Note from Steve
Welcome back, everyone,
Allison and Diane have been doing a lot of work to get the language lab ready for the start in the fall. We have had a couple of meetings in an attempt to get a lab that will work for us and be useful in our classes. To that end we have set up some “rules of etiquette” to keep good communication going for the lab.
- Lab areas should be reserved at least 24 hours in advance (ex. By Friday morning, reservations for Monday are “frozen” unless a special exception is made by Allison. This way, on Friday, we can all see what’s going on in the lab on Monday). If the lab is not reserved, it cannot be used, except for student and teacher walk-ins.
- If we need to cancel a reservation, we should do so within 48 hours of the scheduled time, to give colleagues a chance to use our spot before the 24 hour deadline (ex. We should cancel Wednesday morning for Friday morning reservations).
- Allison and Diane need at least 48 hours (2 days) to upload audio files to DiLL (ex. audio files I need for a Wednesday class should be on the Projects server by Monday morning). How to do this is described in the training materials on the blog.
- Leave technical difficulties, equipment problems, training suggestions, etc. on the blog.
- Students can walk in at any point during the day as long as they touch base with Allison or Diane first (Diane will be covering for Allison during lunch).
- Teachers can walk in at any point during the day for help and Allison or Diane will assist as they are able. We are guaranteed assistance during teacher walk-in hours. We haven’t solidified these hours yet, but so far, we are thinking Thursdays during the double lunch for HS teachers (12:15 - 1:15p), 3rd & 4th Tuesdays after school (2:40 - 3:40p).
- Faculty are responsible for digitizing their own analog materials in the Training Area. Allison will train and assist, when needed.
- Faculty are responsible for checking out and checking in equipment, as described in the training materials on the blog.
- No food or drink the lab.
The blog will, once we get used to it, will make the lab easier to use. With the new lab, our department is really committed to the idea of integrating technology in the classroom. Allison, Diane and I discussed some of the problems from last year and we are sure we can avoid them. There is a lot of new tech to discover and apply in classes and I hope you all are looking forward to finding ways to use it.
See you in September.
Steve
