The World A.T. Ways

We could think of no better inspiration for a blog about the possibilities of technology than Jules Verne¹. Often referred to as the father of science-fiction, Verne is the author of such novels as Journey to the Center of the Earth, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Around the World in 80 Days. Jules Verne’s fiction is, if nothing else, about pushing the boundaries of technology, about taking risks and about rethinking humankind’s relationship to its surroundings.

Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, SecondLife —it can be overwhelming to try to keep up to date on the many new technologies that appear with exponential frequency, let alone understand how to use them effectively and appropriately in our courses. Taking a cue from Around the World in 80 Days, Around the World in A.T. Ways constitutes an episodic text in which two language educators circumnavigate our educational world via emerging technologies. Above all, Dr. Kevin Gaugler, Associate Professor of Spanish at Marist College and Barbara Lindsey, Director of the Multimedia Language Center at the University of Connecticut, will explore the topic of online technologies in support of language learning and teaching, intercultural competencies and all things global.

With the help of our trusty community, we would like to guide you around the world of the new web. Your hosts Dr. Kevin Gaugler and Barbara Lindsey will explore socially mediated technologies with you and show how we can harness their popularity to engage all language learners, reinforce the 5 Cs and prepare students for life in a global, teamwork-oriented world. Join our interactive community by sending us your questions and sharing your experiences (text or voice): feedback@worldatways.com. You can also join us and others around the world via several “Web 2.0” networking sites as we engage, encourage and elaborate: Facebook, Del.icio.us, Ning, Diigo and Twitter. So join us on our journey through new territories. No balloon required! Kevin and Barbara would love to take your questions and share your experiences navigating the world of a.cademic t.echnology.

The wATw blog began underwritten by Cengage Learning in an effort to promote discussion about new technologies and their effect on language teaching, learning and higher education in general. It is now a project continued out of passion and interest for connecting with fellow language educators and sharing what we have learned along the way. As such, we have licensed our efforts here with a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

We thank Cengage for making this trailblazing initiative possible and we hope it leads to a global discussion about our rapidly-changing profession.

1. This is considered a ‘B class’ wikipedia article. For more information, check out the discussion forum for this entry.