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Monday, April 30, 2018

CLA Instructors: Last Chance for Summer Canvas Migration Help

There are still a few spaces available for any instructors who need help migrating content from Moodle to Canvas for Summer 2018 courses. The deadline to request assistance is May 1, 2018, and it only takes a few minutes to make the request. The deadline for Fall 2018 courses is June 1. Request assistance at z.umn.edu/migrateCLAcourse.

For more information about migration, online resources, and workshops, see canvas.cla.umn.edu. Contact Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) at cla-tel@umn.edu with questions

Summer at the Language Center: Use our space in new and creative ways!

The Language Center is open for business over May and Summer Session. Our hours are somewhat more limited to reflect the decreased number of classes in session, but our professional and student staff will be here and ready to help!

Computer classrooms: Jones 10, 15, 30 and 35
Bringing your intensive summer class to a technology classroom breaks up and adds diversity to a long day for students (and instructors). We would be pleased to make a recurring reservation for you, or discuss the possibility of having your class meet in Jones as its regular classroom.

It’s not necessary to create new instructional material to use in the classroom; existing lessons can easily be adapted to incorporate technology, and we can help with this.
  • Pair/Group work: The DiLL makes it easy to ensure that all students are communicating, and that pairs/groups are not always the same. You can reform pairs and groups as often as you’d like. The software can also help you to easily deploy and manage conversational tasks to promote interpersonal communication skills. 
  • Authentic media integration: Through the DiLL system, instructors can easily send text, audio, and video materials from files or online.
  • Assessment: Whether oral or written, our classrooms offer software that facilitate the evaluation of language production in a secure environment. For example, you can manage individual oral responses with the DiLL system, or conduct oral exchanges. Furthermore, our classrooms can provide a secure testing environment with the integration of Proctorio in Canvas. We’ll be happy to explore assessment options for your courses.
Contact Adolfo Carrillo Cabello at carri093@umn.edu for ideas on adapting an existing lesson to include classroom technology.

Multimedia Lab: Jones 135
Over the summer the lab is open for general student use, and it’s a great location for students to work or meet up before or after class. We will also host special events or viewings upon request, including international TV programming, films, student cultural events, and are open to receiving creative event ideas and proposals.

Contact elsie@umn.edu to request an event at the Multimedia Lab or to discuss the possibility of breaking up the day by having part of a class meet in the more informal lab setting.

TandemPlus
The summer Tandem program is smaller than in fall and spring, but remains vibrant. Students can register at tandem.umn.edu beginning June 11, 2018, to find a language and conversation exchange partner. In addition to a face-to-face matching program, Tandem often co-hosts cultural events for students.

Contact tandem@umn.edu to propose a student event or activity.


Start a New Language through CourseShare

LANG CourseShare uses technology to receive less commonly taught language and culture courses with partner institutions. For Fall 2018 we are receiving the following beginning and accelerated language courses:
  • LANG 2201 - Accelerated Basque I (requires intermediate-level proficiency in French, Spanish or a similar language)
  • LANG 2011 - Accelerated Catalan I (2-credit course that Begins October 1, 2018)
  • LANG 1211 Beginning Maya
  • LANG 1061 Beginning Persian I
  • LANG 1071 Beginning Polish I (hybrid course is partially online)
  • LANG 1101 Beginning Modern Tibetan I
  • LANG 1121 Beginning Vietnamese I (fully online course) 
  • LANG 1131 Beginning Yiddish I
Don’t see the language you’re interested in studying? First look for all CourseShare courses under the LANG designator, then ask! We might be able to find additional languages for you.

How to get started:
Students may register for already scheduled courses just like any other course under the LANG designator. Space is limited, so register early. Some courses may require special approval. For access or questions, please email Stephanie Treat at elsie@umn.edu as soon as possible.

Monday, April 23, 2018

Center for Educational Innovation: Creating Effective and Accessible Assignments

Thursday, April 26, 2018
4:15 - 5:30 p.m.
University Office Plaza 444
Register online

We all want assignments that will result in better student work but more often than not, that doesn't happen. How can we write assignments that both support and motivate students? This workshop will provide strategies for helping students understand the explicit (and implicit) requirements of assignments, as well as tips on how to design your own assignments that are both effective and accessible.

Finding New Tandem Partners in Finland, Argentina, Spain, or . . .

Whenever talking with instructors about starting a tandem exchange, one of the first questions is "How do I find a partner class?" The answer? "There are a variety of strategies we can try. Let's work on it together!"

This semester, the TandemPlus program helped facilitate exchanges with three new partner institutions: a high school in Finland, an online university in Spain, and a liberal arts focused college in Argentina. The path to finding the partners was different in each case.

Finnish 1004 instructor Laura Tuomainen contacted us by email and we met to consider how to set up an exchange for the very first time. Since she is a native of Finland and teaching in Minnesota as a Fulbright Teaching Assistant, it made sense to use her contacts among English teachers in her home country. She posted an ad on a Facebook page for English teachers in Finland and quickly found a high school teacher with students close in age to her own Finnish 1004 students.

After a positive experience integrating a class-to-class exchange in his Spanish 1003 classes last semester, Michael Arnold wanted to find a partner class for his Business Spanish class this semester. When we searched the Uni-Collaboration website (a site designed to support class-to-class exchanges in high education), we found the perfect match: a Business English class in Spain. Michael contacted the instructor and they began planning content specific topics for their students to discuss.

In January, Gabrielle Sweet, the former Language Center Sustainability Coordinator, who now works in the CLA Career Readiness Program, introduced us to a visiting scholar from Universidad de San Andrés in Buenos Aires. The visitor was excited by the idea of Tandem, because students at her institution are expected to use English during their course of studies, but English classes are not offered. Conversation partners in Minnesota would provide her students with the real-world experience and practice of communicating in a second language with people from another culture. After discussing the differing semester schedules and the voluntary nature of the proposed exchange, we decided to have the students in Argentina enroll independently in our virtual face-to-face exchange program. In March, nearly 40 students signed-up, which meant we could offer many more university students a chance to participate in Tandem outside of the formal class-to-class exchanges.

If you are curious about how your students could have a language partner in another country, talk with us about the possibilities. As you travel the globe this summer, please keep Tandem in mind. You never know where or how you might meet future tandem partners!

Celebrate PACE: You are invited!

Please join us to acknowledge and thank the creative, committed, and enthusiastic community of scholars and staff that has made the PACE Project a great success.

Friday, May 4, 2018
Doors open at 1:30 p.m.
Program starts at 2:00 p.m.

University International Center, room 101
331 17th Ave SE, Minneapolis

Come for as long or as little as you can. Hors d'oeuvres, desserts, and drinks will be provided. Participate in the PACE Trivia to challenge your knowledge of the PACE Project.

Please RSVP by Friday, April 27
RSVP online

TandemPlus April Study Evening

Thursday, April 26, 2018
5:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Bruininks 432A

The end of spring semester is arriving quickly, with finals week feeling like it’s just around the corner. To ease the tension of course work and provide a lively space to cram for projects, papers, and exams, TandemPlus is once again hosting an end-of-semester study evening for all participants. Bring yourself and your partner, along with all of your study materials and together we'll put our noses to the grindstone to prepare for finals! Coffee, tea, and pizza will be served as refreshments to keep you going throughout the evening.

Monday, April 16, 2018

Kaltura Now Offers Automatic Captioning for Some Languages

The Office of Information Technology (OIT) has implemented a new process in the Kaltura media platform that automatically captions any new video uploaded using automatic speech recognition (ASR). These captions do not meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation requirements, but documentation has been created on how to improve the automatic captions to become ADA compliant.

Kaltura is a media management system used by instructors and students to upload and distribute video in Moodle and Canvas course sites. Now, when a video is uploaded, the ASR process begins immediately. No settings need to be enabled. Captions are created based on the audio track, and the content is assumed to be in English. Video owners can re-run the ASR captions in Dutch, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

See the OIT Technology Spotlight for more information on this new feature.

Monday, April 9, 2018

LANG Courseshare for Fall 2018

The following LANG CourseShare courses are open for Fall 2018 registration:
  • LANG 2201: Accelerated Basque I (permission required)
  • LANG 2011: Accelerated Catalan I
  • LANG 3504: Korean Language in Culture and Society 
  • LANG 1211: Beginning Maya I
  • LANG 1061: Beginning Persian
  • LANG 1071: Beginning Polish I (partially online course)
  • LANG 2071: Intermediate Polish I (partially online course)
  • LANG 1101: Beginning Modern Tibetan
  • LANG 2101: Intermediate Modern Tibetan
  • LANG 1121: Beginning Vietnamese I (fully online course)
  • LANG 2121: Intermediate Vietnamese I (fully online course)
  • LANG 1131: Beginning Yiddish
Students and advisors who do not see the language or level they are looking for should email Stephanie at elsie@umn.edu to convey their interest. Please note that space is limited in all of these courses, and that most have special start and end dates.

Summer at the Language Center: Use our space in new and creative ways!

The Language Center is open for business over May and Summer Session. Our hours are somewhat more limited to reflect the decreased number of classes in session, but our professional and student staff will be here and ready to help!

Computer classrooms: Jones 10, 15, 30 and 35

Bringing your intensive summer class to a technology classroom breaks up and adds diversity to a long day for students (and instructors). We would be pleased to make a recurring reservation for you, or discuss the possibility of having your class meet in Jones as its regular classroom.

It’s not necessary to create new instructional material to use in the classroom; existing lessons can easily be adapted to incorporate technology, and we can help with this.
  • Pair/Group work: The DiLL makes it easy to ensure that all students are communicating, and that pairs/groups are not always the same. You can reform pairs and groups as often as you’d like. The software can also help you to easily deploy and manage conversational tasks to promote interpersonal communication skills. 
  • Authentic media integration: Through the DiLL system, instructors can easily send text, audio, and video materials from files or online. 
  • Assessment: Whether oral or written, our classrooms offer software that facilitate the evaluation of language production in a secure environment. For example, you can manage individual oral responses with the DiLL system, or conduct oral exchanges. Furthermore, our classrooms can provide a secure testing environment with the integration of Proctorio in Canvas. We’ll be happy to explore assessment options for your courses. 
Contact Adolfo Carrillo Cabello at carri093@umn.edu for ideas on adapting an existing lesson to include classroom technology.

Multimedia Lab: Jones 135
Over the summer the lab is open for general student use, and it’s a great location for students to work or meet up before or after class. We will also host special events or viewings upon request, including international TV programming, films, student cultural events, and are open to receiving creative event ideas and proposals.

Contact elsie@umn.edu to request an event at the Multimedia Lab or to discuss the possibility of breaking up the day by having part of a class meet in the more informal lab setting.

TandemPlus

The summer Tandem program is smaller than in fall and spring, but remains vibrant. Students can register at tandem.umn.edu beginning June 11, 2018, to find a language and conversation exchange partner. In addition to a face-to-face matching program, Tandem often co-hosts cultural events for students.

Contact tandem@umn.edu to propose a student event or activity.

Presentations, Workshops, and Demonstrations in April and May

Please consider joining the Language Center for the variety of presentations, workshops and demonstrations offered throughout the end of the semester. All instructors and graduate students are welcome to attend, and refreshments will be served. Please register in advance if you are able to come.

PACE Presentation: What is the Antidote for improving writing?

Friday, May 4, 2018
12:20 - 1:10 p.m.
Folwell 112
Online Registration

During 2017, the Department of French and Italian received a LATIS Academic Innovation Grant to pilot the correction software Antidote in FR 3015 and FR 3016, the first advanced courses required for the major and minor in French. Antidote has been a boon to students and instructors alike, allowing self-assessment outside of class to be paired with writing workshops in class. Panelists consist of instructors who have piloted the correction software and students who have used it in both courses. Join us for a lively discussion which includes the elements of French style, the differences between a human corrector versus a computerized one, and our plans to expand the use of Antidote through a second grant application in 2018.

A light lunch will be provided.

Presenters: Lydia Belatèche (Senior Lecturer), Betsy Kerr (Associate Professor), Christopher Ice (Ph.D. Candidate), Miriam Jepsen-Despiegelaere (FREN 3015/16 undergraduate student), Kimberly Bonner (FREN 3015/16 graduate student)

Department of French and Italian

The PACE Project is funded by a grant from The Language Flagship.

Monday, April 2, 2018

Summer Session Reservation Requests Entered April 16, 2018

The Language Center will begin entering general Summer Session reservations on Monday, April 16. You may submit reservation requests before that date, and they will be held until then. To have the best possibility of receiving the rooms and equipment you need, please submit by that morning.

See the Language Center Reservation page for details on policy and to make an online reservation request. Summer classroom hours are listed below to help you plan your requests.

Summer 2018 Classroom Hours

Please refer to these hours when requesting Jones classrooms:

May Session (May 21 - June 8)
Monday – Thursday: 8:00 – 4:30 p.m.
Friday: 8:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Summer Session (June 11 - August 3)
Monday: 8:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday: 8:00 – 4:30 p.m.
Wednesday: 8:00 – 4:30 p.m.
Thursday: 8:00 – 4:30 p.m.
Friday: 8:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Late Summer Session (August 6 - August 31)
Monday – Friday: 8:00 – 4:00 p.m.

PACE Project Conference Funding

In an effort to encourage dissemination of the PACE Project results, the Language Center is pleased to make available to CLA language instructors and researchers travel funds to present research results or reports on assessment, instructional, or curricular initiatives related to or stemming from the PACE project at a relevant conference between January 2018 and December 2019.

The Language Center will provide up to $1000 to support travel, lodging, per diem, and conference registration. Funds will be awarded to an individual or group involved in a presentation for one conference per calendar year.

To qualify for funding, a conference proposal must clearly connect to the PACE project (proficiency results, curriculum revision, self-assessment, professional development). If PACE is not mentioned in the proposal itself, then the funding application must explain how PACE will be represented in the presentation.

Requirements for financial support

  • Complete an online application prior to submitting an abstract to conference planners
  • Agree to present the information in a public forum at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (Example: presentation, share fair, panel, etc.)
  • Agree to have the conference presentation and abstract listed in an online bibliography dedicated to LC-supported research and PACE project dissemination, as well as in reports to The Language Flagship.

All language instructors, graduate students and faculty are all eligible to apply for this funding.

Please contact the PACE PI, Dan Soneson at soneson@umn.edu, for further information.

The PACE Project is funded by a grant from The Language Flagship.