The workshop on 3 Step Lesson Plan was validation for me. The presenter shared a method of lesson delivery using 20 minute segments of highly student engaged activities. The focus on student involvement and accountability provided easy applicable ways to immediately incorporate this system. The instructor uses this method to conduct classes lasting one hour. My method is a seven step lesson which covers my four hour classes; I too create lessons that allow students to be accountable and engaged in twenty minute segments. The students emerge as truly active and responsible for their learning which achieves the learning outcomes for the courses.
Another workshop that I attended called Misperceptions of Teaching and Learning was very insightful. This presentation looked at a survey that matched faculty perceptions of what faculty perceived as teaching and student learning with students' perceptions of what good teaching is and what constitutes learning. The reason for the survey is to better align the perceptions of the faculty and students. A discussion about the results of the survey between faculty and students needs to occur to clear up misconceptions, usualluy undertaken at the beginning of the course.
I would highly recommend this conference to all who teach in higher education.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Teaching Professor Conference, Kissimmee, Florida
I recently had the pleasure of attending The Teaching Professor conference in Kissimme, FL. The conference is designed to improve the teaching skills of professors in all disciplines, in both face-to-face and online teaching.
The conference opened with a welcome address from Barbara Walvoord on Saving time in the Grading Process. Dr. Walvoord's address reminded participants that as professors we should not spend more time grading work than student's have put into creating it! She also spoke about how to not get caught in a trap of "micro-grading", that is spending so much time correcting every grammatical error, etc., that when students turn in rewrites they have just fixed the errors, but not addressed any major writing issues. Her address started the conference out on a very positive note, and I am looking forward to her visit to WSSU on August 11 -12, 2008, for the Action Research Institute.
I attended a workshop by Keith Whittington from Rochester Institute of Technology called Simple Active Learning Activities Designed to Increase Student Learning and Satisfaction. Dr. Whittington shared with a very large group several activities designed to increase classroom interaction and to get accurate feedback from students. One activity he shared was to have students write down anonymously one thing they learned or one thing they liked the most or least about class or readings. He emphasized making it one thing, and providing absolute limits to help students focus their answers. You can collect them at the end of class, and structure your next lecture around the areas that are still unclear to students. A lot of the information he shared was based on research done by Angelo and Cross (1993). He also did a very interesting card activity in which he gave out cards from a deck randomly, grouped people by fours, and had us work on an assignment. We worked on the assignment by having one person start the answer, and we just kept passing it and adding on to it. It was a very non-threatening way to brainstorm, and it requires that everyone participate. When it was time to share, he chose cards from another deck to randomly select people to answer the questions. The audience really enjoyed this method, and I could see how this could be very effective with a large group.
I attended several workshops on how to create communities in online classes. One session, done by Lynda Nauright called No More Sage on the Stage: Strategies for Active Learning in Blended Face-to-Face and Online Courses, emphasized that faculty (and administrators) need to recognize that as our student population changes, so does the role of faculty members. She spends a lot of time trying to make sure her online classes work collaboratively, and when she places them in groups she tells them that their peers can decided to remove them from the group if they don't participate. If this happens, they are automatically removed from the course. This has only happened one time, but you can imagine what a discussion it started in our session!
Another session done by a very lively Economics professor, Dr. Ngoc Bich Tran, gave us How to Succeed in First-Time Online Teaching: Top Ten Tips. They are:
10. Enjoy it
9. Offer student support
8. Be patient and considerate to students
7. Keep open lines of communication
6. Provide clear and consistent instructions and feedback
5. Provide enhancement materials
4. Use available online content resources
3. Motivate your students
2. Be organized by planning and developing the course early
1. Be open-minded and enthusiastic when committing to teach online course
Her co-presenters also emphasized using the support of your institution's instructional designers and any offices with expertise in distance learning.
Finally, I learned a lot about my co-workers as part of this conference. WSSU had a strong presence, and having the opportunity to spend time with other faculty will allowed for increased chances for collaborations and increased collegiality.
I am grateful to CETL for providing this opportunity, and encourage all to utilize CETL as a resource to enhance your professional development.
The conference opened with a welcome address from Barbara Walvoord on Saving time in the Grading Process. Dr. Walvoord's address reminded participants that as professors we should not spend more time grading work than student's have put into creating it! She also spoke about how to not get caught in a trap of "micro-grading", that is spending so much time correcting every grammatical error, etc., that when students turn in rewrites they have just fixed the errors, but not addressed any major writing issues. Her address started the conference out on a very positive note, and I am looking forward to her visit to WSSU on August 11 -12, 2008, for the Action Research Institute.
I attended a workshop by Keith Whittington from Rochester Institute of Technology called Simple Active Learning Activities Designed to Increase Student Learning and Satisfaction. Dr. Whittington shared with a very large group several activities designed to increase classroom interaction and to get accurate feedback from students. One activity he shared was to have students write down anonymously one thing they learned or one thing they liked the most or least about class or readings. He emphasized making it one thing, and providing absolute limits to help students focus their answers. You can collect them at the end of class, and structure your next lecture around the areas that are still unclear to students. A lot of the information he shared was based on research done by Angelo and Cross (1993). He also did a very interesting card activity in which he gave out cards from a deck randomly, grouped people by fours, and had us work on an assignment. We worked on the assignment by having one person start the answer, and we just kept passing it and adding on to it. It was a very non-threatening way to brainstorm, and it requires that everyone participate. When it was time to share, he chose cards from another deck to randomly select people to answer the questions. The audience really enjoyed this method, and I could see how this could be very effective with a large group.
I attended several workshops on how to create communities in online classes. One session, done by Lynda Nauright called No More Sage on the Stage: Strategies for Active Learning in Blended Face-to-Face and Online Courses, emphasized that faculty (and administrators) need to recognize that as our student population changes, so does the role of faculty members. She spends a lot of time trying to make sure her online classes work collaboratively, and when she places them in groups she tells them that their peers can decided to remove them from the group if they don't participate. If this happens, they are automatically removed from the course. This has only happened one time, but you can imagine what a discussion it started in our session!
Another session done by a very lively Economics professor, Dr. Ngoc Bich Tran, gave us How to Succeed in First-Time Online Teaching: Top Ten Tips. They are:
10. Enjoy it
9. Offer student support
8. Be patient and considerate to students
7. Keep open lines of communication
6. Provide clear and consistent instructions and feedback
5. Provide enhancement materials
4. Use available online content resources
3. Motivate your students
2. Be organized by planning and developing the course early
1. Be open-minded and enthusiastic when committing to teach online course
Her co-presenters also emphasized using the support of your institution's instructional designers and any offices with expertise in distance learning.
Finally, I learned a lot about my co-workers as part of this conference. WSSU had a strong presence, and having the opportunity to spend time with other faculty will allowed for increased chances for collaborations and increased collegiality.
I am grateful to CETL for providing this opportunity, and encourage all to utilize CETL as a resource to enhance your professional development.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
TEACHING WITH TECHNOLOGY
The most invigorating session for me was "Using Technology: Thou shalt and Thou shalt Not," led by Dave Yearwood, a professor of Technology in the Business School at University of North Dakota (http://business.und.edu/dept/technology/faculty.cfm). His basic message was that technology should enhance, not dictate, our classes.
Some key points from the discussion:
1) Question: When was the last time you saw a politician using PowerPoint? If you want to connect with your audience, maybe Powerpoint is not the best way.
2) Having students write their ideas down rather than just viewing bullet points on a screen is more helpful in retention and learning process.
3) Is technology helping or hindering learning? Do you really need to use technology?
4) Studies show that "online burnout" occurs at an alarmingly high rate in college courses. (70% of respondents in a survey reported burnout). So, minimize the amount of technology introduced into a course. (Recognize, too, that students have their own technological distractions/issues going on during class.)
5) Some audience members may expect/need a PowerPoint slide to make it a presentation complete. Consider ways to use PP to provoke emotion, draw attention, and start a conversation. Maybe show a picture or graph at the beginning of class, but shut off the projector and don't let the PP be the whole class.
6) There is not (or should not be) such a thing as "PowerPoint Presentation" any more than is a "Chalkboard Presentation" or "Overhead Transparency Presentation" or "Flip Chart Presentation." Technology should not become the center of attention.
Yearwood kept coming back to PowerPoint because it is the most pervasive hi-tech tool used in classrooms today, and just about every textbook comes bundled with PowerPoint slides. He suggested that instructors learn some effective and efficient ways to create and integrate PP and other technol. into their courses, but should be willing to forego tech tools that don't add value to the class.
Coming from a professor of technology, that's sound advice.
Some key points from the discussion:
1) Question: When was the last time you saw a politician using PowerPoint? If you want to connect with your audience, maybe Powerpoint is not the best way.
2) Having students write their ideas down rather than just viewing bullet points on a screen is more helpful in retention and learning process.
3) Is technology helping or hindering learning? Do you really need to use technology?
4) Studies show that "online burnout" occurs at an alarmingly high rate in college courses. (70% of respondents in a survey reported burnout). So, minimize the amount of technology introduced into a course. (Recognize, too, that students have their own technological distractions/issues going on during class.)
5) Some audience members may expect/need a PowerPoint slide to make it a presentation complete. Consider ways to use PP to provoke emotion, draw attention, and start a conversation. Maybe show a picture or graph at the beginning of class, but shut off the projector and don't let the PP be the whole class.
6) There is not (or should not be) such a thing as "PowerPoint Presentation" any more than is a "Chalkboard Presentation" or "Overhead Transparency Presentation" or "Flip Chart Presentation." Technology should not become the center of attention.
Yearwood kept coming back to PowerPoint because it is the most pervasive hi-tech tool used in classrooms today, and just about every textbook comes bundled with PowerPoint slides. He suggested that instructors learn some effective and efficient ways to create and integrate PP and other technol. into their courses, but should be willing to forego tech tools that don't add value to the class.
Coming from a professor of technology, that's sound advice.
STUDENT ATTITUDE
One of the pleasures (or pains) of attending a "teaching" conference is that every session forces you to reflect on your own philosophy and practice. Some sessions can make you feel hopeless and guilty; others make you want to say amen to every point the presenter makes; and there are some that cause you to immediately start rethinking/rewriting your syllabi.
The session entitled "Learning from the Learners" featured a panel of undergraduate students that shared their views on the classroom experience. Keep in mind that these students would have been more motivated than their peers to attend the conference. ["Dude, you attended a teaching conference with professors?!"] OK, throw in a mouse and some rides and they'll gladly take the trip...
Anyway, here are some points and tips they shared:
(1) Students don't come to class to LEARN; they understand that they need the degree to get a decent job so they "play the academic game." They know that most of the stuff they're learning they won't need in the real world.
(2) Professors should show a positive attitude ("even fake it") when they come to class; students can tell if professors don't want to be there.
(3) About 99% of students won't turn off their cell phones when asked to. It's their security and lifeline.
(4) It's more important to learn communication and teambuilding skills than all the information that's packed into the course. Much of the material will be forgotten after the exam, anyway.
(5) Writing is key to thinking and learning the material. Give students opportunities to write.
(6) Challenging courses, especially math and science courses, should be taught more creatively -- applied to real life situations as much as possible.
-----
The students' views fit the conventional profile of Generation Y or Millennials (born after 1982): impatient, coddled, multitaskers, IMers, me-oriented, etc. So I wondered about how I could redefine "learning" to attract student interest: Maybe integrate their favorite technolgies into my classes to provide the comfort and security they need and crave. Maybe allow them to wear earpieces and use cell phones ("You may text or make your calls discreetly."). I could give them more opportunities to have "fun" and write about it. The ideas kept coming...
Yet I am torn between teaching for the moment (the next laugh, the end of term student evaluations) and teaching for life (which was the philosophy I had adopted as a teaching-in-training 25 years ago). I know that those students on the stage will come back to the teaching conference in 5 years and say how they wished they had "learned" more, just as students who left my class hating all the useless writing they had to do ("busy work") and then came back after an internship or year of work to say that it was the best preparation for their jobs!
I keep looking for a middle ground.
The session entitled "Learning from the Learners" featured a panel of undergraduate students that shared their views on the classroom experience. Keep in mind that these students would have been more motivated than their peers to attend the conference. ["Dude, you attended a teaching conference with professors?!"] OK, throw in a mouse and some rides and they'll gladly take the trip...
Anyway, here are some points and tips they shared:
(1) Students don't come to class to LEARN; they understand that they need the degree to get a decent job so they "play the academic game." They know that most of the stuff they're learning they won't need in the real world.
(2) Professors should show a positive attitude ("even fake it") when they come to class; students can tell if professors don't want to be there.
(3) About 99% of students won't turn off their cell phones when asked to. It's their security and lifeline.
(4) It's more important to learn communication and teambuilding skills than all the information that's packed into the course. Much of the material will be forgotten after the exam, anyway.
(5) Writing is key to thinking and learning the material. Give students opportunities to write.
(6) Challenging courses, especially math and science courses, should be taught more creatively -- applied to real life situations as much as possible.
-----
The students' views fit the conventional profile of Generation Y or Millennials (born after 1982): impatient, coddled, multitaskers, IMers, me-oriented, etc. So I wondered about how I could redefine "learning" to attract student interest: Maybe integrate their favorite technolgies into my classes to provide the comfort and security they need and crave. Maybe allow them to wear earpieces and use cell phones ("You may text or make your calls discreetly."). I could give them more opportunities to have "fun" and write about it. The ideas kept coming...
Yet I am torn between teaching for the moment (the next laugh, the end of term student evaluations) and teaching for life (which was the philosophy I had adopted as a teaching-in-training 25 years ago). I know that those students on the stage will come back to the teaching conference in 5 years and say how they wished they had "learned" more, just as students who left my class hating all the useless writing they had to do ("busy work") and then came back after an internship or year of work to say that it was the best preparation for their jobs!
I keep looking for a middle ground.
Friday, May 23, 2008
What Technologies Are They Using?
Another TLT session I wanted to mention briefly was one presented by Karen Smith-Gratto, Barbra Mosley, and Alecia Jones of North Carolina A & T. They were reporting on a study that asked students about what technologies (hardware and Web-based applications) they actually use. They were interested in finding out whether A&T students' technology use is similar to that described in national studies of college students' technology use or whether there are significant differences. (Unfortunately, I came in just late enough to miss the citation for the national study.) Among their findings were these:
- About 40% of A&T students (as opposed to 20% in the national study) use instant messaging.
- Whereas Boomers almost never use text messaging, the current generation uses it daily in overwhelming numbers. (Gen X also uses it.) You can tell I'm a Boomer--I'm sitting here wondering whether text messaging and IMing are the same thing!
- Students didn't report much use of social networking sites, but the investigators suspect that they didn't understand what the question was asking about.
- Overall, students may be less advanced and use fewer technologies than we think--but it is also possible that they are using some technolgies socially and do not want us invading their space! This reminded me of the looks of alarm I see on my students' faces when I mention that I have a Facebook page.
This struck me as a study it would be very interesting to replicate here. It would be particularly useful to know whether our students are really as technologically sophisticated as we sometimes think they are, and it would also be useful to have a clearer idea of how much their knowledge of technology varies. I suspect it varies a great deal--even some of the young students seem unfamiliar with word processing, while every class seems to include (thank goodness) at least one student who can help us get our technological tools to work.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Effective classroom interaction: Learning from the Teaching Professor Conference, 2008
I attended the Teaching Professor Conference in Kissimee,FL. To say that this conference was outstanding, is an understatement! I learned so many different tools and strategies that I can use in the classroom. Being a new teacher of higher learning, I must admit that I kind of felt intimidated being amongst so many seasoned professionals. The conference didn't make me feel like I was a neophyte in the world of higher education, instead I felt amongst individuals who though had been teaching for years, were learning and listening for ideas, as though frustrated with the modern way of teaching. For once, I felt like I belong to a secret society of educators who were planning to take control of this world that we called higher learning. It felt so exhilarating and awesome. I had all of the confidence in the world take on the "politics" of standardized teaching. Everything about this conference was amazing! The hotel, the city and the true southern hospitality that I received. I would certainly like to thank CETL at Winston-Salem State University for providing me with opportunity to advance my teaching and learning skills.
This conference was just a confirmation for me that I belong in this career. I can't wait to take what I have learned and apply it to my curriculum for the fall. I especially liked the workshop that talked about incorporating YouTube and Facebook into the Curriculum (Katherine Yamashita). I thought that it was a great idea to get students excited about learning in their language. I am a visual learner like most of my students therefore this method of teaching would be very effective. I also felt like the "Pick a Card any Card: Using Card-Sort Activities to Combine Critical Thinking and Cooperative Learning " workshop (John Huss) was very informative. There are a couple of group activities in that workshop that I would like to use as well.
Overall, I would recommend to anyone to attend this conference. If a person really values teaching and really cares about their students, then this conference is perfect for them.
Thank you for the experience,
Niesha Douglas
This conference was just a confirmation for me that I belong in this career. I can't wait to take what I have learned and apply it to my curriculum for the fall. I especially liked the workshop that talked about incorporating YouTube and Facebook into the Curriculum (Katherine Yamashita). I thought that it was a great idea to get students excited about learning in their language. I am a visual learner like most of my students therefore this method of teaching would be very effective. I also felt like the "Pick a Card any Card: Using Card-Sort Activities to Combine Critical Thinking and Cooperative Learning " workshop (John Huss) was very informative. There are a couple of group activities in that workshop that I would like to use as well.
Overall, I would recommend to anyone to attend this conference. If a person really values teaching and really cares about their students, then this conference is perfect for them.
Thank you for the experience,
Niesha Douglas
Monday, May 19, 2008
Effective classroom interaction: Learning from the Lilly Conference
This February I attended the Lilly Conference which was held in Greensboro, NC. Among the sessions I attended I was particularly interested in the session Sparking and Sustaining Classroom Discussion presented by Kimberly Cuny and Sarah M. Wilde. I would like to share a little what I learned from this session and beyond with my fellow colleagues.
Teaching is a multiside processing which is involving in both teacher and students, therefore effective interaction with students in classroom is critical for the classroom success. The session and my conversations with the presenters after session help me in improving my classroom communication skills, those are something I ignored before in my classrooms. Also I would love to recommendate two articles anthored by the presenters, linked via http://speakingcenter.uncg.edu/resources/immediacypapers/plepart1.html and http://speakingcenter.uncg.edu/resources/immediacypapers/plepart2.html.
Lei Zhang
Teaching is a multiside processing which is involving in both teacher and students, therefore effective interaction with students in classroom is critical for the classroom success. The session and my conversations with the presenters after session help me in improving my classroom communication skills, those are something I ignored before in my classrooms. Also I would love to recommendate two articles anthored by the presenters, linked via http://speakingcenter.uncg.edu/resources/immediacypapers/plepart1.html and http://speakingcenter.uncg.edu/resources/immediacypapers/plepart2.html.
Lei Zhang
Monday, May 5, 2008
Teaching Portuguese Language and Brazilian Culture
Generous support from CETL and the Department of English and Foreign Languages enabled me to attend the Ninth Congress of the Brazilian Studies Association (BRASA) in New Orleans, March 27-29, 2008. BRASA is the major international organization focused on multidisciplinary Brazilian studies. The conference had approximately 1,000 attendees from the US, Brazil, and other countries. Remarkable this time were the number of panels dealing with Portuguese language and culture pedagogy and related issues. This increase, I believe, has been stimulated by the steady expansion of Portuguese language instruction in the US (WSSU initiated its program in fall 2005), the publication of new and very good materials for beginning learners in the US, and the recent implementation of an internationally administered standardized, multi-skill proficiency test in Brazilian Portuguese. Aside from the shared theme of culture and language instruction, there were two threads that ran through these presentations were (1) the integral connections between culture and language and (2) the utility of the World Wide Web for both finding and storing relevant materials.
I attended one panel and presented in another on this broad topic. The first panel, "Questions of Identity in the Study of Portuguese as L1 and L2 ("Questões identitárias no estudo do português como L1 e L2") included presentations "Challenges for the Teaching of Brazilian Culture to Foreigners" ("Desafios para o ensino de cultura brasileira para estrangeiros") by Monica Rector (UNC-Chapel Hill), "Identity and Language: Matters of Usage ("Identidade e língua: questões de uso") by Ricardo Borges Alencar (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro), "Portuguese in the Current Context Is Portuguese without a Text" ("Português no contexto atual é Português sem texto") by Regina Igel (University of Maryland, College Park), and "Active Poetry: Incorporation of Poems into the Teaching of Portuguese Language" ("Poesia ativa: a incorporação de poemas no ensino de língua portuguesa") by Sophia Beal (Brown University).
As far as the integral connections between culture and language are concerned, while language teachers have long taken for granted the importance of culture (broadly conceived) in language instruction, in the 1990s, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) lead the development of the Standards for Foreign Language Learning. The "five Cs," as these are known, are Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities. Teachers and authors of materials have felt emboldened since the publications of the standards to integrated language instruction with other dimensions of worlds in which languages are used. The integration and overlap of the five Cs lead us to inject thoroughly and systematically types of instruction into the earliest course in the language instruction sequence. Thus, while the vehicle of these is linguistic, the skills are cultural. Again, these contents are not new to instructors but integration into the elementary-intermediate curriculum often is. Two new textbooks, as well as supplemental materials, deal with these matters. Ponto de encontro: Portuguese as a World Language by Anna Klobucka, et al. (Prentice-Hall-Pearson, 2007) courageously brings both European and Brazilian Portuguese and formal and informal registers together in the belief that the learner should not have exposure restricted but should learn early on how to deal with these differences. Working Portuguese by Monica Rector et al. (Norton, forthcoming) as well as Prof. Alencar's presentation underscore the pragmatics of oral communication in Brazil, understanding of which is useful not only to Americans doing business in Brazil but also the general learner. Prof. Beal's presented ingeniously constructed lessons using canonical yet accessible Brazilian poetry to teach multiple language skills to elementary students. These lessons are supplemental to the regular use of Ponto de encontro. Finally, Prof. Rector's textbook is unusual in that it is explicitly informed by Paulo Freyre' pedagogy of the oppressed and "dialogue" adult educational practices synthesized by Jane Vella in On Teaching and Learning: Putting the Principles of Dialogue Education into Practice (John Wiley Sons, 2007) and previous books. In short, culture is not just an appendage of the language class, it is intertwined with it.
The panel on which I presented was "Innovative Strategies for Strengthening Portuguese Language Programs." We learned practical details about the design and administration of "CELPE-Bras Portuguese Proficiency Exam," from Mary Risner (University of Florida), who also presented an "Overview of Initiatives to Promote Portuguese." The CELPE-Bras test is an important breakthrough because, if students can get to testing sites, the test is free or very modestly priced, and it is widely acknowledged in the Portuguese-speaking world and among area specialists in the US. We got a window on "the making of" the video that accompanies Ponto de encontro from one of the co-authors herself, Clémence Jouët-Pastré (Harvard University. In both this and the previous session we had fruitful debates about the merits of both Ponto de Encontro and Working Portuguese because co-authors were present. Denise Gomes Leal da Cruz Pacheco (UCLA) presented on "Teaching Foreign Language and Didactic Materials in the Face of New Information Technologies" ("Ensino de línguas estrangeiras e os materiais didáticos face às tecnologias de informação e comunicação," which seemed to echo Prof. Igel's presentation and center on the obsolescence of the print textbook expecially for full integration of the five Cs. While it is good to be reminded of this, there is something to be said for the maintenance of the print text especially for teaching communications skills insofar as they are portable and unify the class tactically. I presented on "Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE): U.S.-Brazil Higher Education Consortia Program: Focus on the HBCU Experience." WSSU is a partner in two FIPSE grantee consortia, of one of which I am the PI. Insofar as these consortia are focused on student exchange and language/culture learning they have been crucial for leveraging on-campus interaction and co-curricular activity related to Portuguese and Brazil. One of my central points, based on WSSU student testimonials, was that, although the theme of the exchange was "The African Diaspora in Brazil and the US: A Comparative Approach," and although most of the coursework in Brazil and the US were centered on that theme, what the students remark at most is the experience of being taken out of a majority African American institution and going back into a majority white institutional context in Brazil, and then returning to WSSU. They also comment on how US Black identity is both mirrored and challenged by Afro-Brazilians' daily experience. One Fisk student, participating in a different consortium but studying in Salvador--one of our partner cities, summed things up: "[the experience] helped me understand the meaning of 'African Diaspora.'" From my perspective, I believe the study abroad experience in conjunction with coursework at the home institution is the best route to accelerated language proficiency and progress in all five Cs. I have a Power Point on the exchange that I am happy to present at WSSU.
In regard to the World Wide Web, we were given URLs for a number of useful sites for teachers in our field, including links to demos of Prof. Beal's classes. These are of more use to specialists, but I can provide these addresses upon request. We also learned of two useful print sources for teaching Brazilian culture: Gilvan Muller, "Language Policy in Brazil: Monolingualism and Linguistic Prejudice," Language Policy 3.1 (2004): 3-23, and Tracey Novinger and Donald Haughey, Communicating with Brazilians: When "Yes" Means "No" (University of Texas P, 2004).
I attended one panel and presented in another on this broad topic. The first panel, "Questions of Identity in the Study of Portuguese as L1 and L2 ("Questões identitárias no estudo do português como L1 e L2") included presentations "Challenges for the Teaching of Brazilian Culture to Foreigners" ("Desafios para o ensino de cultura brasileira para estrangeiros") by Monica Rector (UNC-Chapel Hill), "Identity and Language: Matters of Usage ("Identidade e língua: questões de uso") by Ricardo Borges Alencar (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro), "Portuguese in the Current Context Is Portuguese without a Text" ("Português no contexto atual é Português sem texto") by Regina Igel (University of Maryland, College Park), and "Active Poetry: Incorporation of Poems into the Teaching of Portuguese Language" ("Poesia ativa: a incorporação de poemas no ensino de língua portuguesa") by Sophia Beal (Brown University).
As far as the integral connections between culture and language are concerned, while language teachers have long taken for granted the importance of culture (broadly conceived) in language instruction, in the 1990s, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) lead the development of the Standards for Foreign Language Learning. The "five Cs," as these are known, are Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities. Teachers and authors of materials have felt emboldened since the publications of the standards to integrated language instruction with other dimensions of worlds in which languages are used. The integration and overlap of the five Cs lead us to inject thoroughly and systematically types of instruction into the earliest course in the language instruction sequence. Thus, while the vehicle of these is linguistic, the skills are cultural. Again, these contents are not new to instructors but integration into the elementary-intermediate curriculum often is. Two new textbooks, as well as supplemental materials, deal with these matters. Ponto de encontro: Portuguese as a World Language by Anna Klobucka, et al. (Prentice-Hall-Pearson, 2007) courageously brings both European and Brazilian Portuguese and formal and informal registers together in the belief that the learner should not have exposure restricted but should learn early on how to deal with these differences. Working Portuguese by Monica Rector et al. (Norton, forthcoming) as well as Prof. Alencar's presentation underscore the pragmatics of oral communication in Brazil, understanding of which is useful not only to Americans doing business in Brazil but also the general learner. Prof. Beal's presented ingeniously constructed lessons using canonical yet accessible Brazilian poetry to teach multiple language skills to elementary students. These lessons are supplemental to the regular use of Ponto de encontro. Finally, Prof. Rector's textbook is unusual in that it is explicitly informed by Paulo Freyre' pedagogy of the oppressed and "dialogue" adult educational practices synthesized by Jane Vella in On Teaching and Learning: Putting the Principles of Dialogue Education into Practice (John Wiley Sons, 2007) and previous books. In short, culture is not just an appendage of the language class, it is intertwined with it.
The panel on which I presented was "Innovative Strategies for Strengthening Portuguese Language Programs." We learned practical details about the design and administration of "CELPE-Bras Portuguese Proficiency Exam," from Mary Risner (University of Florida), who also presented an "Overview of Initiatives to Promote Portuguese." The CELPE-Bras test is an important breakthrough because, if students can get to testing sites, the test is free or very modestly priced, and it is widely acknowledged in the Portuguese-speaking world and among area specialists in the US. We got a window on "the making of" the video that accompanies Ponto de encontro from one of the co-authors herself, Clémence Jouët-Pastré (Harvard University. In both this and the previous session we had fruitful debates about the merits of both Ponto de Encontro and Working Portuguese because co-authors were present. Denise Gomes Leal da Cruz Pacheco (UCLA) presented on "Teaching Foreign Language and Didactic Materials in the Face of New Information Technologies" ("Ensino de línguas estrangeiras e os materiais didáticos face às tecnologias de informação e comunicação," which seemed to echo Prof. Igel's presentation and center on the obsolescence of the print textbook expecially for full integration of the five Cs. While it is good to be reminded of this, there is something to be said for the maintenance of the print text especially for teaching communications skills insofar as they are portable and unify the class tactically. I presented on "Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE): U.S.-Brazil Higher Education Consortia Program: Focus on the HBCU Experience." WSSU is a partner in two FIPSE grantee consortia, of one of which I am the PI. Insofar as these consortia are focused on student exchange and language/culture learning they have been crucial for leveraging on-campus interaction and co-curricular activity related to Portuguese and Brazil. One of my central points, based on WSSU student testimonials, was that, although the theme of the exchange was "The African Diaspora in Brazil and the US: A Comparative Approach," and although most of the coursework in Brazil and the US were centered on that theme, what the students remark at most is the experience of being taken out of a majority African American institution and going back into a majority white institutional context in Brazil, and then returning to WSSU. They also comment on how US Black identity is both mirrored and challenged by Afro-Brazilians' daily experience. One Fisk student, participating in a different consortium but studying in Salvador--one of our partner cities, summed things up: "[the experience] helped me understand the meaning of 'African Diaspora.'" From my perspective, I believe the study abroad experience in conjunction with coursework at the home institution is the best route to accelerated language proficiency and progress in all five Cs. I have a Power Point on the exchange that I am happy to present at WSSU.
In regard to the World Wide Web, we were given URLs for a number of useful sites for teachers in our field, including links to demos of Prof. Beal's classes. These are of more use to specialists, but I can provide these addresses upon request. We also learned of two useful print sources for teaching Brazilian culture: Gilvan Muller, "Language Policy in Brazil: Monolingualism and Linguistic Prejudice," Language Policy 3.1 (2004): 3-23, and Tracey Novinger and Donald Haughey, Communicating with Brazilians: When "Yes" Means "No" (University of Texas P, 2004).
Saturday, May 3, 2008
21st Century Learning: a challenge to WSSU faculty and students
I had the opportunity to attend to the Advancing Online Learning Conference II / AOLC II, a conference hosted by the
The kick-off conference by Dr. Mark David Milliron shared ideas about the new generation of learners ( see power point). He commented on the needs and opportunities that diverse generations and new technologies bring into education, and the challenge to create sustainable learning environments. He explored interesting topics such as blending, mobile technologies, gaming, social networking, Internet 2 and high engagement technologies, and the human touch that is needed to really benefit from these opportunities
There was a keynote panel to discuss how online learning specifically provides opportunities for 21st century learning. The panel discussed results from Learning in the 21st Century: A National Report of Online Learning (see report and power point), based on surveys completed by 232,781 K-12 students, 21,272 teachers, and 15,316 parents as part of Speak Up, a national research project facilitated by Project Tomorrow. Based on report findings panelists highlighted that using the power of technology, decision makers and teachers have an opportunity to engage students, prepare teachers, and connect with parents in a personal and individualized way. It was also underscored that both technology and curriculum and instruction departments must be on board with online learning to achieve success. They emphasized that technology reliability is as essential as teacher preparation and support.
I was enthusiastically surprised that, at the state level, there are initiatives that promote that all high school graduates ought to have taken at least one online course, several blended courses (online and onsite) and participated in global projects supported with technology. This is
What about us? What can we do to at WSSU to prepare our students to become 21st century learners, and our faculty, to become 21st century learning facilitators? I invite to discuss this, press COMMENT to share your ideas.
Alvaro H Galvis
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