free software to begin. And at an affordable rate you can use Skype to call home phones and cell phones in over 30 countries as well. Yet like any program, Skype has its limitations. In order for language instructors to effectively employ Skype software in the classroom they must choose the proper companion tools or risk allowing Skype to become just another desktop icon.

Skype’s innovative software offers instructors the opportunity to promote international language exchange, but only if they make use of fitting complementary applications. Don’t expect students to connect with a capable and enthusiastic language exchange partner by casually browsing the profiles of 200 million plus Skype users. Instead, point them to the Mixxer, an online language exchange database provided by Dickinson College, which hosts a global community of over 13,000 members. The Mixxer helps Skype users find an exchange partner by narrowing their search according to native language and one of 28 available target languages.

Signup for the Mixxer is free and finding a language exchange partner is as simple as signing up and deciding on an online meeting time. In order to field a greater range of response, have your students personalize interests and include basic information about their experience with the target language. The site lists nearly 300 instructors seeking partner classrooms for language exchange. A willingness to explore applications like these makes dedicated language instructors better able to incorporate effective technologies in the classroom. Partnering Skype with the Mixxer gives students the opportunity to chat face to face with a native-speaker. And that may be just what today’s students need to actively engage in their study of a foreign language.

THINGS TO CONSIDER

• The Skype knowledgebase, accessible in their website provides thorough answers to any questions you may have.
• Unfortunately, access to Skype is sometimes restricted on school networks due to high bandwidth requirements and concerns over Internet messaging services as a whole.
• You may need to help your students structure exchange sessions so that speaking time is equally distributed between English and their target language.
• Make your students aware of Time Zone differences when coordinating online meeting times with their language partners.

THE MIXXER: http://www.language-exchanges.org/login.aspx
SKYPE: http://www.skype.com/

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MaxAuthor Updates

This is an update for MaxAuthor Enthusiasts.
If you are not familiar with this program, MaxAuthor is a free multimedia authoring system for language instruction, we recently had an article about it, you can read the article now.

Thanks to a grant from the US Department of Education International Research and Studies Program, we are working with the National Association of Self-Instructional Language Programs (NASILP) to improve MaxAuthor and create new courseware for the languages: Beginning Kurdish, Intermediate Ukrainian, and Advanced Turkish. We are looking for beta testers for these materials.

We are assisting the National Foreign Language Resource Center located at the University of Arizona: the Center for Educational Resources in Culture Language and Literacy (cercll.arizona.edu). With CERCLL, we have produced online MaxAuthor training videos to accompany the tutorials at http://cali.arizona.edu/docs/wmaxa/tuttoc.htm. This is in addition to several new Macromedia Flash videos showing how our student formats work for four different languages, see http://clp.arizona.edu/cls/videogrid.htm.

If you haven't yet downloaded our new Internet capable MaxBrowser v3.21, please give it a try. The free for non-commercial use, MaxBrowser3 has all the same interactive features as our latest DVD-ROMs. Once you download and install MaxBrowser3, we have several sample lessons with audio and streaming video you can try (more coming soon). Your own lessons created with MaxAuthor can also be used over the Internet with MaxBrowser3 if you have a web server. You can download MaxBrowser3 HERE.

We will be demonstrating our latest products at ACTFL and the NASILP annual conference in Crystal City, Virginia (near DC) Nov 2-3. If you are considering offering a Less Commonly Taught Language at your institution for credit, NASILP can show you how! Please see www.nasilp.org for registration information (the conference rate hotel deadline is Oct 16th). Speakers at the conference will include: Elizabeth Bergman, Executive Director, American Association of Teachers of Arabic; Elizabeth Mazzocco, Director, Five College Center for the Study of World Languages; Scott McGinnis, DLI; Ed McDermott, US Dept of Education; J. David Edwards, JNCL/NCLIS; Oksana Sachyk, FLIO, Author of CLS Beginning and Intermediate Ukrainian; Michael McAnear, Dean, National University; and other representatives from government and academia...

The Critical Languages Series CDROMs and DVDROMs have helped thousands of students learn LCTLs and are great examples of materials you can create for your students using MaxAuthor, see our newly redesigned website at http://clp.arizona.edu/cls for more information and reviews published by CALICO and EUROCALL.

We are experimenting with importing MAX lessons into Moodle (a popular open source course management system). If you are working with MAX lessons on Moodle (or want to), please let us know.

How are you using MaxAuthor? Your comments and suggestions are very important to us and your feedback has played a major role in its evolution. This research is supported by the US Dept of Education, NASILP, and the Office of the Dean of the University of Arizona College of Humanities.

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Let the Dry Erase markers dry out; try Skrbl!
by Ben Redmond

Borrowing its concept from schools around the world, Skrbl (pronounced "scribble"), a new online application, provides users with a simple and fun way to share ideas, files, and photos, all with the ease of writing on a classroom whiteboard. For language educators looking for a truly interactive, free discussion board to communicate with both colleagues and students in real time, this represents quite a step up from dry-erase markers. Though still in the later stages of development Skrbl already offers many of the tools necessary to foster informal communication over an easy-to-navigate, shared forum.

The biggest questions regarding Skrbl are:

• the necessity of such an application for educators when many schools already provide access to online discussion forums
• the lack of a read-only function (which makes preventing users from altering important whiteboard messages nearly impossible)
• the ease with which one can slip into a frenzy of drawing smiley faces and stick figures instead of making intelligent contributions.

Skrbl does, however, simplify the process of online cooperation and saves time as a result.
The application boasts basic videophone and Skype compatibility and allows users to type a number of foreign languages. Getting started takes only a matter of minutes and no downloads are required. Also, for a fee of $10 a month Skrbl will open access to a private online meeting space (a great way to encourage cooperation on group projects) and give up to 5 users a number of enhanced features not offered in the basic free version. Quick to setup, easy to use and share, Skrbl is at least worth the time it takes to add a little harmless graffiti to any vital memo.

visit http://www.skrbl.com/ to test it for yourself.

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Metacognition and 21st Century Skills: Some highlights from our summer institute 2007
by Jamie Lapore Wright

On June 22, 2007, the NCLRC held our first Metacognition summer institute, taught by Drs. Ana Uhl Chamot and Jill Robbins. The purpose of this institute was to help foreign language teachers explore how the 21st century skills for learning and thinking, could be developed in their classrooms using technology. (A set of technical and learning skills was identified by a group of businesses called the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/) These skills include:

• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills
• Communication Skills
• Creativity and Innovation Skills
• Collaboration Skills
• Information and Media Literacy Skills
• Contextual Learning Skills

During the first half of the institute, participants engaged in activities to gauge how "tech-savvy," they are, learned about the metacognition model, and discussed strategies for communicating using technology. Guest speaker Christine Meloni, who runs the NCLRC Culture Club, talked to the group about using technology to enhance cultural learning in the classroom.

After lunch, participants re-grouped to do a small group activity on integrating a metacognition narrative into their classroom, giving them a chance to apply the knowledge and skills they learned in the first half of the institute. Then, they were instructed in the use of Instant Messenger (IM), podcasts, blogging, RSS (Really Simple Syndication), Audacity, iTunes, YouTube, and Quia in the foreign language classroom, and given the opportunity to experiment with applications. All of these can be easily used in classroom exercises. In particular, podcasting is a helpful tool that teachers can use to increase individual investment and speaking and listening opportunities for their students. Since many students today are already familiar with these technologies, it doesn’t take much effort on the part of the teacher to get them interested in their use as a language learning tool. An example of how classroom teachers are using podcasts can be found here: http://jennatorres.net/span346/ (this is for Spanish).

The institute concluded with a discussion of future directions for professional development, and participants sharing their favorite sites and tools. Some of these can be found in the links below.

Interested in exploring the use of technology in your classroom? Here are some links from the Metacognition institute:

Ethnic Community Radio: The Voice of Home in America by Renee Domogauer http://languagemuseum.org/languageinsociety.html - one option for finding authentic listening materials on the Web

Microsoft tutorials for various applications (Access, Outlook, Powerpoint, etcetera): http://www.microsoft.com/education/tutorials.mspx

Guide to creating a web activity for foreign languages: http://oncampus.richmond.edu/~rterry/Middlebury/webactivity.htm

Apple set of lesson plans on Language Arts using technology: http://ali.apple.com/ali_sites/ali/ilifesearch.php?Subject=Language%20Arts

Podcasting Red Planeta Radio – Spanish language podcasts: http://radio.planetachat.com/

CALPER page Provides information on podcasting for foreign language instruction - http://calper.la.psu.edu/tech_workshop_2005/podcasting.html

Apple online tutorials - For use of podcasting in education http://www.apple.com/education/products/ipod/podcasting.html

Odeo – community-based podcasting service which allows the user to share the files created - http://odeo.com

iPod microphone: http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/italk/

RSS For content receivers (Windows), FeedDemon 2.0 http://www.download.com/FeedDemon/3000-12773_4-10252579.html

Feedburner – for RSS content creators http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/home

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The NEALLT Conference - Ithaca, New York

The NEALLT Conference was held last weekend in Ithaca, New York. Language Lab and Language Center directors from the Northeast gathered to share experiences and ideas. Our colleagues here at NCLRC, Christine Meloni and Jocelyne Brant, presented on two topics, "Online Resources for teachers of French and Italian" (Download files here: French, Italian, PPT Presentation.) and "Using Blogs to improve L2 writing". Jill Robbins presented on "Push vs. Pull and LRC dissemination via Technology." Her links can be found here: (http://jillrobbins.com/nclrc/neallt_resource.html)
Karen Campbell of Rutgers told how she adapts playing of the SIMs 2 game for use in language learning. By changing the language in which the game runs, one can build a tailor-made neighborhood inhabited by families of ‘SIMs," paying for furnishings with "SIMoleans" and creating a narrative about what the characters are saying to each other in "SIMish." Directions for changing the language can be found here.

The SIMs is called a "Sandbox" or "Dollhouse" game in which players create their own game. There is no objective beyond the creative satisfaction of filling out the details of everyday lives and vicariously experiencing the events of characters’ lives.

Conducting a trial with the SIMs in Fall 2006, Rutgers offered SIMS in French, Spanish, German, Chinese, and Portuguese courses. 19 instructors participated – over 100 students logged a total of over 400 hrs playing the game. One instructor offered extra credit for playing SIMS for 2 hours a week, and had some students who came in to the lab regularly to play. Campbell showed examples of written assignments that teachers assigned to allow students to elaborate on their game play. For example, one asked students to start a family & tell about it orally or in writing. The sample student work included pictures printed from the screen shots of the house and family the student created and (depending on the student’s level of proficiency) narratives or labels describing what is seen in the picture.

Nina Garrett, Director of Language Study at Yale University, gave the plenary address. Garrett pointed out that the online academic news source Inside Higher Ed described the soon-to-be-released MLA report on foreign language education as stating that the increasing need for language learning includes but goes beyond traditional literature study to emphasize the need for students to do advanced language work in the context of whatever discipline or profession they intend to follow.

All in all, the NEALLT conference is one which we highly recommend to teachers who want to learn how to better engage students in language learning through the use of technology.

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Technology for Classroom Feedback and Interaction:
Student response systems (SRS)
by Laura Blythe Liu

Wikipedia offers a succinct definition for CPS, or classroom performance systems, which is another term often used for student response systems (SRS):
Classroom Performance Systems (CPS) is a technological way to assess students. The instructor is able to ask objective and subjective questions to each student. The questions come from a computer, and are displayed for each student to view. Each student can answer their test questions at their own pace and respond with a remote control device. A radio or infrared transmitter picks up the student's response and sends it to the computer, which stores the responses and can provide detailed reports. This system allows instructors to obtain immediate feedback from each student. The system keeps a log of every class session, so student records are always available (Wikipedia, 2007).

Using SRS in the classroom
Numina II SRS
Numina II SRS is a specific brand of a web-based student response system This product is a system of “wireless networks, handheld computers, and a data projector” that enables students to submit individual or anonymous responses to inform instructors of student understanding of a concept, attitude toward a subject, or any other kind of information desired for assessment of learning. A summary of student responses for the entire class is then displayed next to the question so that students are able to see how others respond and to monitor their learning (Vetter, 2000).

Numina II SRS has created a tutorial for using their SRS system, which can be found at: http://aa.uncw.edu/numina/srs/help/index.htm. This tutorial includes an overview of use, how to create a question, a question set, or an entire session. Printable direction for using Numina II SRS can be found via a link on the overview tutorial page, or can be found at: http://aa.uncw.edu/numina/srs/SRS%20Instructions/SRS%20Instructions.doc

Pearson Assessments
Pearson Assessments offers CPS products on their on-line store found at: http://store.pearsonncs.com/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?section=10562. Prices for CPS units vary depending on the number of student response pads included. A CPS unit with 16 pads costs $1,200, a 24 pad system costs $1,500, a 32 pad system costs $2,000, and a 40 pad system costs $2,500. Each CPS unit sold includes a USB receiver that plugs into a teacher’s computer, the given number of student response pads that wirelessly transmit student responses to the receiver, a CD installation guide that helps teachers align lessons to state standards and track student progress, a quick start guide, two AAA batteries for each response pad, and a carrying case for everything. Teachers provide their own projector or monitor to display teacher questions and student answers (Clickers (CPS), 2006).

Pearson Assessments also offers on-line a "case study" of a school district that applied for a No Child Left Behind Grant and received support from the U.S. Department of Education’s Enhancing Education Through Technology funds to help purchase SRS for their district. The 34,000 students of the Modesto City School District, just east of Oakland, saw an average increase of 4 to 6 percentage points on students’ science and math final exams, as teachers started integrating interactive SRS technology in the classroom and moving away from content memorization and hand-raising teaching techniques. Benefits of using SRS include student engagement and anonymous participation, immediate teacher assessment of student learning, and new forms of collaborative learning. The district plans to purchase 20 more SRS for eighth-grade science and math (Profiles, 2006).

Researched benefits of SRS in education
Roschelle, Penuel, and Abrahamson’s (2004) Classroom Response and Communication Systems

Roschelle et al (2004) cite a description of classroom response system technology by Bransford and colleagues in How People Learn as “one of the most promising innovations for transforming classrooms to be more learner-, knowledge-, assessment-, and community-centered.” The authors describe the teacher’s role as one of formulating questions and facilitating discussions based on required student responses, while the technology serves to first provoke student thinking in question representation before displaying aggregated anonymous student responses in a thoughtful manner. Finally, they describe the student response to this technology-enhanced teaching as participatory, mutually supportive, and self-regulating of the learning and conceptual change created by the lesson (Roschelle et al, 2004).

The authors aptly state three primary steps as core to the use of SRS in the classroom as "1. Present a probing question at the heart of the subject matter. 2. Gather student responses rapidly and anonymously. 3. Quickly assemble a public, aggregate display (e.g. a histogram) that makes salient the variation in the group’s ideas without disclosing individual contributions” (Roschelle et al, 2004). The author’s find in their literature review research showing that the use of SRS leads to improvement in student learning. While much evidence has been found in physics undergraduate classrooms, further evidence has been found in K-12 settings as well, including middle school and high school mathematics, physics, chemistry, and elementary, middle school, and high school reading. The authors present no discussion of findings for the foreign language classroom, though their discussion suggests SRS to be helpful in this setting as well. (Roschelle et al, 2004).

The positive outcomes cited by Roschelle et al (2004) include “greater student engagement (16 studies), increased understanding of subject matter (11), increased enjoyment of class (7), better group interaction (6), helping students gauge their own understandings (5), and teachers have better awareness of student difficulties (4)." In engaging in a deeper investigation of education and psychology of learning theory, the researchers concluded formative assessment through questioning and feedback to have the greatest positive impact on learning in the classroom, as SRS allows teachers to have immediate access to student understanding. Teachers can modify instruction with this immediate feedback, demonstrating true interactive learning (Roschelle et al, 2004).

Researchers also found that student discussion centered on contrasts among ideas or between an individual’s idea and the ideas of the group, led to enhanced student learning (Roschelle et al, 2004). The researchers further concluded that students more carefully monitor their own learning when they have first reflected on the information presented, or have a "personal stake" in the outcome, i.e. wanting to know if their SRS response is correct or incorrect. Contrast also encourages learning in discussion in that it emphasizes "argumentation, elaboration, explanation, and comprehension," each of which is a significant process leading to conceptual change (Roschelle et al, 2004). Finally, a third positive outcome found in the research was that student motivation increases with the use of SRS as 1) the "performance" goal for affirmative judgments of their ability is met in their responses being anonymous, and 2) the "mastery" goal for an actual increase in ability is met as students do not experience "performance avoidance" and are encouraged to use SRS feedback primarily to provoke thinking rather than as a tool for the instructor to formally assess their level of mastery (Roschelle et al, 2004).

Draper’s (2002) Electronically enhanced classroom interaction.
Draper (2002) has created his own list of pedagogical benefits in using SRS, a list comparable to Roschelle’s discussion of the benefits. Draper states that both formative and summative assessment is possible with SRS and that both can happen much more quickly with SRS than with a scantron or paper and pencil assessment. Draper notes that both formative feedback on student learning and formative feedback on teaching are feasible within one class period rather than within the time period of a couple weeks, or as a procedure saved for the end of the class altogether. Along with initiating discussions, Draper also offers three more creative teaching techniques using SRS. Community building at the beginning of class in which students respond to personal questions intended to develop group awareness is one option. Another teaching technique with SRS would be to have students peer review one another immediately after each other’s presentations. Finally, Draper notes that effects on human response, such as social psychology experiments, could be demonstrated through the use of SRS (Draper, 2002).

References

1. Classroom Response Systems. (01/04/07). In Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia [Web]. Wikipedia Foundation, Inc.. Retrieved 01/17/07, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classroom_Performance_Systems


2. Draper, S.W. (06/09/02). Electronically enhanced classroom interaction. Australian journal of educational technology , 18, Retrieved 01/17/07, from http://www.psy.gla.ac.uk/~steve/ilig/handsets.html#Abstract


3. Clickers (CPS). (2006). Retrieved January 18, 2007, from Pearson Assessments On- line Store Web site: http://store.pearsonncs.com/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?section=10562


4. Profiles: California School District Engages Student with Interactive System. (2006). Retrieved January 18, 2007, from Pearson Assessments On-line Store Web site: http://www.pearsonncs.com/k12/download/k12-cs-6.pdf


5. Roschelle, J., Penuel, W., Abrahamson, L. (April, 2004). Classroom Response and Communication Systems: Research Review and Theory. AERA 2004 Proposal, Retrieved 01/17/07, from http://ubiqcomputing.org/CATAALYST_AERA_Proposal.pdf


6. Vetter, R. (2000). Numia II SRS Student Response System Home Page. Retrieved January 17, 2007, from Numia II SRS Student Response System Web site: http://aa.uncw.edu/numina/srs/

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Teacher Collaboration & Newsgroups
by Laura Blythe

Interactive technology has changed the meaning of the word, collaboration, as it has opened a wider variety of options for how teachers would like to collaborate with one another. One form of collaboration that has recently grown in popularity through the use of interactive technology is that of the on-line newsgroup, or listserv as they are often called. The number of newsgroups created for teachers is continuing to grow as well.

A particularly resourceful newsgroup for foreign language instructors is the FL Teach Newsgroup, which offers discussion on everything from the origin of the term E.E.U.U. to suggestions for a Spanish lesson on creating children’s books. Joining a newsgroup is usually not difficult and directions for joining are typically provided on the site. An official description of the FL Teach Newsgroup and directions for joining are below and can be found on the FL Teach website at http://www.cortland.edu/flteach/.

FLTEACH Newsgroup - For subscribers who do not wish to receive FLTEACH via email or WWW archives, we run a private newsgroup server for FLTEACH: FLNews.cortland.edu.  All FLTEACH list postings appear in the newsgroup, so it is possible to read FLTEACH in any news reader, but we have not enabled posting through the newsgroup.  There are many different kinds of news readers available.  To use this this point of access, set your news reader to connect to the FLNews.cortland.edu server and then subscribe to the newsgroup called flteach.list.  Information on using news readers is available online (another source and yet another).
            The opportunities for collaboration on the FL Teach Newsgroup are endless. A number of recent post titles have included: Creating Children’s Books, E.E.U.U.: Origin of the Term?, Proficiency vs. Fluency, French III Readers, and Open your books and turn the page. Each of the above discussion threads became a hot topic in the FL Teach Newsgroup, as responses tended toward four or five per thread. However, the final discussion listed, Open your books and turn the page, drew 18 responses.

            Included below are the initial queries and a few follow up responses for each of these five threads. As you read through them, consider what kinds of discussions may be helpful for you in your teaching practice and how you might begin a discussion thread.

I. Creating Children’s Books

This discussion begins with a query for creative Spanish 4 activities, and requests suggestions for creating a children’s book in class. The question is followed by many responses for how other FL teachers have successfully done a similar class activity. A couple of the responses are included below to provide example of their helpfulness.

1) Hello,
I am looking for a creative activity for my Spanish 4.  I was thinking of having them create a children's book, either by themselves or with a partner and then we would walk down to the elementary school and read it to the children.  Our elementary school does teach Spanish.  I was wondering if anyone has done this project before?  How have you set it up?  Did you make a rubric?  I am really interested in any information you may be able to share with me.
TR, Spanish teacher

2) I have done this before with great success. First I begin by having my students read children's books in Spanish. I have many, but if you don't, your public library may. Then we talk about how they are written, how many lines are on each page, their appeal, the characters, etc.

My instructions are that they will write their own children's book. I usually ask them to tell the story as if they are telling a story that has already happened. This does not mean that there cannot be any present or future tenses. I ask them to write a minimum of twenty pages. Some students will write one line per page and others write three per page. I am okay with this. They are told to write the complete story before constructing the book. They are to write the number one on a piece of paper, and write the sentences that will go on page one. Then they continue that process until all twenty pages are written. Some have me proofread after every five pages it seems and some wait until the end. I circle wrong verb ending and glaring mistakes and lead them to figure out what is wrong. I am always sure to give positive feedback, as well. I also allow peer editing but explain that directly translating for others is not acceptable. By the time the last person has finished his/her writing, I have helped to edit all books during class time.

To illustrate, they may draw, use magazine pictures, Internet or whatever. I let them know that the major portion of their grade will be based on the Spanish. After initial complaints that this will be to difficult, the students usually take great pride in their work and produce wonderful books that elementary level or Head Start kids have really enjoyed.
Hope this helps.
K

3) I have done this before with great success. First I begin by having my students read children's books in Spanish. I have many, but if you don't, your public library may. Then we talk about how they are written, how many lines are on each page, their appeal, the characters, etc.

Are public library has hundreds of pounds of children's books in Spanish.  Unfortunately, most of them are mediocre translations of English books. Some of them are BAD translations of English books.  The worst one was actually a great story--if you could ignore the bad grammar.
WG

II. E.E.U.U.: Origin of the Term?

This quick reference questions draws a number of practical and helpful responses. Included below is a response with a website describing the meaning of the term, as well as a simple response from a teacher who is already familiar with the term, E.E.U.U.

(Quick reference questions like this typically draw quick responses in the Newsgroup.)

1) Does anyone know the origin of the term, E.E.U.U.?  I was told that it is used to make a distinction from EU, or, European Union.
M in CT

2) According to http://spanish.about.com/od/writtenspanish/a/ee_uu.htm

it's the Spanish abbreviation for "Estados Unidos". The double E and double
U indicate that the letter represents a plural.
DW, UK

3) It's EE.UU.  It is simply the normal doubling of initials because the words are plural.  It existed long before the European Union ever came into existence.
MB

III. Proficiency vs. Fluency

Topics such as this one seldom sit without a number of intellectual responses. As there are quite a few expert linguists lurking around the FL Teach Newsgroup, questions such as this will quite often draw an insightful and informative response from someone. The response included below is an example of such insight and information, complete with website links to serve as resources for the writer’s further inquiry.

1.  What do proficiency and fluency look and sound like for 8th graders, and for level 2 students in 9th and 10th grades? 
2.  What are our proficiency and fluency benchmarks and objectives for students in grade 8 level 1 and grade 9/10 level 2?
M, CT

Replies:
1. While not very succinct, http://tinyurl.com/ymslh7 offers some interesting links to accuracy vs. fluency"  Fluency is how easily you communicate and accuracy is how "correct" your language is, even if you laboriously create your sentences.  Proficiency encompasses both, and proficiency guidelines can make it less subjective.
2.  What are our proficiency and fluency benchmarks and objectives for students in grade 8 level 1 and grade 9/10 level 2?

See the links I provided in the thread "What does it mean to be fluent?"  Or get the latest (print) proficiency guidelines from the ACTFL.  Reading the descriptions, decide which one describes the better 50% of your students in those classes.  Then make that or a higher level your goal.
WG

IV. French III Readers

Newsgroup discussions also tend toward very practical needs of teachers, such as suggestions for a good French III Reader. While the question below may seem simple, the responses below exemplify the very complete and descriptive kind of response that a question about textbook use often draws in the Newsgroup.

1) I am a French teacher in New Jersey. I teach a non-honors' French III class, a mixed group of nice students. Some struggle with the grammar, but really like the language. I have been teaching for 35 years and also was a Supervisor and Department Chair of languages. I am searching for some readings in French of interest to high school students, which are not too long or difficult. I have used readers in the past, but they do not suit certain language students of today. They are too difficult for some students. Could you suggest some for me? J'apprécierais cela! Please write back!!
PR

2) Dear PR, I love stories from "Petit Nicolas," but the vocabulary is perhaps a bit dense.  Of course, there is nothing to prevent the students from learning it anyway.  I usually make vocabulary sheets or allow the students to make their own vocabulary notes as we go along.  What text do you use?  I use the Discovering French series, and the Rouge has some good readings, one, in fact, that includes Petit Nicolas. 
 
You could always go on the internet and find readings that would suit teenagers.  Have you thought of finding stories from francophone countries, like Haiti or countries in Africa?  I imagine the students would enjoy those.  Excerpts from books, perhaps.....and poetry, of course!
Bon courage.
BR

3) PR,
I also teach a non-honors French III class.  I introduced a book last year "Phantom of the Opera" it comes with questions and activities at the end of  each reading.  My students liked it and this year I am bringing them to NY city to see it on Broadway and make comparisons.  If you would like, e-mail me off list and I can get you more info.
RK

V. Open your books and turn the page

A query such as this one frequently becomes a hot topic on the FL Teach Newsgroup. I suppose this is confirmation that if a group of foreign language teachers are in an on-line room together, they can talk about linguistics for quite a while. I have included many, though not all of the responses to this question below. Take note of the detail given to the nuances of the language, as well as the expertise within the response.

1) Bonjour and hola!
I teach both French and Spanish and I have a few questions about simple commands.
  
  a.  Listeurs:  How do you say "Open your books"?  Is it "Ouvrez le livre", "Ouvrez les livres", or "Ouvrez vos livres"?
  
  b.  Listeros:  How do you say "Turn the page"?  I don't have any clue, since using the phrase "dar una vuelta" seems absurd.
Merci beaucoup and muchas gracias!!
M

2) vuelvan a la página
JF

3) ???  "Vuelvan a la página" would mean "return to page..."
MB

4) You are right MB! Now you got me thinking...what is the verb for to turn?
JF

5) Doblen la página is what my high school teachers always said.
EF

6) I have also heard "voltear la página"
 JS

7) Doblar the page would get a lot of creased, folded textbook pages, if taken literally most places, I think.  So, native Spanish speakers out there, do you ever "turn" pages in
Spanish when reading a book, or do you do (say, think) something else when you change or pass from one page to another?
DD

8) I say, and my teachers in Spain said since I was 3 to college, "Vayan a la pagina" . I agree "doblen la pagina" would get a lot of creased corners :)
Thanks!
AF

9) I think the best way to say "turn the page" in Spanish is "pasar a la  siguiente página". For "Let's turn to page 34" you can say Vamos a la página 34"  or Pasemos a la página 34. These equivalents of the English phrase can be  found in any good dictionary.
In fact, a good exercise in comparative lexicon is to look up English "to  turn" in a good bilingual dictionary (I recommend the Larousse or  Harper  Collins) and see how many translations there are, since a verb such as "turn" in  English has so many meanings. 
Looking for one to one equivalents of words inevitably leads one into  error.
DS

10) In Spanish: abran los textos y pasen a la página... If you want them to turn to the next page: denle vuelta a la página or pasen a la siguiente página or la página que sigue
LR

11) Why would you not say, "Abran su libro a la pagina" whatever? Or, if their
book is already open, "Miren la pagina" whatever?
EF

12) My family is from Colombia and that is what I have always heard. Dar vuelta is when you are traveling around.
JV

13) I am a native speaker and If I wanted my students to turn to page "5" I would simply say, "Por favor de len vuelta a la pagina 5 or dar vuelta" 
JS

14) After my post, I did a survey of my colleagues for "to turn the  page":
Puerto Rico, Argentina, Spain: pasar la página, pasar a la página #
Colombia: voltear la página
DS

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Podcasting: The Language Lab has left the building!

The spring conference season has kept your wandering editor busy and provided much food for thought about innovations in foreign language teaching. I’ll share with you some of the exciting new ideas from presentations at the Northeast Association for Language Learning Technology (NEALLT), which was held April 8 - 9 in Philadelphia, PA. The organization can be found at: http://neallt.org/

The first thing I realized is that the iPod has the potential for taking listening and speaking practice to higher levels of student motivation and engagement. Several presenters told how their classes have undertaken projects that involve listening to and creating audio podcasts. Teachers are using podcasting and blogging to stimulate students and provide more listening and speaking opportunitites.

A discussion of the pedagogical implications of podcasting signaled that this technology is part of the shift from teacher-centered environment to a learner-centered environment for language learning. Learners are in control of the medium and therefore are invested in producing the message, which is in the form of their own experiences and opinions, delivered in the target language and shared not only with their classmates and teacher, but the rest of the world as well. Links to the presenters' notes and website are promised soon on the NEALLT site. In the meantime, I will summarize a couple of presentations and point out a few websites that support educational podcasting.

1.- Podcasts as Instructional Tools: Taking Language Tasks Beyond the Classroom.

Two teachers, J. Torres and R. Araujo, from St. Lawrence University, in Canton, NY, told about a project in their advanced Spanish Conversation class.

• First, they listened to examples of native-language podcasts; http://radio.planetachat.com/ and personal podcasts.
• Next, they trained students in how to create podcasts, using Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net ( a free, cross-platform sound editor) or Garage Band (on Mac) or Loudblog: http://loudblog.de/, which sets up an iTunes-ready RSS feed.
• The main aspect of the project required students to produce four 10 - 20 minute podcasts about topics that would be of interest to other students.

The course website can be seen at: http://jennatorres.net/span346 where you can hear examples of the student podcasts.

2.- Promoting Oral Proficiency with Odeo.com

Three language instructors, J. Ruth and L. Teixeira from East Stroudsburg University and S. Villa from The New School, showed how they use Odeo in their Spanish and Portuguese classes. http://odeo.com/ is a community-based podcasting service which allows everything created there to be shared via email. The presenters explained this process for using it:

• The teacher posts a picture and some audio to accompany it. For example, a picture of four people would have the audio, "Describe estas personas." Another teacher might send students to a BBC news clip in Portuguese and ask particular questions.
• Each student responds orally, recording and saving the audio that is sent to the teacher automatically.

The instructors say this greatly increases the amount of time students are listening and speaking in the target language.

3.- Podcasting and Foreign Language Education - Current Practices and Future Possibilities

Instructors from Pennsylvania State University (L. Agafonova, N. Isenberg, M. Lipschultz, J. S. Payne, and T. Tasker) discussed the future of podcasting as a pedagogical approach from the perspectives of students and teachers, and argue that "its potential for transforming foreign language instruction remains largely untapped." That is because our students are generally so far ahead of us as teachers in using digital technology. You may wonder if this is just another variation on the older technologies we’ve incorporated into our teaching. Among the insights the panelists shared were:

• Podcasting IS different because it combines ease of student use of recording with ease of dissemination through the Internet and the RSS feed. (RSS is what allows users to subscribe to podcasts so they are automatically downloaded whenever a new segment is created).



• This technology allows for a new phenomenon in language learning: "Mobile Language Immersion." As described by Thorne and Payne, using the iPod, students can create their own immersion environments while walking between classes, commuting, etc. http://calper.la.psu.edu/tech_workshop_2005/podcasting.html



• The mobile immersion environment is considered less stressful than foreign immersion or domestic immersion. What is the effect, one panelist wondered, of the mobile aspect, creating increased circulation and respiration, on the cognitive functioning of students? Will we see higher proficiency being developed by students who are listening to their target language while they're on the move?

Speaking of the iPod creating an immersion environment: this looks mighty nice.
Picture by Travis Hammond.

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Going Global with Technology
by Jill Robbins

“My students aren’t interested in learning Spanish, they just want to send messages on their cell phones and listen to their iPods…” one of my graduate students complained the other night. I suggested that she meet her students in that realm of interaction: make it possible for them to communicate in the target language in the electronic formats they’re comfortable with. We have suggestions for a couple of ways to begin:

Internet Collaborations

Summer is a good time to prepare for the coming year by thinking about inter-school projects. Here are two websites that provide extensive resources for email and other online exchanges between teachers and classes.

Intercultural E-Mail Classroom Connections
http://www.iecc.org/

Started by a team of professors from Minnesota, IECC is a free service to help teachers at all levels to link with partners in other cultures and/or countries for email classroom pen-pal and other project exchanges. Since its creation in 1992, IECC has distributed over 28,000 requests for e-mail partnerships. Registering on the site permits you to view four different listservs and see what the latest requests are for exchanges. You can post a message there or search for a particular topic.

Global SchoolNet Foundation
http://www.globalschoolnet.org/index.html

Global SchoolNet was founded in 1984 by teachers who believed that in a connected world students need a global perspective, brings together youth online from 194 countries to explore community, cultural and scientific issues that prepare them for the workforce and help them to become responsible and literate global citizens. The site lists competitions for cyber exchanges that provide cash for schools and scholarships for students. The clearinghouse http://www.globalschoolnet.org/center/index.html) lists free or low cost software that teachers can use to carry out collaborative learning projects, contains a registry of projects:
(http://www.globalschoolnet.org/GSH/pr/index.cfm),
and resources:
(http://www.globalschoolnet.org/center/resourceoverview.html)

Podcasting

The New Oxford American Dictionary chose “podcast” as its 2005 Word of the Year and defines podcast as “a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player.” Check out the runners-up for new words of 2005 here: http://www.us.oup.com/us/brochure/NOAD_podcast/?view=usa

If you become familiar with this booming development in technology, you may be better equipped to understand and use the knowledge your students already have to engage them in practicing their foreign language.

Apple’s Education website has tutorials and videos on how to use podcasting in education:
http://www.apple.com/education/solutions/podcasting/

Or, you can use pocasts that have been created by others for educational purposes. For a directory, see:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPlayListsPage?fcId=122119984&pageType=playlists&id=33

Or in iTunes Music Store, choose Podcasts, then Browse, and Educational. Podcasts are available for elarners of ESL, French, Spansh, Japanese, Italian, Russian, Chinese, and German.

Even elementary school students are producing their own podcasts. Radio WillowWeb has a list of some here:
http://www.mpsomaha.org/willow/radio/podcasts.html

Or see a directory at:
http://podcasts.yahoo.com/series?s=0d09462dfdf3270fc6672369fe78a3db

Online video

Teachers of Generation Y can easily grab their students’ attention by developing multimedia presentations to stimulate class discussion and writing. n example of this can be found relating the current controversy over a national language. Dennis Baron, a University of Illinois professor of English and Linguistics, has created a video montage on his web page called, “José can you see? The controversy over the Spanish translation of the Star-Spangled Banner” Baron says, “The controversy over the recording of the national anthem in Spanish occurred just as my history of the English language class came to the unit on multilingualism in the USA. So I prepared some teaching materials to stimulate discussion on this topic and placed them on my website.” The video includes a clip from The Colbert Report, with an ironic view of the debate.

Hope you have a great summer playing around with some of this new technology! See you in the Fall!

Thinking Globally

The strongest motivation for foreign language learning is to understand people around the world - so it makes sense for FL teachers to teach about gloablization. Students should be aware of the relationships between their own country and other countries in order to communicate effectively in their foreign language. Globalization101.org, a project of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, is an objective online resource to teach high school & college students about policy aspects of globalization related to civics, economics, geography and history, without any fees or charges. Globalization101.org provides unbiased, easily understandable information and related lesson plans to teach about cross-disciplinary subjects such as international trade, world - wide health and environmental issues and global technological changes. The site includes 11 in-depth issue briefs, more than 70 news analyses, teachers’ resource section (with lesson plans and alignments to state standards), video interviews and a useful links section. We have just recently uploaded a Spanish-language translation of the Culture Issue Brief and a Chinese Language translation of the World Bank and IMF Issue Brief. Lesson plans to use with the World Bank Brief briefs and the IMF Briefs are offered. They appreciate any feedback on the translations and look forward to adding more translations over the coming year. Teachers can sign up to field test the lessons - download the application here. (Note - aWord document will download) If you want to learn more or sign up for their newsletter, e-mail g101@carnegieendowment.org.

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Virginia Goes Live with Virtual Chinese
by Jill Robbins

Many schools and state departments of education around the country are trying to arrange ways for their students to study the less-commonly taught languages, such as Chinese, Arabic, and Japanese. A shortage of qualified teachers is one barrier to meeting this need. Another is low numbers of students interested in a particular language at individual schools, and schools that are geographically widespread across a state. One way to make such classes possible is through distance education.

Language Resource interviewed Cathy Cheely, E-Learning Coordinator for the Virginia Department of Education about the new programs being offered to provide foreign languages in Virtual Learning environments. She told us that the Virtual Chinese course is being introduced this semester with around 30 students enrolled. The first level has been fully developed and each year, another level will be offered. It is anticipated that 150 lessons will be available in Chinese when all levels are complete. Cheely explained that the course was developed with several considerations in mind. One was to avoid the tendency of students to skip over parts of the lesson and move on to the “fun” activities or to be confused about what to work on at a given point. This is address through video streaming of teacher instruction. The teacher explains the lesson and indicates what is on the agenda. The student can view the agenda and click on buttons to go to each part. For example, in the video, the teacher says to go to the PowerPoint to find out about the vocabulary first. After the student has finished that, a click of a button returns to the video streaming so the teacher can explain the next step, which may be a lesson on a CD on brush strokes for writing the Chinese characters. Assessments are built into each lesson to keep track of how much the student has learned and to give immediate feedback on understanding of the material. If the student has questions, there is an interactive chat function where questions can be answered by the teacher or by aides. The instructors keep a staggered schedule of early and later hours in the day so students can interact with them during school hours or at home in the evenings. Students can page the teacher through a system similar to Instant Messaging, and the teacher can see when each student is online. The teacher also has a toll-free number that students can call to ask questions.

The software used in Virginia’s virtual foreign language classes includes Desire2Learn http://www.desire2learn.com/, which provides the learning environment, and Elluminate http://www.elluminate.com, which allows for live discussions. Students can also use Elluminate to send audio or video files to the teacher. Demonstrations can be viewed on these companies’ websites. Cheely feels that the video streaming is an important component of the virtual courses; the teachers can give further explanations and encourage students in this lively visual communication. Another key factor for success is the presence in the student’s real-world school of a mentor. This is a teacher who is responsible for monitoring student progress and proctoring exams.

LR asks: How popular are these virtual classes? Cheely says, “This year there are a lot more students online - last year enrollment was at 1300, while this year we have 2400 students.” Enrollment levels in virtual foreign language classes this year are: Latin (not counting AP) – 503; Spanish Language AP – 15; Spanish AP – 60; Japanese – Satellite and online – 456, Chinese – 30.

LR: Why has there been such a big increase? Cheely responds, “Many states’ virtual schools are facing increased demand for courses. Students are getting more accustomed to using distance learning technology, and there is greater awareness of the need for foreign languages.”

LR: Have the requirements of NCLB had an effect on the use of virtual courses? “Schools are increasing trying to find highly-qualified fully licensed teachers. Many schools had too few students to make up a class – or could not employ a teacher full time. This makes virtual courses very convenient.”

LR: How about the demand for younger students to study foreign languages through distance learning? “There have been requests for languages at the elementary level – but that is not part of Virginia’s e-Learning mission right now. This would require restructuring of the role of the mentors and modifying the courses.”

LR: Thank you for taking the time to talk with us!

For more information on Virginia’s Virtual Advanced Placement and foreign language courses, see http://www.virtualvirginia.org

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