Please join us! We will start up again after Fall Break….

One tool, each Tuesday, with lots of time to talk. Simple.

Check out the link here and via the pulldown menu above (TechTips—>TechnoTuesdays)

We will be showing them some of the tools we use here for language learning….including the Mixxer with Skype, Second Life, and World of Warcraft (European version) for language learning.

While most of us here on campus will be dutifully finiishing finals or packing up to go home, there is something truly breathtaking happening in May in Moscow. I am referring, of course, the finals of the Eurovision 2009 Song Contest that will be happening on May 16 2009.

The CILC will be hosting a Eurovision Finals Viewing in Peters 327 on Saturday May 16. Time to be announced. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, check out the conversations that are happening on the Ethnomusicology 210 blog about Eurovision. Feel free to comment here, or there.

Need to know if there is a machine free RIGHT NOW? Well, then, check out this link for realtime info as to which machines are busy.

You can also find the info this way: LAB INFO —> Computers in Use

Enjoy your break everyone.

Isn't it purty?

and we have peace lillies too!

We are indeed a noisy lab. Just like our logo says (see above) People come here to practice speaking, singing, communicating in a second (or third) language.

In the lab, we have birds that chirp and squawk and a fishtank that gurgles. We believe that background noise makes out patrons less anxious about making their own sounds. This is called “the cocktail party effect.” So yes, there is a method to this madness.

We also believe that studying and computing should be comfortable. So we installed a hammock. So there.

We hope you will come and use our space. Welcome!

Results for the tests taken today will be posted after 9 a.m. outside the language department offices.

Spanish and French: Peters 301
Japanese: Peters 316
Russian and German: Peters 222

Frequently Asked Questions:

1) If I took an AP language exam, and scored a 4 or a 5, do I have to take a placement test?

No, but you need to consult the Oberlin College Course Catalogue and read the policy of the corresponding OC language department. In most cases, as long as the Registrar has proof from ETS of your scores, you will be given college credit and be elgible for taking an upper level course.

2) Can I take multiple placement tests?

If you’ve got the time, we’ve got the exam.

3) How long does the test take? I am sooooo busy this week.

Plan on an hour. You can start it whenever you like. Just be sure you are done by 5 so we can get the results processed.

You can also take it during add/drop (the first 10 days or so of classes) but if you realllly want to take a language class, you should get this over with now.

4) Once I place into a course, am I guaranteed a spot in a course?

Would that we could guarantee places on class rosters. Alas, many language classes are oversubscribed in the fall.

However, if you REALLLLLY want to get into a class, get yourself on a waiting list with the departmental administrative assistant and go to the classes. Wait lists and rosters do a lot of shifting in the first few days of the term. You might be pleasantly surprised.

BUT! If you have studied the language before, you will still need to take the placement test to be consented into the class by the teacher.

5) What about Chinese and Arabic and Italian? Do they have placement tests?

Nope, not yet.

Please speak with the East Asian Studies Dept in order to be placed in a course for Chinese after speaking with a Chinese profssor.

Please email Marie Claude Thomas for Arabic information:
Marie [hyphen] Claude [period] Thomas [at] oberlin [dot] edu

Please email Ivana Di Siena about Italian placements:
Ivana[dot]Di[dot]Siena[at]oberlin[dot]edu

Ne’ertheless this is a summer of endings and beginnings here on the 3rd floor of Peters Hall.

First, the beginnings:

• Language placement tests in French, German, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish will be available online as of July 14 (and not sooner…sorry). Check here for further details

• we are in the process of installing 24 brandy spandy new intel imacs that (fingers crossed) will be running OSX and XP. Stay tuned for further developments.

• on the Windows side we will be running World of Warcraft (UK version) This will allow access to servers in Europe and a completely new spin on language immersion and technology. We owe this idea to our good friend Todd Bryant at Dickinson College who has been using WoW in his introductory German classes for many semesters now. (Check out his article on this here)

• we will be exploring the use of Second Life for language immersion as well. To that end, if you are a student here and have experience in SL and speak a second language, leave a message below or email us: languages@oberlin.edu. We have a small grant that can pay for student assistance as we explore this possibility.

• More new toys for check out at the desk: we will have flip video cameras for student and faculty use (to be checked out at the desk). The flips store up to one hour of video, and then through a USB connector can easily download the footage to the computer of your choice… Digital (still image cameras) will also be available for check out. We still have a couple of mini DV video cameras and tripods and lavalier wireless mikes too.

•Toys for faculty: the lab now has a few video iPods and one iPod Touch to loan out on a limited basis, as well as the handy cable that allows one to connect the ipod to a TV monitor. Perhaps more exciting still is that the CILC has acquired a Verizon wireless USB card for faculty and staff who travel to conferences with a laptop and need wireless internet access. This card can be reserved via Barbara.

And now the endings:

This summer we say goodbye to a good friend and colleague, Ryan, who left the CILC and the position of Educational Technology Specialist for a similarly-titled job at UC-San Francisco’s Center for Instructional Technology. Ryan will be responsible for training the UCSF faculty in the finer points of Moodle .

The birdies, fishies and all of us here in the CILC already miss him. Among other things, it’s too dang quiet here without him and that…that…music.

When a job posting for the ETS position is finalized, you can check the Oberlin College Human Resources website for details. These’ll be big shoes to fill, indeed, but we will welcome applications from dedicated, somewhat wacky (it helps, trust me) educators interested in exploring how technology can enhance language instruction.