--- Forwarded Message from "Timothy Pope" <[log in to unmask]> ---
>From: "Timothy Pope" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: "Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum" <[log in to unmask]>
>References: <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: #5661.12 Using technology to save $$ and to revolutionize lea rning (!)
>Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 07:25:20 -0600
------------------
Christopher,
You should know that Webgen 2000 (which is free of charge) offers tracking
of all practice sessions (like your "Tutorial and practice") by student,
exercises attempted and scores, and full reporting and session logging in
exam mode. It grades all exercises other than free composition, permitting
partial marks (in both modes) and offering detailed error analysis (in
tutorial mode). Webgen also contains substantial bilingual dictionaries for
French, German and Spanish (for these there is a nominal charge) and it runs
under PC and MAC browsers either on-line or from the local hard drive. For
German, grammar parsing of natural language is under development, as is a
platform-independent exercise-generating program that avoids the need to
remember Webgen-specific tags.
Sincerely,
Timothy F. Pope
The University of Lethbridge
----- Original Message -----
From: LLTI-Editor <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 17, 2000 6:12 AM
Subject: Re: #5661.12 Using technology to save $$ and to revolutionize lea
rning (!)
--- Forwarded Message from "Christopher M. Jones"
<[log in to unmask]> ---
>Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2000 12:27:40 -0400
>From: "Christopher M. Jones" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: "Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum"
<[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: #5661.11 Using technology to save $$ and to revolutionize
lea rning (!)
------------------
Peggy:
Our Language Online project is divided into two components, essentially. One
is a site built with html and JavaScript which we call "tutorial and
practice" and which is not tracked. The other is WebCT, which we use for all
administration, communication, online testing and so forth.
The methods I am aware of for tracking user behavior in a Web environment
are cookies, CGI scripting, and Java, none of which apply to your current
situation of having a bank of Makers exercises. Retrofitting Makers or Hot
Potatoes or other JavaScript exercises in some fashion will in all
likelihood not be possible, though I would love to discover otherwise...
The only method feasible for most language professionals that I am aware of
(without substantial programming investment) is to use the WebCT environment
as an authoring system. The quiz function in WebCT is capable of
integrating media, tracking and recording student response, by-item analysis
of test results, etc etc. WebCT used to be cheap... Blackboard never was,
and is less language-friendly, but those are the real options.
Our intention eventually is to use the WebCT quizzes as "gateway" events,
which then would return the unsuccessful students to the tutorial and
practice modules for further (untracked) practice. Whether we will ever have
all student interaction tracked is an open question at this point.
Hope this helps,
-Chris
--On Thu, Oct 12, 2000 8:48 AM +0000 LLTI-Editor <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> --- Forwarded Message from "Buckwalter, Peggy" <[log in to unmask]>
---
>
>>From: "Buckwalter, Peggy" <[log in to unmask]>
>>To: "'Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum'"
<[log in to unmask]>
>>Subject: RE: #5661.9 Using technology to save $$ and to revolutionize lea
rning
>>Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2000 13:09:40 -0600
>
> ------------------
> Hello to everyone. I have a question for Chris Jones regarding your
> language online at CMU or anyone else who might be able to help me. I am
> wondering about the technology you use for monitoring student work and
> progress. I use interactive exercises with audio and video made using the
> Exercises Makers created and generously made available to all of us by the
> Tricollege Mellon Language Project in Philadelphia. I house them on
WebCT,
> which works fine except that it provides very limited tracking for my
> purposes. (I am a one-person department trying to find ways of giving my
> students as much exposure to the Spanish language as possible-we are in
> South Dakota-and at the same time trying to rid my life and theirs of the
> dreaded workbook.) Is there a program that would track my students' work
(in
> a similarly sophisticated way that a digital lab like the CAN8 can do)?
Any
> suggestions from anyone will be gratefully received. (WE use an NT
server)
> Thank you,
> Peggy
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: LLTI-Editor [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 31 August 2000 13:40
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: #5661.9 Using technology to save $$ and to revolutionize
> learning
>
>
> --- Forwarded Message from Christopher Jones <[log in to unmask]> ---
>
>>Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2000 12:39:00 -0400
>>From: Christopher Jones <[log in to unmask]>
>>To: Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum
> <[log in to unmask]>
>>Subject: Re: #5661.1 Using technology to save $$ and to revolutionize
> learning
>>In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>Originator-Info:
> login-token=Mulberry:01ojPBQgWdMLDZsRC57bM4sfWQOG4onk7Qli63oqM0yw==;
> [log in to unmask]
>
> ------------------
> Samantha, Rachel:
>
> You could browse through the description of our Language Online project at
>
> http://mlonline.hss.cmu.edu
>
> We quite explicitly do NOT claim to be saving any money at this point, but
> the change in the structure of the learning environment is substantial,
and
> successful so far.
>
> -Chris
>
> --On Tue, Aug 29, 2000 8:40 +0000 LLTI-Editor <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
>> --- Forwarded Message from Samantha Earp <[log in to unmask]> ---
>>
>>> Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2000 10:45:45 -0700 (PDT)
>>> From: Samantha Earp <[log in to unmask]>
>>> Subject: Re: #5661Using technology to save $$ and to revolutionize
>>> learning To: Language Learning and Technology International Information
>>> Forum <[log in to unmask]>
>>
>> ------------------
>> I've kicked around an idea for years to have students
>> move through language instruction at their own page,
>> supported by lots of technology work and smaller,
>> lab-like (or travaux pratiques sessions, for you
>> French-speakers) sessions with teachers. They would
>> move through based on mastery, and all the materials
>> would help move them in this direction.
>>
>> (A former colleague and I at a previous institution
>> briefly considered putting on a small pilot project
>> sequence in German in this way, but the institutional
>> barriers and resistance from other colleagues shot us
>> down in a big way, very fast.)
>>
>> Writing this very basic description in this way
>> glosses over a whole lot of learning & SLA theory that
>> would need to be examined carefully, not to mention
>> the logistics of organization and extremely careful
>> instructional design that takes into account the
>> unique technology-enhanced learning environment
>> (rather than tacking technology onto a pre-existing
>> pedagogical structure). But I'm still very interested
>> in this idea, and along with Rachel would love to hear
>> more about any forays into this area...
>>
>> Best,
>> Samantha Earp
>> Duke University
>>
>>
>> --- LLTI-Editor <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>> --- Forwarded Message from Rachel Saury
>>> <[log in to unmask]> ---
>>>
>>> > Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2000 09:00:01 -0400
>>> > To: Language Learning and Technology International
>>> Information Forum <[log in to unmask]>
>>> > From: Rachel Saury <[log in to unmask]>
>>> > Subject: Using technology to save $$ and to
>>> revolutionize learning
>>> > In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>>
>>> ------------------
>>> Dear colleagues and friends,
>>>
>>> I have an interesting nut for everyone to chew on.
>>> It is a commonly
>>> expressed view in our field that the new digital
>>> technologies are primarily
>>> being used within a curricular model that differs
>>> little from when we
>>> relied on analog technologies. This manifests as
>>> students primarily
>>> listening to digitized audiotapes and video with
>>> some recording of their
>>> responses. If the digital technologies are being
>>> used in innovative ways,
>>> it is still within the traditional classroom
>>> structure: students meeting in
>>> class 3-5 hours/week (depending upon the level) with
>>> a single instructor
>>> with homework assignments, both written and oral, to
>>> be done at home and in
>>> the lab. It is interesting to note that the report
>>> from the Mellon
>>> Foundation in 1998 after years of funding foreign
>>> language instructional
>>> technology projects, came to the conclusion that
>>> making the leap into using
>>> the technology in ways that could truly cut costs is
>>> challenging.
>>>
>>> I have been intrigued by Virginia Tech's Math
>>> Emporium model. About four
>>> years ago, VA Tech decided that they needed a more
>>> cost-effective way to
>>> deliver basic math instruction. They dismantled the
>>> traditional structure
>>> of the class, with students meeting in large lecture
>>> halls with a single
>>> instructor--usually a TA under the supervision of a
>>> full-time faculty
>>> member. They purchased an old Rose's building
>>> (Rose's is a southern
>>> version of K-Mart), installed a few hundred
>>> computers in various
>>> configurations and groupings to allow for
>>> individual, paired and group
>>> work, created learning modules, and restructured the
>>> commitment of faculty
>>> and TA time. Students primarily did their work
>>> using the computer-based
>>> learning modules. They had paired and group
>>> projects and could also choose
>>> to go to lectures on various areas of mathematics,
>>> if they felt they needed
>>> extra help. Faculty members and TAs held their
>>> "office hours" in the lab
>>> and were available to tutor students. Small group
>>> sessions with
>>> instructors were also scheduled for group discussion
>>> and questions.
>>>
>>> Here at UVA, the Spanish Dept. is facing a crisis:
>>> enrollments in first
>>> year Spanish are up, with the result that each class
>>> has 30 students with
>>> one instructor. There is no end in sight in terms
>>> of enrollment, but
>>> funding for more TAs is not keeping up with demand.
>>> I have been
>>> considering whether the Math Emporium model could be
>>> applied creatively to
>>> foreign languages in such a way that students could
>>> actually get more
>>> one-on-one tutoring, more opportunities for
>>> communication with an
>>> instructor and with other students, and more
>>> drilling and rote pratice to
>>> reinforce grammatical forms and vocabulary. In the
>>> end, I don't think what
>>> students would learn in terms of quantity or quality
>>> would be
>>> sacrificed. But I do think that learning could be
>>> more dynamic, with
>>> students being exposed to more varied communicative
>>> contexts and
>>> opportunities than in the current structure.
>>>
>>> I would be interested in your ideas and thoughts.
>>> Are there any programs
>>> out there right now that are trying this out? Do
>>> you think this could
>>> work? If so, how? Can you refer me to any sources?
>>>
>>> Thanks!
>>>
>>> Rachel Saury
>>>
>>>
>>> Rachel E. Saury, Ph.D.
>>> Director, Arts & Sciences Center for Instructional
>>> Technologies
>>> P.O. Box 400784
>>> University of Virginia
>>> Charlottesville, VA 22904-4784
>>> (804) 924-6847 ph.
>>> (804) 924-6875 fax
>>> www.people.virginia.edu/~res4n
>>
>>
>> __________________________________________________
>> Do You Yahoo!?
>> Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere!
>> http://mail.yahoo.com/
>
>
>
> Christopher M. Jones, PhD
> Principal Lecturer in French / Director, Language Learning Resource Center
> mail: Baker Hall 160, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
> tel: 412-268-8087 fax: 412-268-1328 e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Christopher M. Jones, PhD
Principal Lecturer in French / Director, Language Learning Resource Center
mail: Baker Hall 160, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
tel: 412-268-8087 fax: 412-268-1328 e-mail: [log in to unmask]
|
