《如何适应外语学习者的需求来设计单元》的讲座和研讨会
2014年11月1日，华州中文教师学会在普及湾大学成功举办了《如何适应外语学习者的需求来设计单元》的讲座和研讨会。单元外语教学有别于传统的外语教学模式，可以最大化释放老师的自由度，也可以极大地激发学生的兴趣。本次讲座的主讲人是在外语教学领域颇有盛名的海伦娜•柯顿。她的著作《语言与儿童:美国中小学外语课堂教学指南》堪称为美国外语教学界的“圣经”，是北美外语教师案头必备的宝典。讲座在“时钟找伙伴”的活动中开始，老师们不仅通过这个活动迅速认识了周围人，而且还可以将这个有趣的活动用于自己的课堂。海伦娜不仅传授了她在单元设计方面的经验和实例，还指导老师们当场设计了一系列单元。讲座的参与者不仅有中文、西班牙文、日文和法文老师，而且还有各大外语教学机构的负责人和代表。本次活动得到了华州孔子学院和普及湾大学东亚语言文化中心的大力支持。华州孔院不仅提供了经费资助，而且外方中方的院长都亲自出席并发言。普及湾大学东亚语言文化中心为本次讲座提供了雅致的会场和精美的茶点。活动圆满结束后，与会者纷纷表示受益匪浅，希望以后可以继续参加华州中文教师学会举办的讲座。

CLTA-WA held its 2014 Summer Workshop “Practical Skills to Flip Your Classroom” at Lakeside School on August 24, 2014. Our presenters were Cheyenne Matthewson from Lakeside School, Zhousu He from Mercer Island High School and Pollyanna Wang from Chielf Sealth International High School. They shared video tips, iPad apps and cooperative learning activities that can be used in a flipped classroom. Participants benefitted greatly from those 3 presentations that were different but fit a common theme. Please see below for some of the strengths that our participants thought.

• I appreciate the real life experience each teacher shared. The lectures were well prepared.
• Handy and applicable to classroom teaching. We can use all these materials right away in our own classroom.
• All of the wonderful introductions of applications and cooperative activities.
• Interesting topics. Experienced teachers.
• Practical; hands on; time efficient; quick application.
• The strongest feature of the workshop was I got some new software that can help out Chinese classes.

Thanks again for the generous support of the Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA), the University of Washington, and the Lakeside School. We also would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the participants. Looking forward to seeing you again in next workshop!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W79KoZDycug

May 6, 2014

Dear CLTA-WA members,

As a 2013 University of Washington (UW) Technology Teaching Fellow applicant, I was interested in how a learning management system like Canvas could facilitate foreign language teaching and learning inside and outside classroom. I also investigated the possibility of using Canvas to better manage workload for teaching assistants and at the same time not to compromise student learning opportunities.

After being accepted and training as a UW Technology Teaching Fellow Summer 2013 and having integrated Canvas into my courses for Autumn 2013 and Winter 2014, I would like to share with you in a form of a poster of my experience in using Canvas to promote active and collaborative learning for foreign language education. Student feedback was gathered by having students fill out a user satisfaction survey about their learning experience within the Canvas environment. I would like to encourage colleagues in the State of Washington to contemplate the possibilities of using features within Canvas for better information dissemination, grade recording and learning outcome assessment.

Being not-so-tech savvy, my experience of learning and using Canvas and of being supported by the UW Center for Teaching and Learning (CLT) and UW-IT may help foreign language educators identify their pedagogical needs and wants and direct them to the already available resources if they decide to make Canvas an integral part of their course planning or course transformation in the future.

Respectfully submitted by

Nyan-Ping Bi
Senior Lecturer in Chinese Language
Department of Asian Languages and Literature
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195-3521

Poster

Questions:

How can instructional technology support students’ and instructors’ needs when

1. Transitioning a beginning foreign language course from a small class size to a large-lecture-and-small-quiz section format?
2. Transforming an advanced foreign language class from a traditional classroom setting to a hybrid class format?

Seeking Resources and Investigating Solutions:

1. 01/2013-03/2013: Joined the UW CTL’s Faculty and Professional Learning
Community facilitated by Professor Ben Marwick.
• Exchanged ideas with colleagues across the campuses on the topic of Engaging Students in Large Classes.
• Learned about Canvas as a learning management system.
2. 03/2013: Attended a UW-IT workshop on the topic of “Canvas as a Tool for Large-Class Engagement.”
3. 03/2013-05/2013: Joined the CTL’s Faculty and Professional Learning Community facilitated by Professor Linda Martin-Morris.
• Shared ideas with colleagues from different disciplines on the topic of “Flipping” the Classroom.
• Discussed the pros and cons of incorporating Canvas in course curricula.
4. 06/2013: Accepted to and attended the weeklong Technology Teaching Fellow Institute offered by the Office of the Provost in cooperation with CTL.
• Addressed pedagogical challenges by utilizing Canvas tools when redesigning a foreign language course.
• Applied skills to redesign a course by integrating Canvas tools to support instructional objectives.
5. 09/2013: Presented the redesigned course to the Institute fellows and received fellows’ reviews and feedback to modify the design before the AY 2013-2014 courses.

Employment of Canvas Tools

• AY 2013-2014: Chinese 101-103, First Year Chinese
• Winter 2014: Chinese 470, Contemporary Chinese Documentaries

Assessment Method

• Conducted a Canvas user satisfaction survey among students from both courses at the end of the Winter Quarter 2014. Seventy-five students took the survey.
• Reviewed teaching assistants’ time sheets and discussed with teaching assistants their experience using Canvas as an assessment and administrative management tool.

Survey Results and Discussion

Student Survey (See Pie Charts for complete results of the student survey.)
1. Positives: Most of the results were positive. Here are the top three:
• 95% indicated “the media feedback from my instructor has been helpful.”
• 89% indicated “the options allowing multiple attempts when completing online assignments has helped me study.”
• 89% indicated “the rubric for oral quizzes and tests has been helpful in understanding the predetermined learning objectives.”
2. Negatives: Respondents had only one negative feedback.
• 40% did not agree that “the Canvas platform encourages peer collaboration.”
3. Canvas features students were most satisfied with:
• 92%: “Gradebook”
• 89%: “Quizzes”
• 85%: “Assignments”

Teaching Assistant Survey
1. Positives:
• Canvas lessened their workload regarding assignment grading as the computer did one-third of grading automatically.
• SpeedGrader gave them easy access to rubric when grading oral quizzes and tests.
• They felt their media comments enabled them to be more attentive to student needs.
• It was easy to monitor individual students’ progress.
2. Negatives:
• Scrolling could become awkward when accessing Canvas on different devices.
• They wished their media comment for one group could be shared with all students in the same group when doing group projects without having the need to create groups within “collaborations.

Conclusions:

• Despite an increase in class size, Canvas creates opportunities for students to obtain individual attention and assistance from their instructor(s) online.
• Despite an increase in class size, Canvas enables the instructor(s) to evaluate students listening and speaking abilities more frequently by incorporating online aural-oral formative and summative assessments.
• Canvas provides instructional technology that is helpful in monitoring student progress and in managing a large size class and a hybrid course for foreign language teaching and learning.
• Further investigation should examine why 40% of the students who took the survey did not agree that “the Canvas platform encourages peer collaboration.” Results from the investigation can facilitate the redesign of online assignments to take advantage of the strengths of the tools of “collaborations” and “discussions.”

Survey Pie Charts

Pie Charts

The information below comes from a third party. CLTA-WA posted it for courtesy, so CLTA-WA makes no promises regarding its completeness. Please contact the third party directly.

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A big Thank You to our guest speaker – Mr. Stephen Tschudi for presenting various useful Google tools that can be adopted in the language classroom right away on Oct 20, 2013. It broadened the participants’ knowledge, trained their skills, and offered them a new angle to design and implement the teaching plan.

We would like to share some comments from our participants here:

• “The model is a great way to involve student voice.”
• “Use it in my daily teaching immediately.”
• “The workshop offers some very useful tools to gather authentic data.”
• “Very detailed steps to guide you through learning process.”
• “This is an excellent & useful workshop.”
• …

At CLTA-WA’s summer workshop on August 24th, 2013, participants met at the library of University Prep in Seattle. Presenter Juei-Chuan Hung, Chinese instructor of U Prep with a wealth of experience in classroom technology use, led the 34 participants in a 4-hour long workshop on basic ipad skills and how to integrate iPads into the learning experience in the classroom. iPads were made available for the participant who didn’t have one themselves.  This ensured that every participant was able to practice the skills that Hung Laoshi was teaching, particular using the apps such as Garageband, Story Creator and Notability.  By teaching participants both the basic skills to using an ipad and as well as how apps are used in class activities and projects, Hung Laoshi helped the participants to better use and integrate technology in the classroom that can boost student engagement and provide more creative outlets for learning.

Please see below for a great article written by one of our members. We really appreciate her sharing and would like to encourage more members to connect, inspire and share.

Happy Teaching!

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(From Zhongwenlink)

CLTA-WA is excited to announce that professional development grants will be offered again this year for members!
CLTA-WA Teacher Grants help member K-16 and heritage school Chinese teachers in Washington State to receive professional development to attend national/regional conferences, summer institutes, workshops or seminars, or to offset travel costs to attend our own CLTA-WA workshops.  Grant funds may be used for fees, travel expenses, books, or other materials that enable applicants to learn subject matter, instructional approaches, and skills. Recipients are expected to share their new learning with their colleagues.
For more information, please click on the Application form. Applications are due by September 15, 2013. Recipients will be notified on or before September 30, 2013.