RARITAN VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE


TECHNOLOGY & INSTRUCTION

SPRING 1998

IN THIS ISSUE

Focus            Facilities            Profile            News Briefs            Random Sampling

Focus

Teaching Spanish via ITV
by S. Laurie Reynolds

I must admit the idea of teaching an interactive television course can be daunting, but it can also be amusing. I was asked to teach a Spanish course in the Spring of 1998 designed for elementary school teachers who needed to implement foreign languages in their K - 4 classrooms. I was then asked to teach it via television to several satellite schools and the idea didn't really appeal to me at first. I thought, "How can I teach Spanish to a TV set?".

Then to make things worse, it seemed difficult to the technologically-challenged individual - me. There was a switchboard to control the cameras. You could fly a plane with that panel. There were microphones to hook to your person, cameras for students, buttons for blackboard and overhead. I thought five minutes and I am already overwhelmed.

But after the first day it all seemed so routine and I didn't feel nervous at all. I usually stick to one camera angle and occasionally, switch to blackboard and overhead. Now that I'm risque I'll flip to student angles and, to amuse myself, close-ups. But I still make mistakes once and awhile, like flip on the student camera and be teaching with my back to the viewers. Or occasionally, it's a typical tendency, you'll move closer to the TV screen to feel less distant to your students and chop off your head. Then the students will tell me, "You have no head, can you back up!". But through it all you have to be able to laugh at yourself.

You also have to be able to laugh at others and their behavior on the camera. They forget, for example, that I am not a TV and they forget I can see them. The first day a student just sprawled herself out on the desk to which I bleated, "Jennifer, I can see you, remember?"

The most dismaying moment for me as a teacher, I must admit, was when the students shut me off as I was in the middle of a phrase. Of course, class was already over and I was just making sure all the students had the homework when click. I was off the air mid-phrase. I'd never been turned off by a student before and I realized that they were all in a hurry to get home, as was their technician, but it was still a humbling experience.

There are, however, problems which are more daunting than my own and the students' orientation. We experience technical problems with sound, connections, visuals and an ITV teacher must be able to handle challenges. The first day of class I was dismayed that the students looked so small on the screen I could barely see them. I was able to overcome this by dedicating a couple of minutes to each student daily so that my classroom seems more real than virtual. I also assigned mini-projects during the semester in which the students get a close-up from the camera at their site so that the students at the different sites get to know each other better.

One day one site had no sound and a high-pitched squeal. So to not lose the interest of the students at the Manville site I wrote on the board and on the over-head projector and I gestured a lot. I also enunciated very well because the student said she was reading my lips. Another day, to all of our disappointment, there was a faulty line connection and the class was canceled.

Despite, all these frustrations, we pushed on and the class has proved to be not just a unique teaching experience, but also an enjoyable one.

Technology and Language
by Bill Johnston

Prior to coming to RVCC, I worked with the Committee for International Tele-Education, a Washington DC-based think tank of communications policymakers and technology leaders. One of our projects demonstrated the use of international satellite teleconferencing for language learning and cross cultural communication. In those dark days an hour of satellite time cost thousands of dollars, involved at least two governments, three or four telecommunications agencies, a myriad of incompatible technical standards, and more diplomacy than I seem capable of today. For all that, you got video in one direction only and sound that arrived a full second behind its accompanying image. It was considered cutting edge in 1986.

Despite the cost and complexity, we were excited by the educational possibilities. In a New York Times interview I likened it to taking your entire class on a field trip to the other side of the globe, interacting directly with people of a different culture, and returning by the end of class. Our goal was to enhance understanding of our other cultures and we believed that language is the key to culture. We designed a series of interactive satellite "field trips" to capture some of the pedagogical elements of the immersion technique. (Want to learn a foreign language? Fall in love with someone who doesn’t speak yours.)

One benefit of the prohibitive costs in the eighties was that we were forced to think critically about effectiveness. The real advantage of live two–way communications is in the interactivity it allows. It is essential to maximize interaction. Otherwise we’re just watching television. In the ITV classroom today, the connection costs are measured in dollars instead of thousands of dollars, and the setup can be as easy as dialing a phone. The real challenge continues to be in harnessing this tool so that it complements effective learning.

Facilities

New Language Lab Opens
by Ellen McArdle

At the beginning of the spring semester, Raritan Valley Community College opened its first ever language lab. The lab, located in the Media/Testing Center, is actually three rooms. The main room, the one you can see through the glass wall in the Media Center, contains seventeen Gateway 2000 computers. These computers are equipped with Windows 95, Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, Netscape, Telnet, WS-FTP. The glassed-in room in the front of the lab is set up as a video preview room. This room can hold 8 to 10 students comfortably. The room in the back of the lab is equipped with three Gateway 2000 computers and a VCR and monitor. This room is good for students working in small groups.

The language lab is open to all students when the lab is not being used by a class. Professor David Ochoa-SolÍs has scheduled his Spanish for Native Speakers class to meet regularly in the lab. A large component of that class is writing and David's students do most of their writing on the computers. We are presently looking for software packages that have dictionary, spell-check and grammar check in the various foreign languages.

Other classes have used the lab for writing assignments and for exploring the Internet for sources in the target language. Many newspapers printed in foreign countries are available on the Internet. For example, Spanish students using the Internet can read La Jornada from Mexico City, El Pafs from Madrid or Hola from Quito the day they are published. This makes more foreign language resources available to our students at a greatly reduced cost.

At present the foreign language faculty is previewing additional software which will enable our students to practice listening and speaking skills in addition to reading and writing. The computers have the capacity to have students listen and repeat and then see an analysis on the screen of how closely their speech resembles what they heard. There are software packages that will enable our students to do that and we are looking at them.

The textbook for Introduction to Spanish comes with a CD. The computers in the lab have been set up so that the CD's will play on them. In the fall, the French and Italian textbooks will also come with CD and those will be installed on the computers in the lab.

The language lab is new and the faculty is very excited about the possibilities it presents to us and to our students. As software is developed to make the best use of these possibilities, the lab will become a more integral part of the language program.

Library Instruction Comes Home
by Mary Ann Ryer

At the start of the Spring 1998 semester, librarians inaugurated a new Library Instruction Classroom on the main level of the Evelyn S. Field Learning Resource Center. Located in the former Microfilm Room, the new classroom is equipped with one instructor computer which is used for the demonstration of library systems. With a large screen TV serving as its monitor, the demonstration computer is visible from all parts of the classroom. The room is also equipped with fifteen personal computers for students to use in hands-on practice of library systems.

Since all computers in the Library Instruction Classroom are on the campus network, it is possible to use them to reach the RVCC DYNIX library catalog as well as all of the library’s CD-ROM periodical indexes. Students have quickly learned that they can also be used to read and send e-mail and to surf the Internet. All of these skills are taught by librarians at the request of faculty members who are assigning research projects to their students. Arrangement for class instruction may be made by contacting Mary Ann Ryer at x8412.

Among the periodical indexes available in the Library Instruction Classroom is ProQuest Direct. It is unique among the periodical indexes at RVCC in that it is delivered over the World Wide Web on any machine using a graphical browser. Consequently it is also available in computer labs and offices as well as at home by college users of the Learning Resource Center. ProQuest Direct has one additional feature which makes it popular with library users. It is a full-text database. In jargon-free terms this means that some of the magazine, journal and newspaper articles cited in ProQuest Direct can be printed out directly from the computer with the click of the mouse. A password is necessary to log on to ProQuest Direct. Contact the Reference Desk at x8350 to obtain the password.

In addition to its use for library instruction, the Library Instruction Classroom is also available for word processing. Since the computers are Windows 3.1 machines, they have Word 6 available. The computers are connected to a laser printer. The word processing capability makes it possible for students to work on projects --from initial research, through rough drafts to completed papers-- within the library! To make this even easier, Office Administration students who are involved in service learning, are available at varied times during the week to assist students with word processing. Service learning students volunteer during the week when the classroom is not being used for library instruction.. Their schedule is posted on the door of the classroom.

To sum up, the new Library Instruction Classroom has allowed librarians to bring instruction home to the Learning Resources Center, to provide additional computers for research during peak times in the semester, and to provide a place for word processing-- even on Sundays when computer labs are closed. Talk about a WIN! WIN! situation!

Profile

Chuck Chulvick
by Holly Moore

Chuck Chulvick, Dean of Academic Services, came here first as an employee of Systems & Computer Technology Corp. (SCT) in June 1996, but joined our staff in September, 1997.

Chuck is a native of Northeastern Pennsylvania. His college education began at Kings College of PA, but his experience with computers began during graduate work at the University of Wales (UK) . He then went on to study the use of computers by local and regional planners, during a research position at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. For 25 years now, his work has involved support of and managing computing in the higher education systems in the UK and the US (Seton Hall and Univ. of Scranton).

One of the reasons he enjoys working at RVCC is that, as an institution, we seek ways to improve ourselves and our offerings to students. Concerning the main difference between working in the corporate world and working in education, Chuck had this to say: "...by necessity, the bottom line in the corporate arena is making a profit. In higher education, it should be making a difference." Well said, Chuck!

His responsibilities here include the operation of Instructional Design, the Library, the MIS Department and the Testing Center. He considers his main responsibility, however, to be preparing and maintaining a plan for the College which will maximize our investment in technology and our fairness in its use.

Chuck dabbles in computer graphics and multimedia projects during his spare time, and also enjoys "playing bad golf" and "visiting as many baseball stadiums as possible".

News Briefs

Random Sampling: Q. With the growing use of technology in education, do you think the relationship between teachers and students will change?
Jill Christiansen
Student, Liberal Arts
No. Technology will aid students in their
research for completing assignments but
it will not replace the relationship with
the teacher		 Rosalia Hamilton
Associate Professor, Nursing
Yes. Students will feel a linkage with the
teacher and other classmates through
chat rooms, e-mail and telephone
contact.		 Bud McKinley
Professor, Humanities
It already has changed. Greater
availability and affordability has led to
an increased use of visuals. Our students
are a visually oriented generation.
Kevin Memoli
Student, Engineering/Science
& Computer Science
No. The relationship is more influenced
by the student's maturity, his or her
ability to have adult to adult
communication.		 Paul Scheuler
Professor, Chemistry
To the extent that technology is used as a
supplement to classroom instruction,
I don’t think it will have much impact.
But if it used as a substitute for direct
interaction, it will have a major effect. 		Myrna Smith
Professor, English
Individual faculty can use any number of
items, including technology, to separate
themselves from students. Good
instructors can use technology as
another way of connecting to students.

This document maintained by: Holly J. Smeltzer
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