National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center (http://www.educ.iastate.edu/nflrc/)

Alumni Connection Newsletter - November, 2003 - Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Document Source: http://www.educ.iastate.edu/nflrc/news/200311/

Technology

Welcome to the November electronic newsletter of the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center!

A teacher or a student can choose to use technology to acquire, organize, analyze and present information. In this issue, we approach the integration of technology by looking at tasks related to teacher productivity as well as teaching and learning in the classroom.

Cindy Kendall, Newsletter Editor
Marcia Rosenbusch, Director, National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center

Introducing Vicki Gray, New NFLRC Administrative Assistant!
We wish Trina Zimmer well in her new position with the Research Institute for Studies in Education and warmly welcome Vicki Gray to the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center team. Vicki wrote an introduction to share with you: "I love the outdoors and enjoy walking, boating, and golfing. I also love to bake, read, and shop. I have been at the university 14 years. My new job in the NFLRC will give me the opportunity to be in a field that I have always had an interest in. My husband is the High School/Middle School principal at South Hamilton Community School in Jewell, so I have strong feelings for the wonderful field of education." Welcome Vicki!

Focus on Our Alumni
When thinking about technology and our alumni, the NFLRC has many gifted educators doing amazing things with technology! In this edition we would like to focus on two alumni, Lynn Fulton Archer and Charles (Chuck) Thorpe, because of their extensive expertise in distance learning. Chuck has taught Spanish Via Satellite [1] since 1989, and is the current chairman of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Distance Learning Special Interest Group (SIG). Chuck is in the initial stages of organizing Kansas Interactive Television (ITV)/Interactive Distance Learning (IDL) foreign language teachers in conjunction with the Kansas Foreign Language Association [2]. Chuck writes, "I hope to see some progress towards collaboration and maybe even some co-teaching as numerous independent networks become connected over the next few years." Since 1994, Lynn has taught elementary through high school Spanish through the South Carolina Educational Television [3], is the current President of the South Carolina Foreign Language Teachers Association [4] and is a past chairman of the ACTFL Distance Learning SIG. Explore the Spanish Via Satellite [1] and South Carolina Educational Television [3] websites and see the wonderful standards-based activities Chuck and Lynn have developed for their students.

Featured Website of the Month
The Foreign Language Teaching Forum (FLTEACH) [5] is an integrated service for foreign language teachers that includes an extensive website, the email (FLTEACH@listserv.buffalo.edu) LISTSERV Academic Discussion List, archives, and the FLNews server are at the State University of New York College, Cortland. FLTEACH was founded in February 1994 and runs on a computer at SUNY Buffalo though the moderators, Jean LeLoup and Bob Ponterio, both of whom teach at SUNY Cortland. In 2001 Jean collaborated with the NFLRC to facilitate the Integrating Technologies into the Foreign Language Classroom summer institute, which included numerous methodology professors along with K-12 educators.

Focus on Research
Language Learning & Technology [6] is a refereed journal which began publication in July 1997 and seeks to disseminate research to foreign and second language educators in the U.S. and around the world on issues related to technology and language education. This journal is published three times each year, exclusively on the World Wide Web, and is freely accessed. In this way, the journal seeks to (a) reach a broad audience in a timely manner, (b) provide a multimedia format which can more fully illustrate the technologies under discussion, and (c) provide hypermedia links to related background information.

Focus on the Acquiring Information
Acquiring online information is a common use of technology and search engines are a common starting point. Google [7] is one search engine that easily allows the user to find target language text and images. Use quotation marks to search for phrases (for example, if you use “Spanish Civil War” as compared to Spanish Civil War, the former will return better results). Use Google [7] to search for images, too! On the main Google [7] page, click on the "images" tab and enter your keywords. All of your search results will be images. Last but not least, check out the Google Services and Tools [8], particularly the Toolbar!

Focus on the Organizing Information
Graphic Organizers are excellent tools for teachers and students to use in organizing information and data. Venn diagrams, flow charts, and rubrics are all examples of graphic organizers. Inspiration [9] and Kidspiration [10] are two software programs especially designed for creating graphic organizers. Also check out The Graphic Organizer [11] for additional information and examples.

Focus on Analyzing Information
4teachers.org [12] is a comprehensive site that allows teachers to thoughtfully structure technology-based activities for teaching and learning. A plethora of information and over one dozen tools are available at no charge to educators and students. These tools include:

• TrackStar, for developing website-based activities
• RubiStar, for creating rubrics
• NoteStar, a web-based note-taking tool for students
• QuizStar, an online assessment tool

In addition, there are Recursos en Español [13].

Staying on Top Using Technology with a Focus on Presenting Information
Blogging, or the writing of a web log, is a new way to encourage formal and informal writing. The Educational Blogger's Network (eBN) [14] is a collaborative of teachers and organizations using weblogs in education. Its purpose is "to help its members, kindergarten through university, to access and use weblog technology for the teaching of writing and reading across the disciplines. The network provides a forum for educational professionals who use weblogs, an array of opportunities for teachers to continue their professional growth, and a framework for cooperation to deal with issues that affect the integration of weblog and other digital technologies into teaching and learning." Also, check out Education Weblogs [15] and this Education Web Logs article [16] from Technology and Learning [17] magazine for examples of how blogs can be used in the classroom.

Alumni Connection Indepth
This month's online supplement [18] has expanded blogging resources and a powerpoint presentation entitled "Technology Tools for Teachers," written and presented by Cindy Kendall at the Michigan Foreign Language Association Conference last month.

Quotes to Ponder

“ It's not about how we use the TOOLS. It's (mostly) about how we USE the tools."
-Dr. Judi Harris

"The real revolution [today] is [in] information and communication, not technology."
-Alan November

"The conversation about technology in schools is trapped in the wrong subject. The talk is all about 'does the technology work' as a fix for the old. It ought to be about developing and choosing between visions of how this immensely powerful technology can support the invention of powerful new forms of learning to serve levels of expectation higher than anything imagined in the past."
-Seymour Papert

Memories of Iowa
We take you back to Iowa State University Memorial Union webcam [19] for a beautiful view of the bell tower and fall colors on campus.

Links in this document

This Newsletter was pepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education under Title VI grant #P229A020023. The publication of products and website URLs in this newsletter is provided for informational purposes only and does not imply an endorsement by the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center, Iowa State University, or the positions or policies of the U. S. Department of Education.

Subscription Information
You received this electronic newsletter because you are an alumni of an activity associated with the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center. This newsletter is published monthly. If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, email us at nflrc@iastate.edu with the subject line "remove alumni connection."

Content: Do you have suggestions for content? Information to share with fellow alumni? Send your ideas to Cindy Kendall at ckendall@msu.edu.