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Summer 2006
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Summer 2006
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Summer 2006 Newsletter
| Download an Adobe Acrobat pdf file of this Newsletter |
| View Archive of Some Past Newsletters |
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Website: http://www.nerallt.unh.edu |
IALLT website: http://iallt.org/ |
Published 4 times yearly |
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Debra Mandel, Pres. NERALLT |
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Spring 2006 Meeting The Language Resource Center and Emerging Structures on Campus: Integration, Innovation, and Independence April 28, 2006 Host Site : Connecticut College, New London, CT Marisa Castagno - mcas@conncoll.edu Program Committee : Dick House, University of New Hampshire, Chair Jeremy Bennett, Yale University Registration available on-line at: |
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Dear Friends, Happy Summer! The April 28th meeting at Connecticut College was a welcome opportunity to compare notes about our about our different campus organizations and how we're evolving. Participants included 32 attendees and presenters from eight states, representing 24 colleges and universities and one K-12 school. Marisa Castagno arranged an exceptional meeting experience. On the evening of the 27th, 13 NERALLTies dined at Anthony J's in scenic Mystic and tasted sizzling Italian specialties. The following evening some other NERALLTies had a nice dinner at Olio's while waiting for the rush our traffic to end. It was a productive and fun two days.
This newsletter marks Marisa Castagno's last issue as Newsletter Editor, a position she has held since 2002. Thanks, Marisa, for your calm collegiality and expertise, and helping to launch the online-only product. Marisa has joined the fall meeting's program meeting. Beginning with the Fall issue, David Kanig will serve as NERALLT's Interim Newsletter Editor. (Thank you, David). We expect the official Editor position to be in place for July 2007. On May 31 David Kanig, Mary Morrisard-Larkin and I met at the College of the Holy Cross to draft revised bylaws and operational guidelines for NERALLT's proposed board and governance procedures. The fall newsletter and/or special bulletin will include more information about our progress and how you can participate. See some of you at the July 14 NERALLT Summer Advisory Board/IALLT 2007 Planning Meeting.
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Business Matters! |
The next NERALLT Fall Meeting, Virtually Anything: Modes of Communication , will take place on Thursday and Friday, October 26 and 27, 2006 and will be hosted by Thomas Hammond at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. This meeting will examine the generational shift occurring in young people, "digital natives," regarding their use of communication and collaboration technologies. How will their social and learning styles shape instructional language technology and pedagogy for the next generation of students? We will also examine how language technologists can be more effective in using existing technologies to communicate and collaborate with each other, with faculty, and various constituencies in our institutions. For more information and proposal submission: http://lrcnt.fas.harvard.edu/nerallt/2006_Fall_Call.html Book early!! Because Cambridge is such a popular and expensive destination, it is important to book your lodging as soon as possible. Please take advantage of the arrangements at Days Inn Thom has made. Updates will be provided on the fall meeting website http://www.nerallt.unh.edu/meeting/index.html and in the NERALLT Fall newsletter. Lodging:Days Hotel, Soldiers Field Rd., holding block of 30 rooms until 9/26. The Inn at Harvard ( http://www.innatharvard.com/ ) : $299/night subject to availability (617) 491-2222 - Mention NERALLT group Links to more Cambridge hotels:Within walking distance:
Long walk/Short Taxi
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Coming Events |
MULTIPLE LISTINGS : IALLT Regional Groups North East Regional Computing Program (NERCOMP)
Wikimedia 2006, August 4 th through August 6 th , Harvard Law School campus, in Cambridge, Massachusetts
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NERALLT SPRING 2006 MEETING Review The Language Resource Center and Emerging Structures on Campus: April 28, 2006 7:45 AM – 4:30PM Connecticut College, New London, CT College Center at Crozier-Williams, Room 1941 |
Additional material is linked from the Meeting Index Page
http://www.nerallt.unh.edu/meeting/index.html
The Language Resource Center: Creating an Identity, Showcasing Innovation.
Keynote Address by Nina Garrett , Director, Center for Language Study, Yale University
Dr. Garrett began by emphasizing “greater connectivity with campus infrastructure.” She noted that language centers have historically been largely autonomous; technology needs of language labs have evolved differently from those of other IT facilities. Though this has been a positive development, it has led to different support needs, which some technology offices cannot wholeheartedly embrace. As a possible set of solutions, Nina urges language center professionals to promote our facilities and expertise, offering services when possible, without “stepping on the tech peoples' toes.” Since classrooms are often constructed without foreign language teaching in mind, language technology professionals should be more vocal in discussions about room design, and cultivate involvement with the registrar's office and faculty support networks. This will likely enhance our visibility as experts in pedagogy. Language centers should reach out more to students and student organizations, give help in the use of email and other technologies in other languages, and provide career advising. There are an infinite number of ways we can improve and expand the services that language centers provide, Garrett posited, but none of this will be possible without increased campus-wide awareness of the language center and greater communication/ connectivity between the language center and other parts of the college. |
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Results of the NERALLT Language Services Survey
Thomas Hammond, Director, Harvard Language Resource Center
Thom gave the results of the pre-meeting survey. He pointed out that the variety of technical and organizational designs for a language resource center leads to a rather scattered set of results, though there are some interesting trends. In particular, there is a trend toward being a source for human and technical resources, rather than just a place for students to do class work.
Thom noted that IALLT has done similar surveys at the national level, and will soon publish another one.
Many of the trends found in the survey were picked up by Mary in her case history.
How Did the Lab Get Here? 2 Case Histories
1. The UMASS Boston Language Lab: from an independent to a collaborative model.
-- Mary Simone , Director, UMASS Boston Language Lab
 Mary Simone during her presentation |
Mary gave a quick review of the data which Thom had presented and described how UMASS Boston's facility correlated with that data. This facility had been a freestanding entity for 20 years, though the reporting structure changed on at least one occasion. Recently, the lab's physical space was renamed (and then unnamed) and became part of the Library's Media Services unit. The reporting structure became split, with materials management going up the Library chain and technical needs going up the IT chain. Though the “learning common” collaborative model is responsible for this arrangement, the particular implementation has resulted in some confusion. |
2. Vive la difference! - Dartmouth's IT vision and the LRC
-- Otmar Foelsche , Director, Dartmouth Humanities Resources
Otmar outlined the way in which Dartmouth's “language lab” evolved into “Humanities Resources,” which incorporates a Language Resource Center. This meant “promoting” Otmar with increased responsibilities for a wider reaching facility, and having his assistant, Inge, manage the Language Resource Center. This Center is primarily a development area for faculty, and far less a lab in the traditional sense. The use of servers to transmit audio and video materials to students has made for a better experience for the end user, while freeing up resources. Otmar has also implemented one of the main suggestions found in Nina Garrett's keynote, that is, the Humanities Resources facility now does the majority of all video streaming on campus, having a very strong collaborative relationship with the Media Center in the College's Library. The reputation for reliability and responsiveness' (which rests mostly on Otmar's shoulders), has resulted in a high profile place for his facility on campus. |
 Otmar Foelsche during his talk |
Common Threads Among the Species. Panel Discussion.
Our survey results suggest that it is possible for language centers to thrive in any number of different arrangements.
 Dick House, Marshall White and Maria Montzolis during the Panel Discussion |
In this session, moderated by Marshall White , Computer and Information Systems Manager at the University of New Hampshire, participants gave information about their facilities which tended to corroborate the survey findings. The Language Resource Center at UNH has its own facility and is self-sustaining, both in budget and in technology. However, it is involved in initiatives which spread information about instructional technology throughout the College of Liberal Arts. Trinity College, as reported by Maria Montzolis, now at Yale University, has transferred its Language Center to a position within the Library structure. Both Smith College and St. Michael's College have placed the Language Center under IT, but in each case the Director of the Language Center was promoted into a position within the IT structure. |
In all these cases, language faculties' needs are met by structures which support different applications of technology for language instruction. At the same time, the “pioneering” use of technology in these facilities is passed on to other parts of the institution.
Three different models all seem to have the same impact on campus.
Strategies for Success.
Due to time constraints, we had only one 30-minute session during which was split into three groups. Since many of the individual comments are specific to one or two institutions, one may want to look at the pdf file of these. There were a number of convergences.
Many of the language centers either have their own classroom spaces, which they can equip with technology used for language learning, or find themselves taking de facto responsibility for regular classrooms, since IT has a difficult time addressing the technology needs of language faculty in a timely fashion.
The notion of “IOUs,” in which the language center helps IT and builds up a working relationship and “credit” with the IT staff, so that they are willing to reciprocate, was discussed in a number of ways.
Many, if not most, institutions have arrived at a point in which the language center is a resource space where projects are done or facilitated, but where individualized student learning is at a minimum. By being in the forefront of new developments, the centers are secure in their position, even though their roles are changing. This is especially so when the center helps students create course projects, even though faculty may have scant knowledge of what is involved. However, if faculty use the facility and get quick solutions to their problems, they will help spread awareness of the center.
Submitted by Dick House, Director, Language Resource Center, University of New Hampshire
The meeting was called to order and led by President Debra Mandel.
Financial Report
A balance of $1288.66 was reported on 3/31/06. The Fall 2005 meeting expenses were $755.36. Receipts were $1230; thus $474.64 was added to the coffers.
Old Business
501(3)c Committee/Governance Committee Update
NERALLT Membership in attendance voted to create a NERALLT Board of Trustees of nine (9) to include the following positions:
There was healthy discussion about the need for such a large Board, but, overall, there was keen support for creating a tighter organization, with smooth transitions for leadership roles.
The final tally was: 20-yea, 1-No, 2-Abstain.
New Business: Change membership and meeting fees.
NERALLTS's Governance Committee proposed a new membership fee/meeting fee price structure and brought it up for a unanimous vote:
After discussion, the membership voted on and decided:
Members in attendance felt that our fee and charges will still be reasonable, particularly when compared with other conferences.
More New Business:
• David Kanig has started a new list serv- Call-Pub , where academics and publishers can discuss technical issues in the development of Web-based textbook modules and digital educational materials. For more information, contact David at: David_Kanig@Brown.edu .
• Ed Dente will be hosting IALLT's Summer Leadership meeting from June 22-25, and all IALLT members are invited to register.
• IALLT has been having discussions about possibly co-sponsoring a meeting with K-12 organizations to advance initiatives with K-12 language instructors.
• CALICO and IALLT will have a joint meeting from March 18-22, 2008 at the University of San Francisco.
• NERALLT member, Barbara Sawhill has been leading interesting virtual meetings on various Thursday nites. This is truly a great opportunity and a first-rate and fun website. For more info: http://www.languagelabunleashed.com/?page_id=72
Fall 2006 Meeting
Venue: Harvard University. Thom Hammond stepped up to the hosting plate for October 26/27 (26 th is pre-meeting workshop).
Topics suggestions reported before the meeting included:
Meeting attendees decided on the fall theme and entitled it: "Virtually Anything: Modes of Communication." Meeting Committee Members joining Thom at the plate are: Jeremy Bennett (Yale), chair; Cindy Bravo (BC); Marisa Castagno (Connecticut College); Bruce O'Leary (Smith) and Emily Wentworth (Yale)
NERALLT Spring Meeting Survey Evaluation, April 28, 2006
Compiled by Dick House
24 responses, or 75%
1. About how often do you attend NERALLT meetings?
| This is my first | Once a year | Twice a year |
| 15% | 20% | 65% |
2. Do you plan to attend NERALLT in the future?
| Yes | No | Maybe |
| 91% | 9% |
3. How long have you been participating in NERALLT?
| Just started | 1 to 5 years | More than 5 years | More than 10 years |
| 17% | 29% | 25% | 29% |
4. About today's NERALLD meeting (Likert scale 1-5: 1 = Not at all; 5 = Very much):
1. Today's program approached the meeting topic from a variety of perspectives – copyrights, the future of pedagogic materials and of language labs, etc. Was the mix a good one?
Overall score: 4.26
2. Was the overall content of today's meeting relevant to your day-to-day work?
Overall score: 3.96
3. Did you find today's meeting interesting/informative (regardless of whether it was directly relevant to your work)?
Overall score: 4.43
4. Did the program incorporate technology concepts and demonstrations effectively?
Overall score: 4.25
5. Which presentation(s) did you find particularly interesting or useful? Why?
(Only 64% responded)
What suggestions do you have for improving future NERALLT meetings?
 Mary Simone and Cindy Bravo just relaxing at Anthony J's while waiting for the waiters |
 Otmar Foelsche and Carmen Greenlee looking at the menu, what's good? |
 Ruth Trometer and Mary Beth Barth are also trying to decide, and it seems really difficult! |
 Sizzling fish is the dinner choice for Claire Keith and Dick House |
 Everybody had cake, hummm so good! |
 It was a great spring day and the trees and bushes at Connecticut College were in full bloom |
