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How to create a form on Google Apps

2014/01/31 Leave a comment
  1. If you want to collect input from others (including students outside of a course = Moodle), including recurring input from the same student (multiple submissions are the default andsingle submission limit can apparently only be enforced offwith JavaScript hacks)(.
  2. Do this to create a form in Google Apps:
  3. Here is what you can have your submitters see: imageimageimage
  4. Here is what you get:
Categories: audience-is-teachers, e-infrastructure, Screencasts, service-is-documenting, service-is-tutoring Tags: ,

Free interactive online learning materials for Heinle Interaction

2014/01/30 Leave a comment
  1. Available here – in spite of the prominent user login button, you do not need to sign up.
  2. Rather simply click the “Select Chapter” to get started. image
  3. You then have access to some of these types of exercises, per chapter: image
  4. Free (a (free) account is not needed):
    1. Tutorial Quiz
    2. Audio
    3. Web Search Activities
    4. Concentration
    5. Heinle Playlist
    6. Google Earth Coordinates
    7. Web Links
  5. Not free
    1. Flashcards
    2. Video (except for chapter 1 as taster) image
    3. Podcasts
    4. Crossword
    5. Chapter Glossary
  6. What this content is good for:
    1. Practicing. Including with a tutor, for since this content is not assessed, there is no ethical issue if the tutor helps with these materials.
    2. It is from edition 8, which is not the current edition – but I expect it to be still reasonably to the current chapters chapter:
      1. Le commerce et la consommation
      2. Modes de vie
      3. La vie des jeunes
      4. Les télécommunications
      5. La presse et le message
      6. Le mot et l’image
      7. Les transports et la technologie
      8. A la fac
      9. La francophonie
      10. Découvrir et se décourvir
Categories: audience-is-students, French, learning-materials, service-is-evaluating-learning-tools, service-is-tutoring, textbooks, websites Tags: ,

Protected: Facilitating equipment circulation and room booking with website calendar aggregation?

2014/01/29 Enter your password to view comments.

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Categories: e-infrastructure, Learning-logs, service-is-library, service-is-tutoring Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

LRC Tutors at check in take their signs…

2013/10/03 Leave a comment

… please , and put them on their desks prominently. We are reintroducing this signage, now that the group rooms often overflow..

Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-staff, audience-is-language-learning-center-temp-staff, service-is-tutoring

Setting up tutor support for Hybrid Spanish in the LRC, from 1-on-1 to Emporium

2013/09/20 Leave a comment
  1. The LRC can answer the Hybrid Spanish need to move tutoring into the LRC in a variety of ways, depending on scale of need:
  2. immediately on a small scale, using its small group rooms:
    1. 1-2 seats next to the tutor (lrcroomcoed433d) plus space for 1-2 students to wait in line (lrcroomcoed433). Group room 2 is the one along the wall next to the door. Not more than 2 students will fit there – on the sofa – at a time, with the tutor sitting at the desk. Since there is no space, other students cannot crowd the space/hog the tutor, but will be forced to move.
    2. Other Hybrid Spanish students can line up in lrcroomcoed433 (what we made into the “iMacs Faculty” room for you), and work in the online textbook while they wait online even when the other tutors (which we are going to move in there for you, see room calendar) use up the iMacs next to the door.
    3. The group rooms are merely my personal “hack” to make the LRC fit the changing departmental needs better. Our renovation proposal asked for more standard facilities, but we could secure only a couple of man hours to move our existing furniture. The hacked group rooms are small (photo included here), not (unlike proposed) sound proof and that the area in front of the reception desk with 3 customer lines can get rather busy when assistants help students, faculty and tutors. The LRC help desk constantly has students and teachers asking for help and checking out equipment, media, and starting proctored quizzes, sometimes in lines.
    4. Whiteboard: the department has installed the whiteboard in lrcroomcoed434 last year. Hybrid Spanish can use it there, or if the department has the funds, they could buy another and install it in group room 2. In the group room, for 1 on 1 tutoring, Hybrid Spanish could use the computer instead. Would it help at all Hybrid Spanish if we installed a 2nd screen, keyboard and mouse on this computer?
    5. “in person sign-in“: I’d be more than happy to help Hybrid Spanish look into how the LRC calendars could be used for students signing up for time slots with tutors, in a location easily readable and writable to all students – I have been meaning to do this for a long time for our tutors that are in only for a few hours per week. However, the need for setting up a restrictive sign-in could be alleviated by having a line where students at least can continue working on online Puntos at a a computer by themselves (=lrcroomcoed433), or, even better, can flexibly work on online Puntos , get help from a tutor, continue working on online Puntos, ask more help from a tutor.
  3. on a medium scale:
    1. If Hybrid Spanish need to accommodate more than 4-5 students – combined tutoring and lining up – at a time, I’d recommend using up the right half of the main classroom lrcroomcoed434 for this, even if not for a supervised/blended human/online homework session using the Sanako.
    2. Hybrid Spanish tutors could just move between the computers pedestrian-wise, manage the queue of students manually etc. At least Hybrid Spanish would have plenty of space to accommodate all students that show up, including the pile-ups we have experience.
  4. Large scale via “hybrid tutoring” using Sanako:
    1. On a larger scale (which we may encourage tutor-seeking students to create once they see we are able to scale this way), I could show Hybrid Spanish tutors how they could use the SANAKO to monitor and help students via screensharing, manage a queue of students “calling” for help (including the students seeing how they progress in the queue), send text messages and webpages to students, or fully remote control their computers to help or collaborate with them. Tutors can also form groups to address more than 1 student at a time, address all students present via the Sanako, or simply use the projector to demonstrate to them all. Or, as said, use the lrcroomcoed434 whiteboard (it is at the other end of the classroom from the teacher podium, we should change that, lots of teachers want to rather see their student’s faces when lecturing, they can see the students’ screen now through the Sanako).
    2. Hybrid Spanish students would not have to leave and with the SANAKO (or without, but not as easily) could queue up to ask questions, when they need to, or even be proactively monitored and helped by the tutors, I realize that our tutor are students also and that we do not want to overtax them. I do not know why Hybrid Spanish students hang around. However, the emporium at other universities was introduced as a go-to area for students that feel lost. The LRC would love to be that go-to area for language students here, provided we have the tools to help the students find their way – I think we have some, and would love to show Hybrid Spanish how Hybrid Spanish can take advantage of them. Of course everything that involves 1600 students per term needs to be carefully planned, especially with our limited seats in the LRC.
    3. When we last tried to share the classroom with Spanish tutoring, we had incidents with teachers no wanting the tutors there, while the tutors were unwilling to move. This is why the LRC set up the group rooms in the first place. In addition, the LRC online calendars now allows the teachers to book, or cancel booking, the room on the fly, and the tutors can see this calendar on the fly. Improved communication on sharing should allow for increase in actual usage of Lrcroomcoed434, without stepping on each other’s feet: they can be prepared to move back out to their group room, when the teacher moves in (and the SANAKO allows the tutors to also force the log out of their students form the lrcroomcoed434 computers for the class moving in). We would then not formally book the classroom for Hybrid Spanish, but rather still the group room, and rely on Hybrid Spanish students moving to the group room for the time slots that classes are scheduled in the classroom (easy enough to see in the LRC calendars, either from the calendar links on the LRC homepage, or by subscribing from NINERMAIL).
Categories: proposals, service-is-tutoring, Spanish Tags: ,

Protected: LRC Clinic designs a remedial package for Germ1202 using MyLanguageLab

2013/09/04 Enter your password to view comments.

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Categories: audience-is-teachers, clinics, service-is-learning-materials-creation, service-is-tutoring Tags: , , , ,

LRC Fall 2013 announcements

2013/08/16 Leave a comment
  1. The LRC has upgraded to Windows 7 and Office 2010.
    1. Benefits:
      1. Your students can use the computer interface from the default English to  about 20 languages, including non-Western.
      2. Your students can also use speech recognition (in English, French, German, Japanese, Mandarin, and Spanish), e.g. for dictation exercises (Example videos:  very bad French, decent German). Students can train the computers to their voice and take their training data with them.  I’d love to explore with you possibilities for pronunciation practice with automated intelligent feedback .
      3. Your students can use old and new MS-Office Proofing tools.
    1. Caveat:  W are still trying to restore some former functionality (e.g. no Google Arabic, Farsi and Russian IME etc.). Please bear with us while we deal with the new college tech infrastructure. 
  1. The LRC has upgraded its Sanako digital audio lab software.
    1. Because of budgetary constraints, our software agreement had to end  with version 5 . This summer, the vendor presented us with a free upgrade to version 7, with compliments for my blog posts about using the Sanako.
    2. Benefits:  We decided to implement the upgrade lest you and your students need relearn in the middle of the academic year and since Version 7 adds valuable language learning :  which I would love to explore with you: Vocabulary exercises  and Pronunciation exercises which  make use of the computerized text-to-speech capabilities we just implemented with windows 7
    3. Caveats:
      1. We are still trying to restore the old Sanako configuration. E.g. Pairing recording is not working currently.
      2. I hope to upgrade my LanglabEmailer software to support the new version after the term is underway.
  1. For students attending distance classes with Saba Centra in the LRC, microphone audio on listening stations fixed, no more 30 minute delay  when joining class.
  1. UNCC is upgrading to Moodle 2. The CTL is investigating how the LRC Metacourses for audio materials I created can be converted to Moodle 2. If you need the audio materials from the metacourses,  we can help you upload them into your individual courses temporarily. 
  1. Classroom AV: We found a temporary workaround for the projector image quality and are investigating permanent solutions. Currently no VHS video and doc cam display during classes  (we would love to  scan your text anyway and distribute them digitally).
  2. LRC Calendars and Booking:
    1. In the LRC Room and Equipment List, your will notice some new film studies equipment (calendars requested from ITS).
    2. We added new calendars to the Quicklinks on LRC home page :  Tutors and LRC assistants. Please keep checking how we fill these open positions over the next few weeks, and use the help they can offer you.
    3. When booking, you can
      1. get help at the LRC reception desk;
      2. book yourself  from anywhere,
      3. or have your “delegate” book (planned; setup requested from ITS).
  1. I will continue next week with the biweekly Sanako Clinic to aid teachers with their LRC class preparation. Please consult the LRC calendar if you want to drop in, or reschedule one with me for your needs.
  2. I am also offering LRC introductions for your class during the week 2 and 3 on a “first-come, first-served” basis, and à la carte (I suggest consulting a one-sheet menu with an overview  of LRC facilities that I am  preparing.) Please let me know if you are interested.
Categories: announcements, audience-is-teachers, Listening, service-is-tutoring, Speaking, Vocabulary, Writing Tags: , , , , , , , ,

How the LRC tracks volunteer tutoring usage

2013/03/02 Leave a comment

LRC Volunteer tutors (different from the tracking of CAE tutors; but modeled after their tracking, to be promoted to a CAE tutor), when they arrive AND when they leave the LRC:

  1. at the LRC reception desk (ask the LRC assistant to show the 49erExpress window),
  2. log into their NINERMAIL, go to their calendar,
  3. open their tutor appointment ("series", NOT "occurrence" – however, if this is a non-repeating appointment, create one),
  4. receive a check-in/out code from the LRC assistant spreadsheet (ask the LRC assistants for that),
  5. 5. when checking out, also briefly describe work done:
    1. tutoring done (which student(s),
    2. what topic(s) and work (make sure to comply with the tutor ethics code)
    3. how much time spent on each topic.
  6. "Send update" to meeting request
  7. log out.
Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-temp-staff, Institution-is-University-of-North-Carolina-Charlotte, policies, service-is-hr-managing, service-is-tutoring Tags: