Distance Learning and Slavic studies: (How) can it be done?

Digital projects in the classroom: A pre-conference for faculty
and instructors
Distance learning and Slavic studies:
(How) can it be done?
2010 ASEEES Annual Convention
November 18, 2010
Annelie Rugg, Ph.D.
Director
UCLA Center for Digital Humanities

Highlights
What it is
How it’s done
Why it’s done
The student experience
The instructor experience
Distance learning and Slavic studies

‘Sending’ existing LCTL classes to interested students at
other campuses using videoconferencing
Start with an existing language class at Campus A
Advertise to students at Campus B
Enroll students at Campus B using cross-campus enrollment
Schedule rooms at Campuses A and B with videoconference (VC)
capability
Test the VC connection between Campus A and B
Show students at Campus B how to operate camera to see what’s
going on in Campus A classroom
Put all course materials on the course website
Meet at class time and learn!
What it is

Face to face interaction
Live instructor
Live classmates, clustered
Synchronous class meetings
Supplemental learning materials
are online for all students
Exams, quizzes the same for all
students (paper or online); can be
proctored
Home, remote students are
physically dislocated…
… connected by VC
What it is
Distance learning for LCTLs
Online interaction
Remote instructor
Remote classmates, solitary
No class meetings
All learning materials (including
teacher’s instruction) are online for all
students
Exams, quizzes the same for all
students – only online, not proctored
All students are physically
dislocated
… connected through VLE
vs. Online learning

What it is
Czech 187E class meeting, Fall 2010
Instructor is at UCLA, which ‘sends’ its class to two students at UCSB.

Growth of the program: from 2 to 6 campuses
Started in 2002-03: Danish from UCB to UCLA
2005-06: 5 languages shared across campuses
2006-07: 6 languages
2010-11 (projected): 7 languages
What it is

What it is

How it’s done: The technology
Start with a great language instructor.

Schedule your regular class- or seminar room.

Add a VC unit and monitor to a media cart.

Helps to have a room microphone.

Use the remote to control camera angle at other end.

Avoid rooms with windows washing out image of white
boards at other end.

H.323 protocol over regular ethernet port
Videoconferencing unit at each point (Popular brands: LifeSize,
Polycom, Tandberg). Many are now high definition (HD).
Connect to computer monitor, TV or projector at each point.
Audio input can come from microphones, CD/DVD, cassette,
etc.
At class time, “dial up” the other location through the Polycom
(must know the device address at the other end).
Connecting more than 2 locations requires multipoint bridge.

Cross-campus connections are key
Start with an existing language class at Campus A
Language instructor at Campus A knows about or cultivates interest at Campus B
Advertise to students at Campus B. List in schedule of classes at both campuses. It
also helps if faculty, advisors, language hubs at Campus B advertise to students.
Enroll students at Campus B using cross-campus enrollment
Schedule rooms at Campuses A and B with videoconference (VC) capability. VC
units can be put on a cart and wheeled into any room (as in our Czech example).
Test the VC connection between Campus A and B
Show students at Campus B how to operate camera to see what’s going on in
Campus A classroom
Put all course materials on the course website. Make arrangements for graded
assessments.
Meet at class time and learn!
How it’s done: The process

Berkeley - A
Davis - B
Irvine - C
Los Angeles - D
Merced - E
Riverside - F
San Diego - G
San Francisco - H
Santa Barbara - I
Santa Cruz - J
UC System-wide offerings:
A + B … + J (minus the overlap) = A LOT!
20th century UC student could choose
from B languages …
21st century UC student can choose from
ALL the UC languages!
Why it’s done

Student access to previously unavailable language courses.
Increases enrollments in LCTL courses. Therefore, less likely to be
cut, which sustains the disciplinary diversity of the Great University.
Simplicity of mode. Baseline VC technology in place at all campuses;
fixed location or mobile carts; desktop VC; taps into LMS’s.
Pedagogical effectiveness. Proven instruction by proven instructors;
maintains instructor-student and student-student interaction (e.g. pair
work).
Enrollment infrastructure in place. Simultaneous enrollment means
UC system regulations guarantee system-wide acceptance of credit and
grades.
Why it’s done
Efficient use of existing instruction and infrastructure

Cost to the student: $0 (part of regular fees)
Cost of instructor: $0 (part of existing faculty)
Cost of classroom: $0 (part of infrastructure)
Cost of videoconferencing equipment: $0 (part of infrastructure)
Cost of classroom support: $0 (part of existing staff)
Cost of document delivery: $0 (use of existing LMS)
Cost of coordinating the program: 0.25 FTE of staff time
Cost of adding VC capability to meet added demand: Depends
on how much access campuses want to provide
Why it’s done
Little added cost

Success stories
UCSD mathematics student completed 1 year of Hungarian from
UCLA, and was awarded NSF Central Europe Summer Research
Institute Fellowship (only 10-15 such fellowships awarded annually)
UCSB attracts grad students focusing on Czech music to its
music program because of Czech via DL. Several UCSB music grad
students studying with Derek Katz develop research-level proficiency
through 2-3 years of Czech through DL.
UCSB undergrad studying Business Russian got a job in
Moscow. Another undergrad studying Russian was accepted to a
Flagship program in Saint Petersburg.

I'm excited about going to it every day and I feel so fortunate. … This distance
teaching thing is a blessing. It lets people take courses they want and really it
is not any less effective than physically being in a class. It's great! … I recently
applied for a summer language program in Finland sponsored by the
government there … — UCLA student in Beginning and Advanced Finnish
(2006)
I found out a few days ago that I won a NSF CESRI fellowship to do research
in mathematics in Budapest this summer! I wanted to thank you for the
enormous effort you have all put into arranging the distance learning classes in
Hungarian with UCLA. Proficiency in Hungarian will be invaluable when I go to
Budapest this summer. — UCSD student in Beginning Hungarian (2008)
Czech is not offered at UCSB, so I’m lucky to be able to take it through UCLA. …
The videoconferencing program is a GREAT benefit to my education and is
one of the reasons that I selected UCSB for my program, as it was one of my
best ways to get the language classes that I needed. I feel very very fortunate to
be able to participate in the program and ... it will be a huge benefit as I get closer
to doing my dissertation research. — UCSB student in Advanced Czech (2010)

“Just like being in a normal class.”
Personal connections established to same degree as regular
classes; seem “something less” in the beginning, but “you feel more
connected as the … series progresses”.
Slight disadvantage to not being in same room as teacher
(hearing spoken language).
“I learn as much as I would if the teacher were here.”
Enrollment/registration hassles, not technology hassles.

Instructor needs to be organized
Advance scheduling for VC rooms
Lighting in the room that doesn’t
interfere with viewing the board
Backup tech/AV help
Course website or other online
collaborative space to share all
course materials
What is needed …
Overall:
A faculty partner who will help,
esp. with transmitting, proctoring
quizzes and exams
Extra (remote) office hour for
focused attention, esp. on finer
points of pronunciation)
If possible, native speaker
accessible for language practice to
remote students
At remote end:

Proctoring and exchanging tests needs advance planning and trusted partner
Transmitting homework is simplified if remote students can scan or type their
homework, submit online
You can do pair work, but not working in chorus across sites, due to very slight lag
time in audio
Remote students need extra time for focus on pronunciation, due to audio loss in
transmission during class. Easily remedied with extra office hour (which also signals
that they are valued students).
Transmitting images from a document camera or laptop to remote site is excellent;
projected images get washed out.
Remote students may expend effort on following along that would otherwise have
been spent on learning
Remote students are often slightly less forthcoming with questions (so additional
office hour helps).
These classes are easy to keep going once you’ve gone through the planning once
Things to be aware of …

The main thing that I would say is that it enables us to provide Czech to a university that
supports Czech studies in other ways (UCSB has one of the leading specialists in Czech music
- …), but does not have the resources to offer Czech language courses.
As far as teaching, … It definitely restricts the use of visuals, which have to be large enough
to be seen easily on the TV screen. I do more detailed handouts than I would otherwise.
Overall, it takes more advance planning than a regular course, but it's not a burden.
Managing the equipment is very easy for the instructor.
Having … help set things up and then available to help with enrollment issues, etc., has been
essential. I wouldn't have started this at all if there weren't someone … showing me how to
make it work.
The students have been great to work with, so motivated, you want to keep on. One used to
come down for class sometimes!
… UCSB students are interested in advanced Russian courses for heritage speakers, and
unfortunately, UCSB does not offer such courses.
We invest virtually nothing and have the luxury of offering a second Slavic language to UCSB
students. I see nothing that would make us consider stopping the exchange. There is so little
work on our end and so much benefit for the students that canceling it would be out of
the question.

Annelie Rugg is the Director/Humanities CIO at UCLA's Center for Digital Humanities (CDH),
where she has worked since completing her UCLA Ph.D. in Slavic Linguistics in 2001. As
Director, Annelie oversees all technology projects, initiatives, and operations undertaken in
support of the second-largest humanities division in the country. Prior to becoming Director,
Annelie served as CDH's Instructional Technology Coordinator for seven years, managing all
instructional technology initiatives for the division, including development and support for
course websites, instructional projects, and faculty training. Annelie joined CDH in 2001 as
Foreign Language Instructional Technology Coordinator, applying her language teaching and
prior technology experience to enhance language teaching and learning. Annelie's technology
experience also includes three years as a director of marketing, project manager and technical
writer at a startup software company.
More recently, Annelie has been actively involved in the creation and oversight of UCLA's
Moodle-based Common Collaboration and Learning Environment (CCLE), and is collaborating
with UCLA faculty to create a Digital Humanities minor and graduate certificate. Annelie also
teaches a course in Computer-enhanced Language Learning as an Adjunct Assistant Professor
in UCLA's department of Applied Linguistics.
annelie@humnet.ucla.edu
Speaker information

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