Preparing for Spring: Language-Specific Resources and Support Available

As part of its mission to support the teaching and learning of languages, the Language Center partnered with several units on campus to support the pivoting to remote instruction. These efforts included a week-long professional development series to equip instructors with templates and resources to enhance language learning potential in synchronous and asynchronous environments. We invite faculty to review the robust collection available in Canvas: Teaching at a Distance as Guided Practice. Session recordings are available on this site, and faculty can copy content (templates) of materials created for the series. The materials cover a wide range of topics and provide concrete instructional strategies, including how to refine a Canvas site to increase learner success, interpretive communication and textual analysis, managing asynchronous pair and group activities, and language assessment in online environments.

Other recent resources include:

• The Tip of the Day blog features short and easy-to-implement ideas for using Zoom, Canvas, Jamboard and more.
• This term, the Language Center partnered with language centers and institutes at four Big Ten universities to offer guided conversations on the topics of accessibility, inclusivity, and learner autonomy. Recording of these conversations are available at The Language Collaboratory.
• Dr. Adolfo Carrillo Cabello collaborated with ATSS to conduct focus groups with undergraduate students to learn about their experiences during remote teaching. The report of findings: Student Insights on Pandemic Remote Teaching and Learning, includes short and long term recommendations that aim at enhancing the quality of learning for students in remote courses.

As you prepare for Spring courses, we invite you to consider this wealth of language-specific resources available to you. In addition, we encourage you to reach out with any questions or requests you may have. The Language Center is prepared to provide consultations on best practices for remote language teaching and learning.