MLNG420/G Multimedia Technologies in Teaching Foreign Languages is a course offering pedagogical training for emerging and in-service teachers of foreign languages in the use of multimedia for foreign language instruction. Hands-on projects will be emphasized. If taught online, student must have 1) access to computer, 2) Internet connection, 3) MS Office software, 4) access to scanner, 5) CD-write drive, 6) graphics application like Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop Elements, and 7) a digital microphone for computers. For undergraduate enrollment: enrollment in K12 teacher certification program in French, German, or Spanish or permission of instructor; and successful completion of at least one upper-division course in the language of teaching certification. For graduate enrollment: teacher certification in French, German, or Spanish or permission of instructor. Graduate students may gain permission of instructor to enroll in a section for a language other than French, German, or Spanish. Through coursework, experience abroad, and other cultural encounters, the Modern Languages Program cultivates communicative skills and cultural awareness that prepare students at Western Kentucky University to be more knowledgeable and sensitive citizens of the global community.

Participation:
Assignments:
Journal & entries:
Mini-project:
Final project teaching module:

10%
10%
10%
30%
40%

Participation will consist primarily of discussion of assigned topics to be posted throughout the course in Blackboard. Most days, beginning with Wednesday, June 21, with have a topic for class participation.

Assignments will be posted on the timeline part of the syllabus below by means of a link on the date by which the assignment is due. Thus to know what is to be prepared for the June 20 "class meeting," click on the link on "20 jun 06" below.

Blackboard will be used for its Discussion Board (class participation) and the Digital Dropbox. When submitting work via the Digital Dropbox, use the Send File button, rather than the Add File button. Files that one downloads from the syllabus through Blackboard cannot be saved to your computer. If the file to be downloaded is not accessible in the Digital Dropbox, download the file directly from the Web page (http://edtech.wku.edu/~nlove/420tech/mlng420summer06.htm), rather than through Blackboard.

The Journal has the form of a PowerPoint project which does proceed in linear fashion from slide 1 to slide 2, etc., but which has rather a menu that allows navigation by topic. It will provide some measure of familiarity with PowerPoint but will also provide you with a record that may prove useful in recollecting how one accomplishes particular technology related tasks well after completion of the course. The journal constitutes a day to day activity, of course. With each redaction or update, deposit it in the Blackboard digital dropbox, found under "Tools." Use the Send File button to post it. Return to the Blackboard digital dropbox after each submission to retrieve it with commentary from instructor.

The Mini-project will consist of a module that illustrates emerging Web or computer proficiencies. The Final project will illustrate and document even greater proficiency as well as imaginative, inventive application of multimedia to a teaching/learning project. It may take the form of an interactive exercise or lesson, a Webquest, to name the two most common format chosen to date. (Some past examples) See a Webquest rubric and a multimedia project rubric.

Academic dishonesty: “Students who commit any act of academic dishonesty may receive from the instructor a failing grade in that portion of the course in which the act is detected or a failing grade in the course without possibility of withdrawal” (from the 2006-2007 online student handbook). Acts of academic dishonesty include the use of a translating device to complete writing assignments and failing to turn cell phones and PDAs off before taking an exam. Student work may be checked using plagiarism detection software. See Western's statement on academic dishonesty in the 2006-2007 online student handbook for more information. See the same source for university policy on plagiarism ‑ "To represent written work taken from another source as one's own is plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious offense. The academic work of a student must be his/her own. One must give any author credit for source material borrowed from him/her. To lift content directly from a source without giving credit is a flagrant act. To present a borrowed passage without reference to the source after having changed a few words is also plagiarism."

Students with disabilities who require accommodations (academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids or services) for this course must contact the Office for Student Disability Services, in the Student Success Center in DUC, Room A201. The OFSDS telephone number is (270) 745-5004. Please DO NOT request accommodations directly from the professor or instructor without a letter of accommodation from the Office for Student Disability Services.

Changes: Changes to all matters above may become necessary, especially regarding the syllabus and/or the due dates of graded work. The instructor reserves the right to make such changes as he/she deems necessary. It is the responsibility of the student to obtain the most recent iteration of the syllabus either as posted on the Blackboard site for this course or as made available in the classroom.