Room Reservations: Declining an invitation means canceling it

When instructors decline a​ ​Google Cal ​invitation ​for their reservation of a Jones Hall small room or classroom, the Main Office has previously been following up to confirm that they really meant to cancel the reservation before we officially make the space available to someone else. However, in every case so far, the instructor did intend to cancel the room. So, to simplify communication going forward, the Main Office will, from now on, treat every Google invitation declined by an instructor as the cancellation of the corresponding reservation. Room reservations for a group will not automatically be canceled when one member declines, but rooms reserved by an instructor for a class will be considered canceled when the instructor declines the invitation. The instructor will receive an email confirming the cancellation.

Jones Hall small rooms now managed through Google Cal

The Language Center has moved all reservable small rooms in Jones Hall to Google Cal. These rooms are: 21, 25, 105A, 110D, 135B, 137A.

You can request a small room through our online request form.

We will reserve small rooms through Google, and "invite" you to the "meeting." Since the reservation will show up on your personal calendar, and you will receive reminder emails auto-generated by Google Cal, we will not send you an additional confirmation unless you request one, or there was not a small room available.

This procedure change is in place only for small rooms. Classrooms, media and equipment will still be reserved and confirmed through our internal reservation system.

Fall 2011 Reservations, Classroom Renovations

The Language Center will begin entering Fall semester reservations on Friday, July 15. You may submit reservation requests before that date, and they will be held until July 15. To have the best possibility of receiving the rooms and equipment you need, please submit by 9:00 AM on that day.

We are pleased to announce that beginning Fall semester, we will offer three digital language lab classrooms with an open layout that will accommodate a minimum of 28 students. Over the summer, Jones 10 is being completely renovated and Jones 30 is being partially renovated to add additional student stations. Jones 15 was renovated last summer.

The total number of student computers available effective Fall 2011 are:

• Jones 10: 30 stations
• Jones 15: 28 stations
• Jones 30: 29 stations
• Jones 35: 24 laptop computers (we may be able to add additional checkout computers upon request)

Here is some additional information about requesting rooms:

• Advance reservations always require a reservation form.
• Please submit a form for each class section.
• Each class is allowed to reserve up to 20 hours in Jones Hall classrooms.
• Teachers of intensive courses may negotiate their needs.
• Reservations of other equipment and media are unlimited in terms of amount and frequency (within reason).
• Instructors must intend to use the technology they are reserving.

See http://languagecenter.cla.umn.edu/in_reservations.html for details on policy, and to make an online reservation request.

Language Center Classrooms - Policies and Tips

The following policies and tips will help keep your second-language class running smoothly.

When using a Language Center classroom, please remember:

• No food or drink allowed!
• Please keep audio volume in your classrooms at reasonable levels.
• Please collect your materials at the end of class. The Lost and Found is upstairs in the Main Office Jones 110.
• All classroom activities may be monitored: Rooms 30 & 35 can be videotaped, Apple Remote Desktop software used to maintain the Mac computers can remotely display classroom desktops from Rooms 10, 15 and 30
• If you cannot attend your reservation, please notify the LC of your cancellation. Repeat no-shows maybe negatively impact your ability to reserve rooms in the future.

Saving Files - All files are deleted nightly!
Keep in mind that all Language Center classroom and lab computers are public computers and that all files may be viewed, edited or deleted by other users. For this reason, and for your protection, we delete all files at the end of each day. There are two places where you can temporarily save your files while you work:
Local_Save: Files saved here are only accessible from the computer at which you work.
LC-Server: Files saved here are accessible from most computers in the Language Center.

**We highly encourage you and your students to use external media such as a USB flash drive or networked storage space like Netfiles to save your files.

Printing

• Printing is available for in-class activities in all of the classrooms. Prints will be sent to a printer in Room 5.
• Printing is only allowed for in-class activities
• Does NOT include class handouts and student essays written before class.
• Printing is limited to 3 pages per student per class session.
• Instructors must pick up all prints from Room 5. Students are not allowed to pick up prints from Room 5.
• Note that if you are printing from the Laptop Lab, you will first need to connect to the Internet.

Videotaping
The Language Center can video record classes onto VHS tapes, DVD+R or DVD-R discs. Instructors must provide their own media for the recording.

If the video recording will be shown publicly after the class or presentation, all video recorded participants should grant permission for the recording. Participants can grant permission by completing the Videotaping Permission Form found at: http://languagecenter.cla.umn.edu/downloads/lcforms/videoPermission.pdf

Software Installation Requests
All classrooms include the following software: Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Powerpoint), Audacity, Hot Potatoes, and Firefox. In addition to these programs, the three Mac Classrooms (10, 15 and 30) include: Mac DiLL, Safari, iLife (iMovie, PhotoBooth, GarageBand) and Parallels for operating Windows on a Mac.

If you need a special program or a plug-in installed prior to your class, you will need to complete a software installation request form. Download from:
http://languagecenter.cla.umn.edu/downloads/lcforms/swinstall.pdf

Please be aware that:

• We require at least 2 weeks notice prior to installation.
• We cannot make copies of copyrighted material without express written consent of the copyright owner. You are responsible for showing proof of licensing appropriate for the number of installations requested.
• We reserve the right to not install software that is incompatible with our systems or may pose a threat to our equipment or users.
• You are responsible for arranging a time to test the installed software to ensure that it meets your specific classroom needs.

Training
The more comfortable you are with technology, the smoother your classes will go. For individual or small-group hands-on training, complete an online reservation request form for the room you are using and indicate on the form that you would like training. If you have questions about how much training you need, contact Alyssa Ruesch rues0022@umn.edu

For more information on how to use the software installed in the Language Center classrooms, such as the Mac DiLL or Apple Remote Desktop, check out our online guides at http://jonesclassroomguides.pbworks.com

The Language Center sponsors a variety of presentations and hands-on workshops on how to make effective use of technology in the classroom. For a list of upcoming events, see http://iteachworkshop.pbworks.com

Consider subscribing to this blog for Language Center related updates and tips on how to make effective use of technology.

Classroom Reservations
To use Language Center classrooms, you must intend to use technology. To make a reservation, go to http://languagecenter.cla.umn.edu/reserve

Language Center Launches New Website!

If you think you've noticed some differences with the Language Center website -- well no, you're not wrong -- some updates have been made.

The new design based is on the University templates for University of Minnesota websites and adds a number of soon to be required features for University sites.

Along with being University-compliant, the new site has a new organization. Instead of the former headings Instructor, Students, Reservations, Links and TandemPlus, there are three major content categories. The first Classrooms, Media & Equipment yields all of the information available for using and reserving LC classrooms, media and equipment. In this content area you will find, the Online Reservation form, the classroom schedule, and the search page for LC media, along with other resources available to instructors. In the Instructional Services section, you will find pedagogical information to help you best use the classrooms. In this section you will find information about LgTT classes, CARLA Summer Institute, iTeach Workshops, language learning links and more. The third section, Student Services gives information about services at the LC available to students, featuring the Multimedia Lab. The two remaining sections link to the TandemPlus website and the Language Testing website.

New feature -- Action Links. Have you ever been frustrated that you can't remember how to find that one item that you always use when visiting the LC website? Hopefully the Action Links will help. The Action Links can be found on every page of the LC website and link to what we think are the most commonly visited pages -- the Online Reservation form, the A-V database search, view of Language Center classrooms, language links page, link to Elsie's new blog and the LC Twitter site.

With the new website structure, users will be able to navigate to almost any content from almost any page.