--- Forwarded Message from Judy Shoaf <[log in to unmask]> ---

>Date: Wed, 23 May 2007 14:25:38 -0400
>From: Judy Shoaf <[log in to unmask]>
>User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7.11)
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>To: Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum   
<[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: #8548 Lab bookings system?
>References: <[log in to unmask]>
>In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>

Oooh, I wonder what the answers will be like for this one. I feel 
sometimes like my main value here is just being able to be perceived as 
fair--when I can manage it--on scheduling. How about trying to 
accomodate 20 sections of Spanish in a single lab...? Or a professor who 
TELLS ME that one of "my" labs is about to become the registrar-assigned 
room for several courses? I don't think there is a software that can 
argue with a full professor.... and I wasn't very good at it either.

Your description is a good one, I think: continuity + first come + those 
interesting new projects. Obviously you have gotten the faculty to 
understand that "all I want is one period!" doesn't work if someone else 
has a prior claim on that particular period.

The trickiest thing is persuading large multi-section courses that they 
can use the lab only if they do not all meet on the same day. The 
elementary Spanish courses get their 20 sections into the lab twice a 
semester because they schedule a lab "week" instead of a lab "day"--they 
take whatever slots I can give them. French only does it once a semester 
because they want all their 6-7 sections on the same day.

Categories of reservations:

Registrar room: this is the only place that class ever meets. This is 
reserved for a couple of pronunciation classes. However, as there is 
more of a classroom crunch we have a couple of other courses now using 
the computer labs on this basis. I try to keep it to a minimum because 
sometimes that one period someone wants is completely and always booked 
by such a class.

Courses that do speaking tests (Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese). There 
may only be 2 tests a semester but the instructors may want to have test 
prep and follow-up sessions, too. I try to work out a schedule well 
ahead of time so that I can give them the days they want, since when one 
gives a test is very dependent on where one is in the syllabus. Also, 
for security reasons they want to be able to do the test on the same day.

Courses that make use of special software or media facilities that we 
have. E.g. some African languages use CDs we purchased or a multimedia 
"book" on the local server; a Spanish class uses online video. Once a 
week or once every other week. German classes with online multimedia 
textbooks, as much as possible.

Elementary Spanish and French. Role-playing in pairs once or twice a 
semester. One reason to do this is so the TAs can say they have used a 
language lab (and to identify the ones who might want to do more). For 
these courses, I work with instructors or grad students to get a 
polished set of exercises which students can access with as little 
bother as possible. Students are paired up according to where they are 
sitting; half have one set of exercises accessible on the desktop and 
the other half have a complimentary set. The instructor can listen to 
their conversations, lead discussions of the exercises.

One-off or occasional uses: Plenty of these but it is pot luck.



LLTI-Editor wrote:

> --- Forwarded Message from "Edith Paillat" <[log in to unmask]> ---
> 
> 
>>Subject: Lab bookings system?
>>Date: Wed, 23 May 2007 14:59:37 +1200
>>Thread-Topic: Lab bookings system?
>>Thread-Index: Acec5mZoiM6Of3FgQp69KCJZrLyMgw==
>>From: "Edith Paillat" <[log in to unmask]>
>>To: <[log in to unmask]>
> 
> 
> LLTIers goodday!
> We have 2 language labs (teaching - 20 seats) here at the LLC, VUW and
> the room bookings are negotiated before the start of each semester on
> the basis of priority from one year to the next as well as more or less
> first come first served. 
> It is quite challenging every year/semester to be fair and equitable to
> everyone particulary when dealing with classes of 100 or more students -
> all day booking. A lot of lecturers here are taking technology onboard
> and we wish to offer eveyone the same chance to use our specific
> equipment and software - limited to the LLC - not the wider campus.
> I would really appreciate hearing how you manage your lab bookings i.e
> weekly/fortnightly rotations? one-offs? Any experience (good and bad) 
> I have seen and heard of online lab management software but haven't
> pursued the investigation.
> Thanks for this and keep up the good work!
> Kind regards :)
> 
> ****************************
> Edith Paillat
> Language Technology Specialist
> Language Learning Centre
> Victoria University of Wellington
> P.O.Box 600, Wellington
> New Zealand
> +64 4 463 5792
> http://www.vuw.ac.nz/llc/about/projects.aspx
> 
> 
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> Otmar Foelsche, LLTI-Editor ([log in to unmask])
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