YuperStar

Second day on the job and I’ve started to get a handle on what equipment and software we have available here at the World Language Lab:

• 30 iMacs
• 2 G5 Macintoshes for media editing
• 6 media stations (Mac minis with flat screen monitors) arranged for group use
• 1 color and 1 b/w printer
• a conference table
• 1 plasma screen
• various a/v equipment
• 11 iPods
• 1 large screen & projector for presentations
• 30+ headsets made by Califone
• …and a crazy bird that just flew into my window.

A pretty impressive list. There is a lot of potential here. Various things floating through my mind at this point…my to-do list looks something like this:

• jazz up the lab a bit with some color (crêpe paper maybe on the columns? and decals in the hall window?)
• clean keyboards & headphones (I just saw a presentation on how dirty our keyboards are — a prime place for spreading bacteria — yum)
• check out the X-serve training
• take an Italian class to brush up on language pedagogy
• set up a blog specifically to disseminate training & info to World Languages dept
• set up a website describing what goes on in lab to public
• get hands dirty with final cut pro and other apple media software that I haven’t played with
• read up on DiLL language lab software and figure out how authentication works in lab; visit developers in Evanston, IL
• do some practice runs on A/V to digital conversion
• train with my predecessor!
• meet with department chair
• meet with lab liaison
• find out who all the world language teachers are and meet with them collectively and individually
• brainstorm with department re: what types of projects could really WORK in the context of language cirriculum
• clean the windows
• set up an online calendar
• get a handle on lab scheduling; check-in/check-out

That should do me for the rest of the summer, I think. then I’ll really find out how all this works in the fall!