||New Computer and
Technological Resources for Latin Language Instruction
|Pedagogical Workshop at
the University of Maryland, March 16, 2002
|Barbara F. McManus, The
College of New Rochelle
PART I: PRINCIPLES
Necessity of incorporating
Internet technology in teaching and learning today
- Internet skills are important for employment, quality of life, etc.; our
students need to master them no matter what their field or profession.
- Like reading, writing, or mathematics, Internet skills need to be
applied across the curriculum. It is my contention that they are best
learned through practice in many different areas, not taught in isolation.
Combination of technology with
personal contact and support is optimal for pedagogy 1,
- For faculty: community is absolutely crucial for faculty seeking to
successfully integrate technology into their teaching, including hands-on,
discipline-specific teacher training; practical, project-based activities;
just-in-time advice and help; long-term mentoring and support 3,
- For students: Internet technology must be thoroughly integrated into
the structure of the course (content, learning goals, assessment); the best
assignments bring the fruits of Internet use into the classroom
Advantages provided by the
- Motivational power: “positive addiction,” time on
task, enjoyment and sense of satisfaction (though these are not automatically
created simply by using technology) 5,
- Resource-based learning: potential to link many different types of
resources and provide a guided path through them; potential to provide access
to many primary sources, archival materials, databases, etc. to facilitate
original research 7
- Collaborative learning: ease of communication and collaboration even
across distances; challenge to idea of exclusively personal “intellectual
- Control over learning: students can choose time, place, and pace of
- Interactivity: potential for choosing how to pursue and synthesize
information, for commenting on information, for self-assessment quizzes, for
contributing information 10
- Publication: potential for easy and inexpensive publication of
student work for classmates and even for a worldwide audience 11,
- Updatability: infinitely changeable, can be kept very current
Difficulties encountered in
using the Internet for teaching
- Time and learning curve: always assume that preparation of materials
will take you at least twice as long as your wildest estimate; be prepared for
frequent problems with the technology and with students' use of the equipment;
Internet sites and computer software change so rapidly that you must frequently
refresh your materials and skills 13,
- Differential access: even if your institution provides excellent
facilities and support, some of your students will not have good access to
functioning equipment and to the Internet
- Equipment failure and software incompatibility: even the
best-maintained equipment will sometimes function poorly or break down
(frequently at the most inopportune time); the rapid pace of product
development (and the vicious competition among developers) constantly raise
incompatibility issues even on the Web, which was created to be universally
accessible regardless of platform and software.
- Cost: providing equipment, facilities, and adequate support staff is
very expensive; do not assume that increased technology will save the
institution money in the short term (though it may ultimately provide a better
education for the money) 15
PART II: INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY FOR PRACTICE AND
A major benefit of instructional technology is the provision of less
burdensome and boring forms of practice and drill than traditional methods
involving recitation or written exercises, enabling students to proceed at
their own pace and repeat tasks as needed and freeing classroom time for
reading of Latin and discussion of culture. A recent article by John
Sarkissian, “Monitoring Student Behavior in Computerized Latin
Exercises” (Calico Journal 18.2 : 339-356) traces the
performance of elementary Latin students in computerized drills, quizzes, and
examinations. He concludes that some, but not all, students who improved on
successive drills were able to continue that improvement on tests and argues
that students need guidance from the teacher on how to derive the most benefit
from computerized programs.
Use Latin Software on Disk and
Use Resources and Exercises Available on
Create Your Own Exercises Using
- Hot Potatoes: Although not
freeware, this software can be downloaded free of charge by educators.
Available in Windows and Mac versions, this easy-to-use software enables users
to create interactive multiple-choice, short-answer, jumbled-sentence,
crossword, matching/ordering and gap-fill exercises for the World Wide Web.
- Quia offers a collection of educational
tools and templates that enable registered users to create 14 types of
educational games and activities, quizzes with 8 different question types,
surveys, and web pages. There is an annual registration fee of $49. View the
activities created by Melissa Schons Bishop using Quia for Ecce Romani
- Discovery Education
offers teachers a number of online educational tools, including Puzzlemaker,
Quiz Center, Lesson Planner, and Worksheet Generator. Registration is free.
- Hungry Frog offers
several software programs for Latin vocabulary games, each costing
- Latin parser
and translator 0.96 (programmed by Adam McLean). Customizable program for
interactive translation aids for Windows only.
- Lingua Latina
(developed by Bob Hasenfratz). Customizable Latin drill program for Windows
PART III: DESIGNING INTERNET PROJECTS AND
Steps to Follow
- Become familiar with what tools are available and how others
have employed these in teaching; a focused search with a good search engine
like Google will help you to do this, as
will email discussion lists designed for Latin teachers:
- Find out what kinds of resources relevant to your course topics are already
on the Web.
- Think about how these tools and resources would enable you and your
students to do something new, or to do something old in a new and better way,
or to do something in a way that would be more interesting and engaging to the
students (and to you!).
- As you begin to design one or more Internet projects, draft learning goals
for these assignments that are directly related to the objectives of your
course; this will ensure that the projects are integral to the course, not
simply technological bells and whistles. It is especially important that your
students understand why they are doing these assignments and how they
fit into the course as a whole (see my VRoma
Treasure Hunt for an example of learning goals). 16,
- Make sure that your students understand how to use the tools you are asking
them to employ. 18
- Outcomes assessment is particularly important to find out if the new types
of assignments are accomplishing their aims; also, graded assessment will
convince the students that these assignments are essential parts of the course
(for an example of specific outcomes goals and assessment, see the
final examination in my course on
Ancient Rome in Film, Fiction, and Fact). See also
Essential Steps in
Outcomes Assessment and
VRoma: Technology and
the Standards for Classical Language Learning.
Examples: Using On-Line Latin Texts and
Companion to The Worlds of Roman Women, created by Ann Raia and
Judith Lynn Sebesta, presents many different type of Latin passages by and
about Roman women, with images, introductory essays, and hyperlinked
vocabulary, grammatical aids and commentary. The Instruction section contains
many useful resources for teachers, including suggested activities and
assignments related to the site.
- The Latin Library. A large
collection of unannotated Latin texts.
- Words: Latin-English
Dictionary Program This is a free, downloadable program for PCs consisting
of Latin dictionary entries and software to retrieve definitions and parsing
information, created by William Whittaker. An
version has been made available on the Web by the University of Notre Dame.
- The Fables
of Phaedrus: Reading Exercises in Latin (developed by Zainis Deps for the
Classics Technology Center). These easy texts are hyperlinked to translation
aids, but some features only work with Internet Explorer, not Netscape.
- Intermediate Latin (passages from
Catullus, Cicero, Ovid, Pliny developed through a collaboration of classics
professors and technology experts). These selections are related by a common
theme and have sophisticated hyperlinks to translation aids, commentary, and
pedagogical questions designed specifically for the program and the
Table of Contents: Greco-Roman Texts. These texts are hyperlinked to
dictionary and parsing aids, and frequently to published commentaries as well.
Perseus also offers other very useful tools, all accessible from
page. Perseus programs are so extensive, however, that these tools can be
complicated to use; most students will need considerable guidance and
structured assignments. Be aware that not all features work exactly as
described in the Help pages; due to the history of the project, there is more
comprehensive coverage of Greek materials, and some features work better for
Greek resources than for Latin.
Examples: Collaborative and Interactive
Assignments on History, Civilization, Culture
- Internet Links for AP Latin (developed by
Barbara McManus and Marianthe Colakis to accompany their article in the 2001
Teacher's Guide—AP Latin). The Background Materials section of
this page provides an organized way to find reliable cultural resources that
can be used for student assignments at all levels, while the rest of the page
is devoted to resources on individual AP authors.
Internet Assignments: I created this page for a workshop at The College of
New Rochelle to help faculty from all disciplines.
- WebQuests: The WebQuest is a
educational model for designing web assignments originally developed at San
Diego State University. WebQuests are problem-solving projects intended to
develop and assess all the aspects of web information literacy; in the words of
the developers, “WebQuests are designed to use learners' time well, to
focus on using information rather than looking for it, and to support learners'
thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation.” WebQuests
emphasize authentic tasks and products. The WebQuest home page includes very
materials, and the search page can be used to find relevant classical web quests
(for example, try “Roman” as a search term).
- The VRoma Project is both a
community of teachers and learners sustained by workshops, email
discussion, and on-line pedagogical resources, and an interactive virtual
environment created by a web/MOO interface. The VRoma MOO contextualizes and
situates linguistic and cultural information within a simulated space, a
virtual “city” containing historical places (a simulation of the city
of Rome circa 150 CE) and non-historical places (simulations of various types
of spaces that imaginatively evoke ancient life). For students, this simulated
space provides opportunities not otherwise available for authentic, situated
learning of Latin involving reading/translation of Latin texts in their
physical and cultural context, communication in Latin in an imaginatively
created native environment, and emulation of expert practitioners through
construction of textual commentaries that will be “published” within
the virtual environment.
- Course Materials
Repository contains links to assignments and handouts created by VRoma
faculty to accompany VRoma web materials and the VRoma MOO, which other
teachers can adapt to their own needs.
- Image Archive Search can be used to search an
extensive collection of classical images.
- Login Page: Connect to VRoma as a
registered character or a guest, or browse the site anonymously.
Legacy Document: March 2002
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