FOREIGN LANGUAGES: TEACHING WITH TECHNOLOGY
in Partnership with ACTFL and IALL, November 2001
Organizations
for Computer Language Learning
IALL:
International Association for Language Learning and
Technology
CALL:
Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Testing
CALICO:
Computer-Assisted Language Instruction Consortium
URL:
Uniform Resource Locator
(web address to get to a website, also called 'link'
when clickable in a text)
HTML:
Hypertext Markup Language
Web designers use this to create websites. It is what
makes clicking on a link work.
German
Language Teaching on CD-ROMs
Great
website with large map of Germany with clickable cities
http://www.entry.de/
'book'
flight and hotel:
http://www.travel-overland.de/index.html
collect
necessary travel vocab:
http://www.germanfortravellers.com
Rosetta
Stone Classic
Fairfield Language Technologies
listening,
reading, writing, but no culture
every language has the same images and people -
disadvantage
gives student one-on-one feeling of accomplishment
feedback
can do it one's on own
vocabulary-building
visual and sound connected (sound, visual image,
word)
words ' sentences
5 formats (word + sound, just sound, etc.)
type phrase = writing
Help menu, but how to get back to main menu???
or there is no main menu - you go to a certain level,
e.g. Deutsch 01 - 02, 17 - 18
vocab cards or right picture for a phrase (funny)
you hear it, click on correct picture that goes
with oral comprehension
easy to navigate
all levels
Einfach
Toll! (2000) - new version 2.0
Houghton
Mifflin Co.
problems
with sound with Windows 95 on demo computer
Neue
Horizonte NOW!
Houghton Mifflin Co.
page
setup looks like "Learn German Now"
multi-section page, very cluttered and full
unscramble phrase, fun stuff, crossword
Learn
German Now
Transparent Language Product, version 8
can record
own voice answering and listen to your recording
(sound wave displayed onscreen to compare with the
native language wave)
dialogs - had to click for each speaker - it got
stuck
Help menu
too much on each page
could not figure out how to do crossword page
Transparent Language: first - audio and grammar
support for literary texts, now video
if you want to digitize an audio tape, this may
already have been done by publisher, so check, and
if not, get OK from publisher to digitize it
Triple
Play Plus! German
Syracuse Language Systems
Multimedia Games and Conversations
modes: listening, reading, speaking
subjects: food, numbers, etc.
choose a mode and a subject, then certain games
light up:
e.g.
level 1 vocab, 2 phrases, 3 conversations --- café,
restaurant, etc.
Help menu
you can record yourself in a certain role
dialogs look like a comic book page with Sprechblasen
Software
we did not evaluate:
Tell Me More German
Auralog Inc., Tempe, AZ
WordAce
LanguageNow!
Plus Edition
Grammar
Pro
Transcend
Natural Language Translation Software
Video Linguist
you can play slow or normal speed
English translation accessible
beginning to advanced
25 clips
you click on a single word --> it goes into printout
of vocab list
Lesson
Plan Criteria
How
does designing lessons without technological media
such as CD-ROMs differ when designing a lesson plan
that integrates technology? (not at all)
disadvantages
and advantages of CD ROMs vs. the Web
disadvantages
of CD ROMs
they
never change, thus are often out of date
need to be purchased for each student if not on
a server in lab (space and budget considerations)
no communication between user and developer
uniform, 'untailored'
many do not allow printout
require a fast (relatively new) computer
navigation often unclear (very important criteria!!)
sound and image quality not always good
often use the same shell, so seem not original
Disadvantages
of the Web
site
often disappears or moves (= 401 message: error)
sometimes copyright needed for posting a website
access sometimes problematic - speed of downloading
images, availability of computers
it is not clear how you determine if a website is
good
Advantages
of CD ROMs vs. the Web
both
forms of media address different learning styles
students have fewer inhibitions because not threatened
by human ears
students can address their own interests, hobbies
via the Web
in this way the exercise is personalized
e.g. find out about skiing in Austria or plan a
trip to several youth hostels
ideas
for exercises using the Web:
students bring a new item from an online German
newspaper once a week or choose one online newspaper
from a list at the beginning of the year and stick
to it for a while
ideas
for exercises using e-mail:
regular e-mail to pen pal is easier than mailing
a letter, faster response, can send photos
Activity
Design
SWAB
= students will be able to express themselves appropriately
(grammatical structure and register)
overall
goals (objectives) of activity: 5 areas addressed
1.
performance goals
2.
preparation phase
contextualize,
advance organizers
3.
execution phase
can
extend over whole semester, e.g. plan a tip to
three cities
4.
expansion phase
takes
students beyond original activity
e.g. start out with city on CD ROM, use city websites,
students report to class about information no
one else has - this keeps interest up in class,
they perform or just write dialogs or have other
students perform dialogs their colleagues write
5.
assessment
students
assess each other, not only a teacher grade
they can do peer review of a paper, summary of
the paper
important: when giving an assignment, the students
must know there will be some kind of assessment,
otherwise they will put zero effort into it and
other graded assignments will take priority
Search
Engines vs. Directories
Web search
-- do it effectively
Boolean
searches
To
restrict the number of hits, use Boolean
search
this
is 'search engine math'
put quotes around a phrase to make it into a unit
if no quotes search engine will not consider it
a unit
find one search engine, learn it well
read the Help menus and tips
For example
to find information on Clinton's foreign policy but
nothing about Lewinsky::
Clinton
+"foreign policy" -Lewinsky
remember
to put a space before the + or - or quotes
http://www.searchenginewatch.com
this
ranked all search engines with regard to ease, accuracy,
etc.
http://www.Google.com
search
engine's results: google came out on top, way ahead
in first place
http://www.Yahoo.com
it is
not a directory, not a search engine
it starts
out with categories like sports
you click
on sports to get subtopics
after
this, you narrow down the search
if you
do a keyword search in Yahoo (directory), you search
only what has been put into a directory
http://www.altavista
has
a search (keyword search) and a directory (categories)
all on one page
you will
get different results from different search engines
Meta-search
engines
http://www.dogpile
http://www.mamma
Meta-search
engines are search engines that search other search
engines
they
give a wide breadth, use the top ones from all
the engines
in
comparison, a search engine gives you depth
Online
Texts
The Web
has lots of online texts, e.g. fairy tales and children's
stories
http://www.uncg.edu/~lixlpurc/publications/uncc.html
online
"Der gestiefelte Kater" and Droste Hülshoff's
"Die Judenbuche"
http://www.gutenberg2000.de/
Authoring
Programs for PC
Hypercard
Stack: for Mac: - all parts are authorable, can
be recorded, etc.
Hyperstudio:
for PC
Libra
--- an authoring system
it can
link to the web to find info
this is one of the higher-end authoring systems
but you have to bring a CD-ROM video into it - you
cannot link to a CD-ROM
Hyperstudio
--- another authoring system
this
links out to a CD-ROM (Libra does not - you have
to steal the stuff from the CD-ROM)
you can put directions on this, e.g. go to a CD-ROM
and do this, then go to a website, do that
Blackboard and Web CT also link to a CD-ROM
Making
class exercises for the Web:
think
topically rather than grammatically
each student finds a website for a particular activity
in the target language
divide students into groups: e.g. restaurants, transportation
don't get students to do the same thing --- then
reporting to the group is interesting, not boring
-- they are finding out something new
when students report to the whole class, have them
collect certain information -- have them need to
find out things to add to their lists -- they listen
more!!
Course
Management Systems
(similar to Toolkit but enhanced)
Best-known
course management systems:
Web
CT 4 years old
Blackboard 5 years old
Prometheus
Logos Learning Space
Webcourse in a Box 7 years old
Comparison
of Blackboard, Web CT, Prometheus at Boston University
http://software2.bu.edu/webcentral/research/courseware/
Course
management systems bring different materials into
one space:
content
activities
media
resources
you can
password protect with login to access, so it is
protected material
also online grade book -- students can see own grades
file sharing between students
they
all basically do the same thing, although there
are significant differences if you look closely
e.g. one does not let students initiate a new track
of discussion in discussion groups
so be sure to check all features out before it gets
adopted in your university
e.g. Web CT tries to support native languages (e.g.
you can have buttons in the target language), but
they are about a year behind in these languages
e.g.
Blackboard does not support native languages
if a
CD-ROM links out to a website there will be a turning
globe at the bottom of the screen
then it is a dynamic, not static CD-ROM
technology
should be transparent
it should not be foregrounded, but should be integrated!!!!
software
reviews are available in the LLT journal
Web
CT
it has
been around for 4 years
the University of Maryland uses this
it is a little more detailed, but more flexible
most people in our workshop group use Blackboard,
not Web CT
Demo
of business French course at U of Maryland:
http://www.courses.umd.edu/SCRIPT/FREN306/scripts/serve_home
This course is password protected, so there is no
link here.
glossary
of business terms
threaded bulletin board
digital photos of students so they know who they
are talking to on the bulletin boards
students can schedule teamwork with someone with
a similar schedule
they can access other students' home pages
links to French businesses
caricatures - they get the cultural point across
professor makes students accountable for what they
do on a website for the course --- not just "Take
a look at a website."
videos to allow students to communicate with each
other
layout of site: on left side - menu: course menu,
home page, discussions, addressed and photos, resources,
intercultural videos, enterprise, journal
12 quizzes - can be used as assignments
Good
ideas for using video clips:
use video
clips also without sound and has students narrate
something else
or,
students watch video clip, each student jots some
words down, students compare what they got, add
all words together to form an associogram (mindmap)
of vocab
Webcourse
in a Box
the
first type of webcourse like this, now 6 or 7 years
old
demo
of CD-ROMs: you buy content (like these or e-texts)
and put it into Web CT
Einfach
Toll! (version 2.0)
when
using software, keep in mind it is like a textbook
adoption -- you do not use all of it
Vorsprung
2002 (update)
Houghton
Mifflin: Unterwegs video -- authentic materials
Websites in Class
A great
tool: TrackStar (more on this below)
ideas
from workshop participants:
for German:
online text with images of a Wilhelm Busch story
- students write own text, etc. using this online
version
for Russian:
a study of Russian interiors online - students explain
how the interiors are different from their own (armoires,
etc.) - they can rearrange their own rooms, take
photos of them, refute arguments about how Russian
homes are different from American homes [a pretty
complicated task]
TrackStar
http://trackstar.hprtec.org
You
can use TrackStar to collect a group of related websites
into one document and add instructions that appear
along with each website. You can easily edit, add,
or delete parts, or the whole site.
The software
was developed through a US government grant for
education several years ago. It is online, free,
and very easy to use.
Avoid
reinventing the wheel!!!! The whole idea here is
sharing. Anyone registered can search for collections
of sites (called 'tracks') about a topic and can
use someone else's track. To look at tracks made
in German when you enter a search term in TrackStar,
use term 'deutsch' rather than 'German' when searching.
WHAT
IS A TRACK?
track
= 3 to 15 webpages collected on a particular topic
identified by an ID number
8 sites
per track is recommended, but one site can link
to another complete track
WARNING:
TrackStar uses its own server --- tracks are not on
a University of Virginia server, so be wary of putting
a lot of time into your track. Alas, it could be deleted.
The good thing is that they are fast to make.
TAKE
A LOOK AT MY TRACK:
Track ID 88907
(you do not have to be registered to enter this number
in the box on the home page and view the track)
This
one is on getting a German driver's license vs.
getting one in Virginia. It is set up -- as they
all are -- in three frames.
======
TRACKSTAR
PAGE LAYOUT: three separately scrollable frames
Frame
1: LIST OF WEB ADDRESSES (URLs)
Far
left: list of URLs (uniform resource locator)
to click
Frame
2: INSTRUCTIONS FOR YOUR STUDENTS
Top:
instructions for students
Frame
3: THE WEBSITE
http://trackstar.hprtec.org
Middle:
the webpage or site you click on at the left will
appear here
=====
HOW
CAN I REGISTER IN TRACKSTAR TO MAKE A TRACK?
Go to TrackStar
in a browser:
http://trackstar.hprtec.org
Click
on "TrackStar Registration (for new users)"
in middle of home page and proceed as directed.
Do not use your e-mail password for TrackStar!!!
Make up a new one.
Why do
they want the e-mail address?
- if
a site disappears, TrackStar will remove it from
your track and e-mail you
- if other instructors find errors in your track,
they can contact you to change them.
- I made my track months ago and have received
no e-mail at all (i.e. you do not get on a mailing
list)
Students
can also register to make a track and collect websites
as an assignment.
=====
HOW
DO I MAKE A NEW TRACK WITHOUT TYPING LONG URLs?
1. use
a browser like Netscape or Internet Explorer to
find URLs you want to use
2. open a Word document and copy and paste the URLs
from the browser into this Word document
3. write instructions for students about each website
in the Word document (e.g. request to find certain
info)
4. copy and paste the URLs and the instructions
from the Word document to TrackStar as follows when
you make the track
Timesaving
advantages of working with the intermediary Word
document:
- if
you write your instructions in German, diacriticals
work in Word
- you do not need to retype the URLs in TrackStar
- you can copy and paste the URLs and the instructions
into TrackStar
You can
keep the Word document open along with the TrackStar
page plus the browser. You can view all three windows
at once on a split screen, or view only the Word
document and TrackStar.
HOW
TO MAKE A TRACK:
Click
"Login to Make or Edit a Track" in center
of TrackStar home page
Check
box "print my e-mail address" so people
can let you know if they find mistakes and you
can correct these errors.
Check box
about related websites. TrackStar will e-mail you
about additional websites they find, or new ones you
haven't found. You can add them to your track.
Name
the track
Describe
the track: why you make it (your objective)
Subject
area: check non-English for foreign languages
Grade
level: university
Do not
give a date due (otherwise track will be deleted
after the due date)
Give
info for "this track is …:"
resource
list (recommended)
also
possible: worksheet or extended learning
a worksheet
(i.e. instructions for students at top of website,
e.g. info they should find in the particular website)
extended
learning - e.g. compare cultural differences
do
not check box 'demo' - if you do, the track will
disappear in a week (of course if you just want
to test TrackStar, you do want to check this box)
Work
in TrackMaker frames (recommended)
Netscape
version 4 or higher can usually handle the regular
version.
Now
add the info that you have collected for each link.
ADDING
LINKS
Add link
from Word document into box on far left (important:
copy and paste the link - you do not need to retype
it)
Give
short title of link (this will show up in the frame
on the left)
Before
you paste the link into the TrackStar box, delete
all contents of the box (http:// is given in this
box, so you need to delete it from this box if you
are cutting and pasting your link from the Word
document because these characters will be duplicated
and the link will not work)
ADDING
INSTRUCTIONS
Annotations
box: directions for students telling them what to
do with the webpage
Instructions
can be in the target language
- you can use a search engine in German (e.g. use
http://www.Yahoo.de or any of the German, Austrian,
or Swiss search engines you will find soon on the
Search Engine page in the upcoming TTSP German resource
website)
You can
copy and paste a worksheet created in word processing
software
Click
on "add link" --- now you are done with
the first link.
Repeat
for each additional website you want to add.
You can
go back and insert another link, or edit any info
you have added.
When you
have added all your links (about 8 per track), click
on "make track."
Be
sure to write down the Track ID number
You need this to find it again (you can also do
a search if you forget it)
=====
INTRODUCTORY
WEBPAGE FOR YOUR TRACK
If you
want to focus the exercise and explain what the
track is supposed to do, or familiarize students
with TrackStar's three-frame layout, you can use
the "build a webpage" feature for this
(example on track ID: 88832)
=====
TIPS ===== ===== TIPS =====
Do not
use the quiz feature - it can't handle foreign language
diacriticals
The home
page feature is fine.
The text
version is good for printing, but only the last
active frame will print
You can
insert another site and change the order of the
sites listed by using the insert/delete feature.
Integrate
Technology into the Classroom
Considerations:
Instructional
setting
Instructional goals
Teaching approaches
Training and experience (and support)
All this considering the time spent on job
MP3 player:
digitized audio files recorded from Internet radio
Idea
for business German: simulation game on computer via
a chat room
negotiate
a contract with group divided into negotiators,
translators, researchers
do a video conference at the end of the semester
(pricey - not realistic for us)
or do a chat room exercise in class for 15 min.,
after that an oral discussion (includes reading,
writing, speaking, listening)
Travel:
group and individual activity that can be semester
long:
students
describe a trip taken - first as homework, then
present to class or record description and play
for class
each student rates the vacation presented on the
basis of desire to go there as well - this makes
the activity competitive
follow-up: each student explains which trip sounds
best, says why, voting on best trip
then best trip gets reward
grammar or pronunciation not overtly rated, but
if the presentation is bad, no one will understand
and it will not win
this activity is not advertised as practice using
past tense, but it is one
Group
writing activity on computer (best if more than one
computer available)
each
student writes something, another takes over, e.g.
introduce a problem
next student highlights all descriptive words and
replaces them with something more colorful
Colby:
HYPERTEXT SONG
Spanish --- Mellon grant project: Colby, Bates,
Bowdoin developed a song with hypertext images instead
of a translation of word
you click on a hypertext word and get a picture
of the item to the left of the text
there are also grammar explanations and exercises
- feedback if you type the wrong answer, then you
reset it
Chat
Rooms
http://www.tappedin.org
federally
funded project for educators
you can create an environment
for users online synchronously
also link to a daily online newspaper or Internet
radio station
you can link native speakers and non-native speakers
http://www.Beseen.com
chat
room for asynchronous communication - allows creation
of bulletin boards
MUD
= multi-user
domain for virtual role playing
MUSH
MOO
= object-oriented MUD
there
are ways to get more than one at once
no weird people in it - they are filtered out
you can take a vacant office, decorate it, students
come into the room
you can break a large group of students down into
groups in various parts of the room
only people in the same room can hear you
or the receptionist can also hear you
e.g. when you login you will see a list of where
people are, in which rooms (if they are online at
the same time as you are)
you go to a room by typing, e.g. 'join Tim Sm' ---
then you will be in his office
there is a glossary of commands
this chat room does not support non-European languages,
but it does support German
you can
do peer review -- have upper-level students correct
lower-level students' papers (hard copies handed
to them) - practice writing, even if they are in
same room
Other
chat rooms
are for example organized around topics, such as newspaper
topics
Listserves
A
listserve is e-mail distributed to multiple people
subscribed to the listserve
if one
person posts a question, you get it and can reply
if you subscribe to a listserve as a digest you
will get only one e-mail per day with all the day's
info in one message --- otherwise it is tons of
stuff, also spam you don't want
FLTEACH
listserve
with websites with web activity suggestions
it is overwhelming to digest this much info
LLTI
= Language Learning and Technology International Information
Forum
listserve
on instructional technology (not extremely technically-oriented)
llti@listserv.Dartmouth.edu
AAT
= American
Association of Teachers
AATG
= American
Association of Teachers of German
it has its own set of software reviews
CALICO
also
has software reviews
language software database, sponsored by IALL
LLT
journal
network!!!
esp. language lab directors need to do this
publisher reps - get info - walk through software
descriptions
Collaborative
Synchronous Virtual Workspace
http://sourceforge.net
For an
overview of the concept:
http://cvw.sourceforge.net/cvw/info/CVWOverview.php3
CVW =
collaborative virtual workspace (you can do a search
for collaborative virtual workspace)
you have to register and you need to load the software,
but it is free, available to anyone, and you can
download it
this is an example of open programs --- programmers
can get in and alter it, as opposed to CD-ROMs that
users or programmers cannot alter
there
are certain spaces in a building
you can talk to the whole group or privately
you can upload photos or icons, can click on the
photo to talk with that person
it is not all text as in other MOO environments
it was built to promote collaborative writing
e.g. in Word, HTML
you can transfer URLs and comment on them
audio, video conferencing
you can upload or post a graphic
this must be set up on a server on campus - it is
internal
advantage: it is controllable (you can get only
the people you want in it)
disadvantage: you must control it
you can lock students out of a particular room
you can use it for file sharing and communication
Newsgroups
& Other Instructional Websites
Newsgoups
are also called: discussion groups, forums, conferencing,
bulletin boards
Web CT calls them discussion groups
Blackboard calls it them bulletin boards
Advantage
of newsgroups: they create a student-centered learning
environment
students
can post a question
in Web CT: newsgroups must be set up by the instructor
(weakness)
Topics
are called threads
the
threads are organized in a list at the left of the
page
each thread is underlined as clickable hypertext
when
you click on a topic, you will graphically see the
progression of the responses to the topic and who
has responded
each response to a certain comment is indented under
it
you can respond to a comment anywhere by clicking
on the icon to the left of the comment --- then
your response will be inserted (indented) under
it - you can respond to the first response after
there is a long progression of responses and comments
on them
this is an asynchronous way of communicating - like
e-mail
it is not like chat rooms - these are synchronous
with all participants online at the same time
because not everyone must be present at the same
time, it extends the interaction time to all the
hours outside the classroom
Chat
rooms
http://www.Beseen.com
http://www.tappedin.org
http://www.nicenet.org
these
links have chat rooms, a type of free web-based
learning environment
they are not a full course-management tool like
Web CT, but you can post materials
this allows you to put a course on the web for free
Blackboard deletes the chat room material after
30 days
Game-making
http://www.quia.com
/
http://www.quia.com/web
game-making
tool
but it now has a fee ($49/year)
also creates exercises
it allows you to make four games: flash cards, matching,
etc.
you enter the terms and e.g. definitions, click
'make games'
it automatically creates the games
also has quiz and home page feature
Hot
Potatoes
http://web.uvic.ca/hrd/halfbaked/
Hot
Potatoes is similar to the Quia website
it allows you to create web exercises you can download
onto your website
drag and drop exercises, also Close exercises (fill
in blank)
you can do annotations and glosses of a text
http://www.themakers.com
this
website lets you create dynamic websites using software
plug-ins like Flash, Quick Time, Shockwave Director
SUMMARY
OF INSTRUCTIONAL SITES:
some
sites charge a fee (e.g. $10-15/year)
Except for Quia, I didn't see any fees connected
with these sites I examined.
http://www.Beseen.com
http://www.tappedin.org
http://cvw.sourceforge.net/
(need to download free software)
http://www.nicenet.org
http://www.quia.com/
http://web.uvic.ca/hrd/halfbaked/
(Hot Potatoes)
http://www.themakers.com
========
Peggy Setje-Eilers, Teaching + Technology Support
Partner (TTSP)
University
of Virginia, Department of Germanic Languages and
Literatures
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