In which the forgotten “C” is remembered
Posted By Kevin Gaugler on January 7, 2009
If you teach a foreign language in the United States, you are probably familiar with ACTFL’s National Standards for Foreign Language Education. In all honesty, remembering the standards, also known as the five C’s, has been like remembering the seven dwarfs for me. I can usually name off all but one when pressed, but could talk at length on any of them when I see ACTFL’s classic diagram.
http://www.cortland.edu/flteach/
When I try to list the five standards from memory, the one that tends to elude me is the Connections standard. However, I use the tools of new web all the time to meet the learning outcomes that Connection standards 3.1 and 3.2 elucidate. To refresh your memory (and mine) this standard is as follows:
- Standard 3.1: Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through the foreign language
- Standard 3.2: Students acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are only available through the foreign language and its cultures
The Internet has always been quite good at making materials in other disciplines available in the target language. At the same time, the participatory platforms of the new web allow anyone to publish his or her distinctive viewpoints, regardless of native tongue. I thought I would share a few unique spots on the web I’ve found useful for helping my students make those connections.
Instacalc (Standard 3.1)
My initial reason for using Instaclc was quite practical. I wanted to be able to calculate grades and see all the entries in my calculation in order to more easily go back and verify those numbers. Instacalc, however, is not your grandmother’s calculator because it’s wrapped up in a social network. The ability for anyone to share calculations has obvious benefits for those teaching mathematics or science, but using Instacalc in the language classroom might not prove as readily apparent. If you dig, a bit you’ll find a few gems where Instacalc gives you instant connections to a myriad of other disciplines.
Lucie deLaBruere of the Infinite Thinking Machine blog has a great post about using collaborative calculators and spreadsheets to turn data about US presidential elections into information about the US political system. One could imagine a scenario in a language classroom where students are calculating and interpreting results of elections in another country. One need only explore the vast collection of maps on WorldMapper to see how data sets can be turned into valuable learning modules that connect students to culture. For instance, here is a view of the world through the lens of population as opposed to standard land mass.
The world based on population
Twitter (Standard 3.2) Twitter has gotten a lot of attention in 2008 as the hottest new service of the new web. It’s power is in its simplicity. Twitter is like a blog with one major difference—you can only post 140 characters of text, the length of an SMS message. Because Twitter’s structure encourages short, yet frequent posts, it’s well suited for finding distinctive viewpoints in the language of your choice. Trying going to Twitter’s search site, enter a keyword, choose your preferred language and PRESTO, with real time results that are constantly updated, you are satisfying one of the national standards without even signing up for Twitter. Below you’ll see the results of my search of anyone tweeting about Obama in multiple languages.
I’m sure that we’ll be blogging about Twitter again and its uses for the language classroom. Until then, let us know how you use the web to create Connections for your students. Better yet, feel free to let me know about it on Twitter.
In which the forgotten “C” is remembered by Kevin Gaugler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.worldatways.com/suggest-topics/.
About the author
Kevin Gaugler
Kevin Gaugler is Associate Professor of Spanish and Chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY. Technology has always been part of the DNA of his teaching. As a graduate student, Dr. Gaugler began working in The University of Connecticut's state-of-the-art multimedia language center to research relationships between the 5Cs and instructional technology. While at Marist, he has developed a a FIPSE-funded course entitled Spanish and Technology and has helped to create Identity Quest, a course that rethinks technology and study abroad. He has presented his pedagogical innovations at numerous conferences and colleges in the United States and is the author of several monographs.Comments
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Good read. I have made a twitter post about this. Hope others find it as interesting as I did.