University of Missouri-St. Louis, Division of Continuing Education

Pre-conference workshop in 400 Clark Hall

Exploring Presentational Software: Creative Options for Student Projects

This hands-on workshop will showcase online tools that can be utilized by students for increasing proficiency in the presentational mode. The workshop will address planning, implementation, and assessment of student projects in a variety of digital formats including Glogster and Voice Thread. At the end of the workshop participants will be prepared to develop course- specific guidelines and assessment rubrics based on the models presented and explored.  

Metaphors We Teach By: Conduits, Architecture and the Problem with Virtual Community
Dr. Jesse Kavadlo, Associate Professor of English, Maryville University

Building Community in the Language Classroom and Beyond
Eileen Rodriguez-Kiser and Drew McAllister, Parkway School District, St. Louis, MO

This presentation will focus on how one teacher of Spanish has incorporated a selection of online tools into her practice, and how those tools have helped to build community within her classroom, her department, her district and even across the country. Tools addressed will include chatting through TodaysMeet, role play with Edmondo (classroom community), a collaborative film festival with VoiceThread (school community), and district and international collaborative projects through Skype and ePals (“public community”).

Two break-out sessions – Please select one to attend.

1. J.C. Penney Conference Center, Room 78
   
   Extending the Foreign Language Classroom Through the Web
   Julie Begnaud and Julie Hume, Lee's Summit West High School, Kansas City, MO
   
   This presentation will introduce ways to incorporate Web 2.0 and 3.0 into modern language communication projects. Learn about making a class “Facebook” page, pasting podcasts using Wimba Tools and Voice Board, doing presentation with Prezis and Glogster, communicating with wikis and blogs, and using online resources destined for the target culture.
   
   
2. J.C. Penney Conference Center, Room 72
   
   Facebook, Wikis and Blogs: Which One, How, and More Importantly, Why?
   Susan Yoder-Kreger, UMSL
   
   With hybrid and online language courses, the need for students to converse outside the classroom is becoming more important. As instructors, we are obliged to provide our students with opportunities to complete communicative activities in the virtual world. This presentation will explore the various types of tools, such as Facebook, wikis, and blogs, explain how they differ, and give suggestions for their effective use in second language acquisition.
   
   

Emerging Technologies: Going Global With Google Apps and Geo Tagging
Keeta Holmes, Assistant Director, Center for Teaching and Learning, UMSL

Many well-known Internet sites offer access to specially encoded digital media, such as images, videos and audio clips, that associate the digital file with a geographical point in the world. This session will demonstrate easy Web 2.0 technologies you and your students can use to search and use this authentic encoded media to build slideshows and virtual tours.

Three break-out sessions – Please select one to attend.

1. J.C. Penney Conference Center, Room 78
   
   Creating Cultural Context Through Technology
   Amy Michael and Beth Eckelkamp, UMSL
   
   The development of cultural competency  in a language learner is enhanced by creating authentic contexts to elicit communication in and out of the classroom. This presentation will focus on the use of web-based resources in creating context.
   
   
2. J.C. Penney Conference Center, Room 72
   
   Ratemyprofessors.com and Student Perceptions of Native Versus Non-Native Foreign Language Instructors
   Russell Tallant, Saint Louis University
   
   In this presentation, the anonymous comments posted on the student evaluation website, ratemyprofessors.com, are analyzed as part of the discussion regarding the effectiveness of language instruction and the perceptions students have of native versus non-native speaking professors of foreign languages. This analysis provides a window into the typical language learner’s actual preferences for language instructors and the process by which millennial students choose their courses of study.
   
   
3. J.C. Penney Conference Center, Board Room
   
   Motivating Chinese Language Learners With Authenticity Through Technology
   Fushun Le, UMSL
   
   This presentation will take a multi-dimensional view to define authenticity in foreign language teaching, and illustrate how to use technology to motivate student learning by integrating authentic materials, tasks and interactions into foreign language (Chinese) instruction.