Learning Languages from a Distance: The Potential of Technology ACTFL 2007 Ann Tollefson Tom Welch.

Learning Languages from a Distance:

The Potential of Technology

ACTFL 2007Ann TollefsonTom Welch

• What kind of students are in our classrooms today?

• What kind of students can we expect to have in our classrooms tomorrow?

• Did You Know? Video clip

We tend to teach as we have learned…

“…our generation has grown up in a broadcast world with television as a perhaps our primary source of information. It is a unidirectional transmission of content to passive receivers.”

Bobby Hobgood, Becoming an Online Teacher

What kind of learners are our students?• They have grown up knowing and using technology to actively seek out information in a way that makes sense to them, at their own pace.

• Their primary source of information is the Internet.

• They must actively pursue, evaluate, and construct meaning from the information they pursue.

Bobby Hobgood, Becoming an Online Teacher

How Can Technology Help Today’s and Tomorrow’s Students Learn?

What technologies exist today to support distance learning?

• The Internet • Interactive Video • Podcasting • Blogging • Video Streaming • Other?

What IS Distance Learning?

"The acquisition of Knowledge and skills through mediated information and instruction, encompassing all technologies and other forms of learning at a distance".

US Distance Learning Association

Courses Delivered From a DistanceK-12 courses- some examples • Via Interactive Video Conferencing:

Kentucky: French, German, Spanish FLES Spanish (1 course from an educational service

unit.)

Courses Delivered From a DistanceK-12 courses- more examples • Via Interactive Video Conferencing:Maine: French I/ AdvancedASL 1-4Mandarin- beginningJapanese- 1-2Latin I/APSpanish AP

www.mainedistancelearningproject.org

Courses Delivered From a DistanceK-12 courses- more examples

• Via Interactive Video Conferencing:Wisconsin: Various languages delivered

by…Schools to other schools.Regional educational service

centers.

University of Wisconsin: Mandarin(Lauren Rosen-

lrosen@wisc.edu)

Courses Delivered From a DistanceK-12 courses- more examples • Via Interactive Video Conferencing:

Wyoming: (school-to-school)French 1-3German 1Russian 1-3Spanish 1-3

Courses Delivered From a DistanceK-12 courses- more examples

• Delivered Online:

Florida Virtual School Middle-school: Spanish 1High school: Latin 1-3

Spanish 1-3 Chinese 1

Courses Delivered From a DistanceK-12 courses- more examples

• Delivered Online:

Florida Virtual School Middle-school: Spanish 1High school: Latin 1-3

Spanish 1-3 Chinese 1

Courses Delivered From a DistanceK-12 courses- more examples

• Delivered Online:

North Carolina Virtual Public School German 1-4 French 1-3

Latin 1-3Spanish 1-5

Courses Delivered From a DistanceK-12 courses- more examples

• Delivered Online: Ohio

55 world-language courses currently offered online (Spanish, Latin, French, German, Japanese, and FLES French, German, Spanish)

Primarily provided by community schools andvirtual academies (many charter schools)

Courses Delivered From a DistanceK-12 courses- more examples

• Delivered Online: Oklahoma State

University Secondary Spanish and

German

Courses Delivered From a DistanceK-12 courses- more examples

• Delivered Via Satellite

Kansas State University (Spanish)

Georgia Public Television (Japanese)

Courses Delivered From a DistanceK-12 courses- A New Hybrid Course

• The Utah Mandarin Course-Utah Department of EducationBYU Chinese Flagship ProgramUtah LegislatureUniversity of Utah

• Currently 16 high schools• Next year will expand to 40+ high schools

Courses Delivered From a DistanceK-12 courses- A New Hybrid Course

Utah Mandarin Course-1) Interactive Video Classes (50 min.)2) Trained In-class Facilitators (50 min.)

Certified teacher or univ. students3) Backed up by online resources

4) Enhanced by community and summer activities. Contact: Gregg.Roberts@schools.utah.gov

Outside the box…

What about language learning other

than traditional coursesdelivered via technology?

You Tube video made by

200 students at Kansas State

University

• You tube clip- A Vision of Students

Today

Podcasts: The Potential of iTunes!

Student types in “Versailles.”

Half-minute video clip from iTunes

Podcasts: The Potential of iTunes!

Free subscriptions to the BBC’sMundo Hoy.

Daily News in Spanish Delivered Directly to any iPod or Computer

Podcasts: iTunes U

• Currently 28 universities

• One example: Concordia UniversityBasic Hebrew Course (video/audio podcasts)

Other Ideas for Using Technology in the Classroom

• Webquests

• Project-based learning: iEARN Globe

• Other?