--- Forwarded Message from "John Mark Esposito" <[log in to unmask]> --- >From: "John Mark Esposito" <[log in to unmask]> >To: "'Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum'" <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: Fitting lab into language curriculum >Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2005 11:09:23 -0400 >Importance: Normal >In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]> I'd like to add to this point, as well. I, too, am in total agreement. It's been a difficult transition, and I still struggle with changing the "image" of our Center. It's particularly important for me because I receive funding on the numbers of students who come to the lab, even more so for tutoring... We did away with the 10 hour lab requirement several years ago for the same exact reasons: students sleeping at stations, playing solitaire, shopping, and generally taking up space. Initially, there was a dramatic decrease in traffic in the Center. At first, I thought that we should require using some of the software, Rosetta Stone or Tell Me More, as part of the regular class work. However, I generally feel that those types of programs are best suited for individual practice or individually assigned work from instructors. Students are required to complete their workbook and lab activities, most of which is done online from home. So, how to get students back to the Center to take advantage of all the great services that we provide? In short, we self promoted ourselves, organizing conversation hours, showing movies, music listening hours, guest lectures about foreign cultures, and most importantly, tutoring. I have used my tutors as language ambassadors, visiting classes and organizing events for students. This seems to have worked extremely well. In addition, we have been using an oral testing program from about 3 years which requires students to come to the lab in order to complete their assignments. These tests can not be done over the internet. We are not only testing students' oral proficiency. We use the application for assignments as well. Students, depending on their level, describe photos, give short descriptions of themselves, recite poetry, etc. So, in this sense, visits to the Center are integrated in the regular class, at least for the first three levels of language. We are also now starting with multi-media projects, and although students can complete these assignments from home using iPhoto or Photo Story 3, many come to the lab. I guess it's easier to meet with groups --some stations allow up to three students to work together-- and students know that they can always get assistance here, as well. As a result, we give workshops to students on using PowerPoint, Photo Story and just recently NJStar. When you are not teaching, nor directly involved in the writing of syllabus, or for that matter the content of the class, I have learned that the most I could possibly do is to make our Center and attractive place for students, a place where they could come to see language being used for real purposes. 90% of the staff, which includes lab managers, federal work study students and tutors, was born outside the United States, so students who come to our Center don't hear a lot of English. Lastly, most of changes that we have made over past few years have been a direct result of attending conferences and seeing amazing presentations from colleagues in the field. From ideas for class projects to ways in which I could better manage the staff, the help I have received has been simply amazing. Thanks, John Mark. *********************************************** LLTI is a service of IALLT, the International Association for Language Learning, and The Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning (http://consortium.dartmouth.edu). Join IALLT at http://iallt.org. Otmar Foelsche, LLTI-Editor ([log in to unmask]) ***********************************************