| NERALLD Spring 1998 meeting Friday April 24, 1998, at Harvard University details below, in the Business Meeting Summary |
NERALLD Fall meeting October 17, 1997 Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
Summary by Debbie Fowler, St. Johnsbury Academy (VT)
The 47 (!) meeting attendees were welcomed by Michael Roberts, Dean of Arts & Sciences at Wesleyan, and by Roger Sanchez-Berroa, Wesleyan Language Lab Director.
The topic: making the transition from analog to digital platform.
Panel presentations were moderated by Ed Dente (Tufts).
First speaker -- Michele Zimmerman (Amherst College)
Michele emphasized her commitment to flexibility, which has allowed her to change when necessary, which is often! Her question to herself is "What do students want?" and the answer at the moment is image, video, and interactivity. Michele presented a brief history of her lab, which began in 1971 with 28 positions. It became clear over time that students didn't like coming to the lab and preferred taking home cassettes. Recent organizational changes have made the lab part of the library, with space shared with the media center, which makes sense because of many common needs. The language lab and the media center each have 20 computers (dual platform), arranged in clusters so that as many as 3 students can sit and work together. They decided not to use a CD ROM server but to buy site licenses as necessary. All stations are networked and have Web access. Being part of the library has meant that cataloging is on-line, but the catalog by language has been lost.
Discussion summary:
-- To deal with changes in catalog listings of foreign language films, a suggestion was made to cut or copy video jackets to make a looseleaf notebook of video holdings.
-- Another workaround to establish catalog listings by language in the library database is to use the field called LRC (a locational field assigned to designate the lab's collection) . Amend it to show the language of the material listed.
-- Carmen Greenlee (Bowdoin) stressed the importance of language lab involvement in decision-making, in conjunction with library staff.
-- Roger Sanchez-Berroa warned of the pitfalls of being put into close organizational relation to computing support people (ask "what kind of support will I have?"). He cautioned us to be wary of there being a great show when a new facility is installed, but then what? Be sure there is a plan for ongoing support!
-- Ruth Trometer (MIT) emphasized the important of not trying to do everything: having to handling computer stuff plus all cataloging and ongoing lab business is too much for director to manage alone. -- Mary Beth Barth (Hamilton) has found that solving language lab problems requires language knowledge that computer support staff may not necessarily have.
-- Ed Dente described a Catch-22 at Tufts where Instructional Tech Services, when asked by Ed to place a computer support person in his building, instead designated Ed as the "support staff" for his own lab's computer installation!
-- Irene Starr (UMass-Amherst) related her situation: the Computer Center support includes coverage for a remote lab in her language lab.
Second Speaker -- Lisa Frumkes (Wesleyan)
Lisa Frumkes, along with Nina Garrett (current IALL President), is the co-administrator of the 1995 Mellon Grant for the CTW Consortium received by Wesleyan (Middletown), Trinity (Hartford), and Connecticut College (New London), for a computer/lab classroom using digital technology. Wesleyan's lab will be changing over to all digital by next year. One of the problems which challenged Lisa was finding appropriate lab-style headphones to use with computers. She found a connector made by Griffin Technology which does the trick: it works with any standard headset (Griffin Technology Corporation, 820 Fesslers Parkway, Suite 315, Nashvile, TN 37210 USA 615.255.0990 Fax 615.255.8040). Lisa uses Sound Edit for digitizing audio and a Quick Time player to provide a simple, controlling interface. (Quick Time's sliding play bar, stop and start buttons, and pause make audio playback a snap). When a pilot group of students were brought into the computer classroom to try out the digitized audio materials, their first reaction was "Where are the pictures?!" Lisa emphasized that analog works just fine for listening activities and that it's important to think about what is the added value for digital. Doing audio alone for local playback may not warrant the time and effort. There are advantages: the ability to work from anywhere -- dorm room or office -- and the comprehensive integration of audio, video and cultural content into a multimedia package. Problems to consider include the copyright issues in digitizing, the difficulty of transferring, the need for adequate technical support, and the changing role of language lab staff.
Discussion summary:
-- Bruce Parkhurst (BU) wondered how other labs are handling computer support, with respect to student staff. She's looking for successful models of using students in this capacity. Some people responded that some student "experts" end up individualizing systems needing a single, firm hand in control. Full-time tech support strongly recommended.
-- Question: If you have old style lab, it's one thing. But what about people starting now. Do you recommend starting with digital? (Lisa's answer: YES!) -- Roger Sanchez-Berroa (Wesleyan) wanted parallel systems for a while (digital and analog). The state of the technology is ahead of the acceptance level of the teacher/users. This can bring uncertainty about the consequences for lab staff, and also the effect on teachers, especially those who don't understand the impending changes.
-- Otmar Foelsche (Dartmouth): Teachers often don't realize what the implications are for teaching. The switch to digital allows classroom work to center on those teaching and learning activities which require human interaction critical to language learning, while leaving the lab to manage provision of computer-based activities which lend themselves well to this environment, particularly the more tedious tasks such as practicing adjective endings and verb conjugations.
Third speaker -- Otmar Foelsche (Dartmouth)
Otmar uses digital technology to meet the goal of high quality video and audio. His presentation included coverage of various standards and specs for digital video.
-- MPEG 1: most interesting and highest quality; 1/4 screen, 30 frames/second; does not allow access on frame-by-frame basis (as does laser disk); allows for deep compression of large amounts of data; is easily produced.
-- MPEG 2: better system; whole screen transmission; twice as expensive
-- Real Video: encoding mechanism for video; need server and player; small video, limited # of frames; audio quality low; getting better all the time
-- Quick Time: widespread use (e.g. web); can handle many kinds of video files.
Dartmouth has a "Video Viewing Room" http://www.dartmouth.edu/~cc/video/
Fourth Speaker -- Curt Broderick (Holy Cross)
Curt learned about copyright as part of the preparation for his "Digitizing Audio" workshop at FLEAT III this past August. The ciritical lessons are that publishers want to be asked for permission to digitize and they will usually give permission when there is no potential financial loss (i.e. does not interfere with text/workbook sales). To save others from hours and hours of redundant work in digitizing major tapesets, Curt has volunteered to be the clearinghouse for info about who has which digitized materials. He emphasizes, "Each language lab must get its own permission from the publishers before accessing materials digitized by other labs!" See http://www.mrc.holycros s.edu/permissions.html
Cindy Bravo (Boston College)
Cindy gave a bird's eye view of some major publishers' progress toward offering digital and/or multimedia materials for foreign language study. Her research revealed that each house is responding differently; that printed texts are still the financial mainstay (and thus main interest); that text-specific websites are in the horizon; and that there is still a lot of variation in publishers' movement toward offering multimedia and CD-ROM materials.
The content of Cindy Bravo's excellent handouts will be incorporated into Curt Broderick's website (see above), so watch for it there!
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THANK YOU ROGER FOR HOSTING US AND GIVING AN INFORMATIVE TOUR OF YOUR LAB!
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FILEMAKER WORKSHOP SUMMARY
The FileMaker Pro workshop was a great success! We had a small, enthusiastic group of people who attended, which allowed for a more personal, hands-on experience. Maria Montzolis (Connecticut College) and Shawn Provencal (Boston University) discussed the concepts behind databases during the first portion of the workshop, showing examples of various databases used in language labs and the elegant simplicity in their creation. The last portion of the workshop allowed the participants to begin creating their own functional databases that they could take back to their labs. Everyone walked away with a lot of ideas and a bit more confidence with the software. Special thanks to Lisa Frumkes (CTW Mellon) for great support in the setup of the lab, and for assistance throughout the training session. submitted by Shawn Provencal
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Business meeting summary
1. NERALLD Spring 1998 meeting We're confirmed for Friday April 24, 1998, at Harvard University's new lab; Connie Christo is our gracious host. Tentative program:
MORNING Renovating a Language Lab: The Plan, The Reality
AFTERNOON Faculty Involvement - What's the Lab's Role?
Following a tour of Harvard's new facilities, Harvard's Director of Media Services Bob Doyle will speak on the unpredictables of the planning and implementation process. We also hope to hear more from Ivan Audouin, the lab's Computer Specialist, about the training workshops he has run for faculty. Continuing in this vein, we'll round out the program with a faculty panel discussion.
Inquiring minds would like faculty to answer these questions:
-- "What makes a teacher successful in the lab?"
-- "How much of your success is based on individual initiative, and how much is it due to institutional support structures?
-- "What support structures need to be in place to encourage faculty?"
-- "What are the obstacles you've overcome, and how?"
-- "Is what you are doing transferrable to other institutions?"
If YOU have a question along these lines, contact anyone on the committee for the day's program: Connie Christo (Harvard), Carmen Greenlee (Bowdoin), and Jean Dixon (Mt. Holyoke).
2. Another NERALLD Hands-On Workshop proposed
Ed Dente (Tufts) will offer pre-meeting workshop to address 1) downloading of audio and video players and FL fonts; 2) straming media; 3) evaluating FL video and audio sites; 4) dealing with error messages and cache clean-ups.
3. Mailing list now numbers 421, including many non-members.
4. The Treasury is in good shape. A full report was made at the meeting. Nearly two-thirds of last years' members have renewed their dues for 1997-98.
5. No one stepped up to be our new recording secretary. Your chances of being selected for the job are better if you show up at the next meeting than if you stay home.
6. Congratulations to two members who got upgrades/promotions: Marta Lipski Lehman, Manager of Media and Language Services at Brandeis (reporting to Computing Services); and, Becky Adae at SUNY/New Paltz, who said thanks to NERALLD members who sent sample job descriptions to her -- she got herself a much better job description (and reduced teaching load) as a result!
IALL NEWS
The IALL Journal of Language Learning Technologies is searching for a Managing Editor. This IALL member works on a volunteer basis with the Editor-in-Chief, the Journal Board, and the IALL Board and Council to manage the technical details of Journal layout, printing, and distribution.
The duties of this individual are: to work under the direction of the Editor-in-Chief to lay out textual and other manuscript materials in Journal format, using PageMaker software; to coordinate proofing of layout drafts with members of the Journal Board; to facilitate inclusion of advertising copy into the Journal; to oversee printing of Journal utilizing a commercial or institutional printer; and to coordinate mailing of Journal issues to IALL members nationally and internationally.
Interested candidates are asked to submit a C.V. and a statement of interest to Pete Smith, Editor-in-Chief, The IALL Journal, pete@distance.uta.edu.
Related note from Read Gilgen, President-Elect of IALL:
"I wish I could say it was paid. It's paid just like every other IALL position. Fame, glory, prestige, esteem by your colleagues, and the undying gratitude of the IALL board and journal staff. That's about it !" (used with permission)
NEW IALL PUBLICATIONS
IALL has new editions of its most popular and informative publications:
IALL Language Laboratory Design Kit
The Design Kit is available for $15. to IALL members, $25. to non-members.
IALL Management Manual
The Management Manual costs $20. for members and $30. for non-members.
Information about IALL and its publications can be found at
polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/IALL /Pub.html
or eleazar.dartmouth.edu/IALL< BR>
NERALLD Contact Information:---------------
President : Bruce Parkhurst Geddes Language Center Boston University 725 Commonwealth Avenue Boston MA 02215 Tel: 617/353-2640 brucep@bu.edu Newsletter Items Christopher Alberg c/o Dept. of Romance Languages Lyons Hall 304 Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA 02167-3804 Tel. (617) 783-1597 alberg@bc.edu
There are proposed changes in the NERALLD by laws for members to vote upon. Proposed changes are marked off with **...**.
If you are a member please vote; we did not previously specify what majority was neements... it's a good test to see if we can get 2/3s to agree on 2/3s!
BY LAWS
NERALLD is a non-profit organization for those concerned with the use and development of language media centers.
OFFICERS AND DUTIES
There shall be a president who shall determine the organizations staff structure for his or her term of office to ensure orderly continuation of business. **[add ->] Newsletter Editor, Recording Secretary and Webpage Administrator are key support positions recommended for appointment. The president may also convene an Advisory Board as needed, to discuss matters in more depth than is typically afforded at Fall/Spring meetings.**
The president shall serve a two-year term beginning on the first of January of the year in which there will be an IALL (International Association for Language Learning Technology) conference.
The president must be a member of IALL before taking office. The president, on taking office, also assumes a seat on the IALL Council. The presidents duties shall include, but not be limited to, the following:1). Conducting all NERALLD financial affairs, including maintaining the treasury.
2). Coordinating meetings between host & membership and between presenters & host.
3). Calling a yearly advisory board meeting during the summer.
4). Seeing that four newsletters per year are sent out on the following dates:
5). Attending IALL conferences and Council meetings. **[add ->] 6). Ensuring that a Treasurers Report is made at every meeting. If the president fails to perform these duties, the membership may call for new elections.**
MEMBERSHIP
The membership year shall be from October 1st to September 30th. Membership application shall be due by the date of each Fall meeting. Voting membership in NERALLD shall be open to all interested parties upon receipt of dues. Voting membership shall allow members to attend meetings, vote and receive the newsletter. Voting membership shall currently be set at $25.00 per year. **[add ->] A half year membership rate of $15 shall be set for those who join between January 1 and June 30 of the membership year. [delete ->] Newsletter subscription without voting membership shall be currently set at $10.00 per year. [delete ->] Non-members may attend meetings at a $10 registration fee per meeting.** Voting membership shall apply to individuals only. Institutions are not covered by voting membership.
GOVERNANCE
**[add ->] Amendments to the By Laws may be suggested by voting members and shall be discussed at Advisory Board meetings. Notification of proposed changes will be made to the membership and subsequently voted on; a 2/3 majority of voting members present is required to pass amendments.**