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