IALLT Conference 2013

Looking forward to the 2013 conference of the International Association for Language Learning Technology, which will take place in Ft. Lauderdale June 11-15, 2013.
Proposals are now being accepted through January 11, 2013, and I am planning to submit an abstract for the Film Trailer Project course in Intermediate French I, together with Dr. Rouxel-Cubberly.

Suggested topics include:

• Best Practices in Computer-Assisted Language Learning
• Professional Development Solutions and Challenges
• New Frameworks for Distance Education and Hybrid Environments
• Leadership in the field of Language Learning Technologies
• Innovative Practices in K-12 Language and Cultural Learning
• Lab and Media Center Administration
• Generation NeXt, Technology and Language Education
• Online Language Learning Today and Tomorrow
• Student and institutional privacy issues in digital language learning contexts
• New Horizons in Gaming and Virtual Reality for Language & Cultural Learning
• Augmented reality for the language learning context
• The Edges of Copyright & e-Learning
• Mobile language learning

Information can be found at http://www.iallt.org/iallt_2013_3

Google Virtual Tours

In the past week, I looked at some tools and brainstormed possibilities for classroom integration together with graduating students. When it came to overview Google Maps, many wonderful ideas came out of our brainstorming sessions.
I am very interested in using the My Maps feature. I like how students can pin locations and embed their information and add pictures and YouTube videos. I like the idea of combining the use of Mymaps, Street View with screencasting and have students record virtual tours of their own maps. I particularly enjoy using ScreenOmatic for screecasting, and I really enjoy the latest feature of the tool, which allow for picture-in-picture screencasting using a webcam.
www.screenomatic.com
We also overviewed projects like Google Art, World Wonder and Google Lit Trip. The students were really enthusiastic and connected these projects with many of the skills covered by the ACTFL 21st Century Skills map, which I had previously distributed.
Overall I feel that Google Maps presents enourmous opportunities for language learning and teaching, and I am looking forward to piloting some ideas in Beginner French I in the Spring semester.

Word Clouds

I have always found Word clouds really cool and intriguing. They are a nice way to visually engage students with text, but until now, I had never explored ways to integrate them into a language course.

Today I taught a seminar and discussed word clouds with pre-service language teachers. I particularly enjoy brainstorming seminars, where you first illustrate the tool and give an idea or two of how you think it could be used, then you let participants input additional ideas for implementation. That's the format we followed today.
These are some of the uses we discussed:
- Project it on the screen at the beginning of the lecture to have students guess and anticipate what the topic will be about
- Practice for oral presentations using Word clouds rather than an outline
- Scramble sentences and have students put them in order
- Use word clouds as inspiration for speed writing or creative writing activities

I have come across this article on Language Learning and Technology that overview the use if Wordle in an action research project conducted in a Spanish course
http://llt.msu.edu/issues/june2011/actionresearch.pdf

ACTFL 21st Century Map

I was aware of the document released by the Partnership for 21st Century Skill and ACTFL
http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/Skills%20Map/p21_worldlanguagesmap.pdf
At the ACTFL conference, Dr. Rosen also distributed this great infographic that matches the skills with Web 2.0 tools. Genious! Download the handout at
http://actfl21stcenturyskillsmap.wikispaces.com/file/detail/Handout%20Side%2001%20-%20Rosen%20Infographic.doc

Go Animate

At the ACTFL conference I attended several presentation on the use of Comics for language learning. During one of these presentations, the presenter also mention the use of animated comics and this is how I came across Go Animate! Love the tool! I think it is super user-friendly and it really took me little time to understand how to create scenes and add characters and dialogs. So many emotions and actions to choose from for the charachters. I find it such a great tool, especially in role play situation. I can't wait to test it with the class I will be soon teaching.
http://goanimate.com/

ACTFL 2012 app

ACTFL has created a wonderful app available through the App store! The app allows to navigate the schedule of presentations and mark those of interest to the user. Presentations can be filtered according to language or strand and saved into the 'my schedule' page, so that the user creates the schedule of presentations he/she will attend.
The map also allows to locate the presentations within the Philadelphia Convention Center, as well as to locate vendors in the huge exhibitors hall.
The app also contains useful travel information about Philadelphia, built in access to the conference Facebook and Twitter page, and a FAQ section that addresses important question concerning the conference and ACTFL.

Education Spotlight App by Wiley

Love this new app! I can check out upcoming conferences, latest journal abstracts, new educational book releases and relevant videos for educators! The app also lists relevant educational blogs and Facebook pages, which facilitate connections to other educators!

Zunal for webquests

Zunal is a free online service to create Webquests, which I have started using last week for a group project. The interface is very user friendly, and it makes it easy to add multimedia and web resources on pages. The paid subscription ($20) allows users to create multiple webquests, and to add tools like photo galleries, quizzes, games, which currently cannot be included with the free version. Similarly, the free version does not allow users to add new pages to the template!
www.zunal.com

Free Rice 2.0

I came across this free online game supported by the UN World Food Programme and I find it such a cute way for students of French, Italian or Spanish to practice vocabulary skills while helping end hunger at the same time!! For every right answer a grain of rice is donated! In just 5 years of online players, 5 millions people were fed rice!! Since October 24th will be UN Nation Day (thanks to a classmate for the tip)..Free Rice would be a nice way for language classes and labs across America to get language students involved in a global issue! Check out the language learning subjects at http://freerice.com/category

Upcoming 2012 NJAET Conference!

Celebrating 25 Tech-Tastic Years Together
October 20, 2012 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
St. Dominic School, Brick NJ
250 Old Squan Road
Brick, NJ 08724
Check out the description of the sessions
Registration

Blogger App

I have just downloaded the app on my phone, so I can now post on this blog on-the-go! The app is great, very easy to create and publish a post! I actually find easier to add an image to the post using the App than the site! The App lets you add a pre-existing image from your phone or allows you to take a new picture and add it to the post! It does not, however, seem to have an option to add links or embed videos!

iPhone 5!

Smartphones have changed the way we think of mobile technology and have gained extreme popularity among students and educators.  Here below are some useful APPs for the CSI/CUNY community.

CUNY

CSI GPA Calculator

BLACKBOARD

ACTFL 2012 Convention

The 2012 convention of the American Council for Teaching Foreign Languages will take place in Philadelphia on November 16-18, 2012.

Our chairperson, Dr Jane Marcus Delgado, will present 'The Efficacious Toolbox: An Integrative Approach to Cultural Competence', on Sunday, November 18, at 8:00 AM in Room 119 B. I will be attending the pre-conference OPI Familiarization workshop! Hope to see you there!
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ONLINE REGISTRATION
            
ONLINE PROGRAM

Welcome to Wix!

I had initially started working on this webiste using Google Sites. I am comfortable using Google Sites, as I use it in the French Film Trailer Project. I then visited a classmate's website designed using Wix, and I was impressed with the overall layout and professional appearance. As compared to Google Sites, Wix websites appear more attractive, catchy and professionally designed. Wix templates are also much more user-friendly to work with, and it is easier to include multimedia and social tools than on the Google Site interface.