Education Technology Services (ETS), a division of the CAC recently accepted five new Faculty Technology Initiative Projects. This program encourages effective instruction through innovative teaching and learning. The projects selected this year are expected to enhance learning activities for thousands of students in 2000-2001:
Faculty: James Lantolf (Center for Language Acquisition; Spanish, Italian, Portuguese), Steven Thorne (Center for Language Acquisition; Speech Communication), and Julia Kushner (Center for Language Acquisition; Psychology)
The TELL Web site was established by the Center for Language Acquisition (CLA) to provide foreign language and second language departments with on-line access to foreign language teaching resources developed at Penn State. Under the Faculty Technology Initiative Program, the CLA will work with instructional designers to evaluate and redesign the current TELL Web site. The goal of the project is to produce a centralized, expandable repository in which language learning materials developed by University faculty and teaching assistants can be archived and easily retrieved for future use.
"Technology Enhancement of Instruction in Two
Less Commonly Taught Languages:
Arabic 1, 2, and 3, and Swahili 1, 2, and 3"
Courses: Swahili, Arabic, and other less commonly taught languages
Faculty: Thomas Hale (Arabic and Swahili, Comparative Literature Department) and Steven Thorne (Center for Language Acquisition)
Support from the Faculty Technology Initiative Program will enable instructors to introduce contemporary and authentic examples of Arabic and Swahili into the classroom from Web, video, and audio sources. ETS support will help instructors of Arabic and Swahili move beyond traditional methods of instruction and take advantage of the enormous variety of language material generated by the Arabic and Swahili-speaking communities now easily accessible on-line. The project developers plan to work closely with those involved in the TELL project described above.
"Basic Spanish Technology Project"
Courses: Elementary and Intermediate Spanish
Faculty: Terry J. Peavler (Department of Spanish, Italian,
and Portuguese)
The demand for Spanish courses at Penn State continues to grow dramatically. To accommodate the increasing need for Spanish courses, the Department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese will implement extensive computer technology use in the classroom. Language tests, writing exercises, and grammar explanations will be made available on the Web, giving Spanish instructors more time to develop students' oral skills, and offer a higher quality of instruction to a greater number of students.
The Department of Biology plans to implement interactive
Web-based course supplements to accommodate the large number of students
who enroll in biology courses each year. Student use of this technology
will break down barriers imposed by large classes, permit
immediate evaluation and feedback, and facilitate discussion beyond
the classroom. ETS will support the faculty team with specialty
training and instruction in Web design, organization, and searching.
Penn State Erie, Behrend College
"Instructional Development of an
Observational Research Tutorial"
Courses: Introductory Psychology, Basic Research Methods,
and Cognitive Development
Faculty: Victoria A. Kazmerski and Dawn G. Blasko (Department
of Humanities and Social Sciences)
The Courseware for Observational Research (COR) is a previously funded and successful Faculty Technology Initiative Project that will now be redesigned and reprogrammed for a more current environment. Various natural and behavioral science instructors at Penn State and other universities have used COR to teach observational research and have highly praised the tool. With the renewed support from ETS, a planned advisory board, and a commercial vendor, COR will be made even more user friendly and available to an even wider audience. Additional content, such as tutorials for students, will also be developed.
Learn more about the Faculty Technology Initiative by visiting http://cac.psu.edu/ets/projects.html on the Web.