The Shared Course Initiative uses high-definition videoconferencing to connect language classrooms at Cornell, Columbia, and Yale. By sharing instruction across three sites, the SCI increases the number of languages available at each university. Listen to the language center directors of these three universities (Columbia’s Stephane Charitos, Yale’s Nelleke Van Deusen-Scholl, and your host, Angelika Kraemer) discuss the SCI and what it takes to make this cross-institutional collaboration work.
Tag: LCTL
S2E11 – Stéphane Charitos – National Trends in Language Study in the U.S.
Stéphane Charitos, Language Resource Center director at Columbia University, discusses current national trends in language study and suggests four practical recommendations that can help uphold visibility and the importance of world language education in the U.S.
The reports Stéphane references can be found here:
- American Academy of Arts & Sciences report: Commission on Language Learning. The American Academy of Arts & Sciences. (2016). The state of languages in the U.S.: A statistical portrait. Retrieved from https://www.amacad.org/multimedia/pdfs/publications/researchpapersmonographs/State-of-Languages-in-US.pdf
- National K-12 foreign language enrollment survey: American Councils for International Education (2017). The national K-12 foreign language enrollment survey report. Retrieved from https://www.americancouncils.org/sites/default/files/FLE-report-June17.pdf
- MLA enrollment report: Looney, D., & Lusin, N. (2018). Enrollments in languages other than English in United States institutions of higher education, Summer 2016 and fall 2016: Preliminary report. Retrieved from https://www.mla.org/content/download/83540/2197676/2016%E2%80%90Enrollments%E2%80%90Short%E2%80%90Report.pdf
S1E7 – Christopher Kaiser – Distance Learning for Less Commonly Taught Languages
In this episode, Cornell LRC director Dick Feldman speaks with Christopher Kaiser of Columbia University. Chris is the Program Manager of the Shared Course Initiative, which connects less commonly taught language classrooms at Columbia, Cornell, and Yale using high-definition videoconferencing. The two discuss the challenges and advantages of offering these classes, and reflect on lessons learned over more than half a decade of building a collaborative distance-learning program for less-commonly taught languages.
The Shared Course Initiative (SCI) was established through the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The SCI is a collaborative framework that uses innovative technology to share academic resources across institutional boundaries, enabling strategic partners to enrich existing curricula while respecting local institutional cultures.
Chris Kaiser’s areas of interest include second language pedagogy, distance learning, presence in the distance environment, inter-institutional collaboration, and language-learning advocacy.
For more information on Chris and the SCI, visit sharedcourseinitiative.org.
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