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May 2001, Week 1

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From:
LLTI-Editor <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 1 May 2001 17:10:26 EDT
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--- Forwarded Message from "Jerry and Carolyn Dean" <[log in to unmask]> ---

>From: "Jerry and Carolyn Dean" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: "Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum"    <[log in to unmask]>
>References:  <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: learning to use Blackboard
>Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2001 18:52:26 -0500

------------------
My colleagues and I have found BB very easy to noodle around in, very intuitive.
if you just want gradute hours, go ahead, but two of us began using it with no
training, and four more after just a week of inservice (fewer than 30 hours
clocktime - including powerpoint, web graphics, music, etc.

My friend and I began using the free site, and I have used Blackboard to
supplement all of my classes.
Caro
----- Original Message -----
From: "LLTI-Editor" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, April 30, 2001 4:19 PM
Subject: Re: #6083.6 changes to the Language Lab (!)


> --- Forwarded Message from "Samuels, Jeff" <[log in to unmask]> ---
>
> >From: "Samuels, Jeff" <[log in to unmask]>
> >To: "'LLTI-Editor'" <[log in to unmask]>
> >Subject: RE: #6083.2 changes to the Language Lab
> >Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 09:13:33 -0400
>
> Dear LLTIers,
>
> I concur with Kirk Anderson's sentiments below; and at the same time, I'm
> tempted to play the devil's advocate.  Here at Goucher, each language
> section handles its use of the lab component differently, and this sometimes
> means that a change in textbook implies the institution or abolition of
> required lab hours from one semester to the next.  Since most of our courses
> currently do not have a required lab component, it means that our
> instructors are able to schedule periodic or regular class meetings in the
> lab itself.  This has changed the nature of our instruction and of our
> interaction with students "in" class.  As a matter of fact, as I type this,
> my students are taking their last chapter exam right here in the lab, part
> of which requires them to use the computers.
>
> Another positive aspect to freeing up the lab for class meetings is that our
> Academic Dean, who was here recently for a brief demonstration of how we use
> technology in language courses, was so intrigued that he asked me to write
> up a proposal for summer technology grants for faculty. Grantees will be
> able to use the lab to integrate technology into all manner of courses,
> funded by the Dean and with a stipend to boot.  He's also paying for several
> of us to take an online graduate course in Blackboard this summer, with the
> proviso that we then use it with at least one of our courses this Fall or
> Spring. (This will not create scheduling problems as we don't have summer
> courses at Goucher.) So the lab will be used as a faculty development space
> while courses are not in session.
>
> In other words, if your students are no longer required to use the lab in
> the traditional audiolingual modality, or "outside" of class to complete
> pre-packaged workbook exercises and so forth, then perhaps this opens up
> opportunities for the lab to become part of the faculty development and/or
> classroom experience (rather than to be perceived as "outside" the
> classroom, an artificial construct since learning is alleged to take place
> beyond classroom walls -- don't laugh, I'm serious).  I should add that many
> of us create web-based exercises that the students must do in the lab as
> those integrate listening comprehension as well -- in my own case, these
> tend to be "outside" of class unless the students have difficulty, in which
> case we do them together "in" class (but it all takes place here in the
> lab).
>
> Given all this, I freely admit that we do have students coming in here when
> classes are not meeting, for the sole purpose of surfing the net, checking
> email, and online chatting.  We do have the lab designated as a priority
> space for students doing language-based assignments, but we've never had to
> kick anyone out so that a language student could work -- not even at the end
> of the semester when the entire Thormann Center is packed.
>
> Nonetheless, I am still concerned about the point that Kirk Anderson makes,
> let alone that whole situation with David Maxwell and Drake University. If
> one can say that there is a growing tendency to attack or diminish language
> requirements, I fear it is especially daunting for those small, liberal arts
> institutions like the one where I teach.
>
> See you at IALL!
>
> Best,
> Jeff
>
> Jeffrey D. Samuels
> Instructor / Program Coordinator
> Thormann International Technology and Media Center
> Goucher College
> Baltimore, MD 21204
> [log in to unmask]
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: LLTI-Editor [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2001 8:27 AM
> Subject: Re: #6083.2 changes to the Language Lab
>
>
> --- Forwarded Message from Kirk Anderson <[log in to unmask]> ---
>
> >In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
> >References: <[log in to unmask]>
> >Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 10:53:08 -0400
> >To: Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum
> <[log in to unmask]>
> >From: Kirk Anderson <[log in to unmask]>
> >Subject: Re: #6083 changes to the Language Lab
>
> ------------------
> >
> >Members of the University have a proposal forward to the
> >administration requesting that the mandatory lab hour be
> >abolished and that instead the lab becomes used as an
> >individual study resource room instead.
>
>
> I think this describes very accurately the fate of
> many language labs in U.S. colleges and universities
> during the past 20 years.  My opinion is that it
> was a big mistake: it has eroded the importance
> of language labs and consequently the effectiveness
> of language programs.  However, those who work in
> institutions whose students demonstrate an exceptional
> level of motivation for language study would probably
> offer a different perspective.
>
> You may well see your language lab become a
> place where students come to check their e-mail,
> or don't come at all.
>
> Kirk Anderson
> Dept of French Studies
> Wheaton College MA
> USA
>

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