2:00 p.m. Welcome

Debra Mandel, President of NERALLT

2:10 – 2:55 ”Language Lab Unleashed!”

Barbara Sawhill, Director of the Cooper International Learning Center, Oberlin College, and IALLT President-Elect, presents “Language Lab Unleashed” and her use of podcasting to keep the language technologist plugged in and connected. Check out Barbara's Site "Language Lab Unleashed", at http://www.languagelabunleashed.com

2:55 3:35 Humanizing Computer-Assisted Language Learning: The Use of Pedagogical Agents as Language Tutors

Roberto Perez-Galluccio, Ph.D. Candidate, Florida State University, presents an overview of current research on the use of animated pedagogical agents in computer-assisted language learning, with examples of applications and products, and a discussion of design, development, and implementation issues.

Here is Roberto's Powerpoint.

3:35 – 3:45 Break

3:45 – 4:15 An Introduction to 3D Environments and Gaming

Todd Bryant, Language Program Administrator and Technologist, Library and Information Services, Dickinson College, will explain the different types of 3D games and simulations including an explanation of single-user games, network games, and MMORPGs, along with examples currently on the market- including Sims, Virtual Madrid, and World of Warcraft.

Todd's presentation notes and links (HTML format)

World of Warcraft - Europe (once you create an account you can download the language packs)

Todd's gaming links on Del.icio.us

Language Resource Center, 6th Floor

4:15 – 5:00 Workshop: 3D Environments and Gaming- A Hands-on Experience and Discussion

In this Workshop, facilitated by Todd Bryant, participants will experience and interact with the games themselves and discuss when, if, and how the games could be used for language learning as part of a class or for individual self-practice

See above for relevant links!

Lamont Forum Room, 5th Floor

5:00 – 6:00 Wine and Cheese Reception—Barker Center, Thompson Room
(A dinner outing in Harvard Square will be arranged.)

8:00 – 9:00 Registration Table Open
(Continental breakfast available)

9:00 – 9:30 Keynote: Virtually Anything: Emerging Technologies and Possibilities for Language Learning

Karen Price, Director of Anne Dow Associates, Cambridge, MA, will survey some of the new communication and information tools developed in fields seemingly unrelated to language learning and language teaching (e.g. medicine, transportation, customer relations, rapid prototyping, home entertainment, toys), and speculate about the desirability and possible transfer of some of these technologies to the more traditional language classroom or distance learning paradigms.

9:30 9:40 Q and A

9:40 – 10:10 Presentation of “Jules et Jim Interactif”

Dr. Pierre Capretz, Director of the Yale Language Development Studio, presents ”Jules et Jim Interactif”, a DVD-ROM Program that engages students through an interactive multimedia approach to learning from an authentic linguistic corpus, in this case, Franois Truffaut’s classic film. Dr. Capretz will demonstrate how the learner can work with the film as a whole, or in segments, or with individual utterances, as well as from abundant cultural notes and lexical, grammatical, and speaking exercises, all of which are directly hyperlinked to the film.

Further description of "Jules et Jim Interactif" a demonstration of the program, and contact information.

10:10 – 10:30 Using Podcasting for an Online Pronunciation Guide

Carole Bergin, Preceptor in French at Harvard University, presents a French pronunciation guide, in the form of six podcasts, with songs, poems, and rhymes recorded by native speakers. An instructor can recommend different parts of these readily downloadable, “anytime/anywhere” podcasts to individual students, according to their needs.

Here is Carole's Powerpoint (with working links).

Belfer Case Study Room and Adjacent Lounge

10:30 – 11:00 Stretch Break and Concurrent Breakout Sessions for a hands-on trial of ”Jules et Jim Interactif” and French Podcasting

Belfer Case Study Room

11:00 – 11:30 Creating a Live, Interactive Distance Learning Environment: Spanish for Healthcare Professionals

Nelleke Van Deusen-Scholl, Director of the Penn Language Center and Adjunct Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, will present a distance language course targeted at healthcare providers, which enables them to become more familiar with the basic linguistic and cultural skills necessary to serve an increasingly diverse patient population. General implications for developing a distance model for the teaching of foreign languages, in particular the less commonly taught languages, will also be discussed.

Here is Nelleke's Powerpoint.

11:30 – 12:15 Using Games and Other 3D Environments to Create Environments of Virtual Language Immersion and Instances of Task-Based Learning

Todd Bryant will discuss how games, such as World of Warcraft, can be used to create a task-based environment that stresses communication and collaboration in the target language with other students or with native speakers not involved in the class. Todd's presentation notes and links (HTML format)

World of Warcraft - Europe (once you create an account you can download the language packs)

Todd's gaming links on Del.icio.us

Friday, October 27th: Afternoon sessions
The Forum Room, Lamont Library, Harvard Yard

12:30 – 1:45 Luncheon

1:45 – 2:45 NERALLT Business Meeting

NERALLT organizational updates, amended bylaws vote, and next steps for governance.

2:45 – 3:15 Connecting the Japanese Language Classroom with Japan through Skype and Mixi

Akiko Meguro, Visiting Instructor in Japanese, Dickinson College, will discuss the implementation of language exchanges via the Internet utilizing Mixi, a Japanese social networking service, and Skype, a telephony software. Questions will be fielded by both Akiko Meguro and Todd Bryant (responsible for technical implementation).

Here is an article that further describes what Akiko is doing with Skype and Mixi

3:15 – 3:25 Break

3:25 – 4:10 Broadband and a Chicken Bus: Computer-Mediated Language Tutoring in a Flat World

Dr. Kevin Gaugler, Associate Professor of Spanish, Marist College, and Peter Spevacek, President of Interlangua, present the pedagogical, social, and economic benefits of their model of instruction and demonstrate how Marist integrates real-time video and voice tutoring sessions with native Spanish speakers into its curriculum using Interlangua’s distributed computing environment.

...Something important to note about this presentation, that I mentioned when I introduced both of them, is that Peter originally developed this software from the standpoint of the language learner, so that he and Susan (wife and now business partner) could continue receiving tutoring when they weren't in Guatemala during the summers.

What has resulted from that, is a socially-conscious business model that works to connect professionally trained Spanish tutors with students of Spanish in the US, while enabling these tutors to make a living wage, and to share their language and culture while doing so. Here is a link to a picture of Kevin's presentation, with Amarildo behind him (in Guatemala), and text that Peter was planning on delivering (it ended being more "off the cuff" which worked out fine).

4:10 – 4:25 Wrap-Up

Language Resource Center, 6th Floor

4:25 Tour (optional) of Harvard’s LRC