is an advanced language course do-able on-line?
DESCRIPTION
TEL@YORK 2007. Is an advanced language course do-able on-line?. Norio Ota Japanese & Korean Section DLLL York University. Course. AS/JP3000 6.0 Advanced Modern Standard Japanese: a joint class between students at York University and St. Mary’s University via videoconferencing facilities. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Is an advanced language course do-able on-line?
Norio Ota
Japanese & Korean Section
DLLL
York University
TEL@YORK 2007
Course AS/JP3000 6.0 Advanced Modern Standard Japanese: a joint
class between students at York University and St. Mary’s University via videoconferencing facilities.
Class schedule: Tuesday & Thursday: 9:30 – 11:30 (York)10:30 – 12:30 (St. Mary’s)E-Office Hours: T/W
Web: http://kusu.arts.yorku.ca/japanese/jp3000.html
Format Distance education
video-conferencing [seminar: twice a week, two hours each, 24 sessions] web-based course materials: interactive reading materials and other reference
materials individualized video-conference sessions, using Polycom video-conferencing
system with students for consultation during electronic office hours (E-Office Hours)
Partial on-line testing based on Moodle a part-time assistant to help students with oral/aural activities and testing (at
St. Mary’s) a part-time administrative and teaching assistant to assist the main instructor
(Norio Ota) with correspondence, course administration, individualized instructions and overall operations (at York).
Site visits by the Course Director to St. Mary’s University, and the Professor in charge at St. Mary’s to York University in order to enhance hands-on cooperation.
chat service listserv
Faculty/Staff York University
Course Director and Project Coordinator: Norio Ota
VC Consultant: Jim Poole, ITC
A part-time administrative and teaching assistant
On-line testing consultant: Mike Street, CNS
St. Mary’s University Coordinator: Prof. Charles
Beaupre VC Consultant: George
Alanson, Telecommunications Information Technology Systems and Support
A part-time teaching assistant: Tomoko Miyano
Facilities York
Steadman Lecture Hall 120E (SLH120E) equipped with video-conferencing and video-streaming facilities
Multimedia Language Centre (MLC) for on-line tests Polycom video-conferencing unit (DLLL) for individualized instruction BizTablet with JustWrite for correcting assignments
SMU Polycom video-conferencing system, classroom People+Content IP (presentation from a local site)
Servers Kusu web server Tsuge web and mail servers Udo Moodle server
Instructional materials Interactive and self-study reading materials Content-based texts Grammar and exercises Resource materials from other sources Templates for writing PowerPoint presentations for mini-lectures Interactive manuscript paper AS/JP3000 6.0 site
Class management Limited mobility
Modifying the studio setting More camera pre-set spots Seating change
Limited interactivity Participatory activities such as interviews and debate Encourage students to express themselves Enhance cross-cultural understanding among students
Activities In-class
Text reading and Q & A Discussion Movie viewing and
discussion Interview Debate Summarization Web presentation Mini-lectures Weekly quizzes
Out-class Essay assignments Book reading Internet search Movie viewing Preparing for group
conversation assignments Extra-curricular activities
such as JLPT and speech contest
Video-conferencing with streaming Pros
Real-time Face to face Ease of control Virtual community Supervise distance sites Free and reliable
connection Accessibility (from an
Internet café in Japan)
Cons Artificial environment Hard to have real
communication Operational cost Two dimensional Need an operator High cost of equipment
On-line testing with Moodle Pros
Non-essay types questions work fine
Can be administered even overseas
Sound and video clips for listening comprehension
Can track progress Possible elimination of
marking
Cons Limited correcting
tools for essay, translation and short answer questions.
Unexpected problems Time consuming in
marking Limited types of
questions
Course assessment Pros
Far-reaching Accessibility Communicative Interactive Virtual community Immediate feedback Reviewable and
previewable Self-study
Cons Costly Lack of mobility Artificial environment Time consuming Lack of communicative
activities Not self-manageable Hardware, software and
connection problems
Conclusion A professional and experienced VC operator A good teaching assistant on the distant sites On-line tests should not contain essay-type questions Weekly quizzes are important On-line assessment of assignments is too time-consuming Develop various types of classroom activities Incorporate extra-curricular activities Level difference among institutions is the most serious
problem. Find external funding E-office hours for individualized instruction