GENERAL TECHNOLOGY WORKSHOPS

I have been in love with technology since I was a child. Technology in language learning serves as wonderful interactive input, and used carefully (See Teaching Philosophy) can be helpful in the classroom.

I've always eagerly shared ideas on technology with others as this list of workshops shows. My favorite kind of workshop is the extended four or five-day videomakers' workshop, detailed below. Other workshops I have offered include:

2009. Technology for LCTLs. Indiana University SWEESL. To be held June, 2009.

2009. Off-the-shelf Technology for Language Teachers. NECTFL. All-day workshop, 12 participants. Glossed e-mails, Audacity, Video capture, Targeted captioning.

2007. Technology for Teaching Speaking and Reading. Middlebury Pedagogy Workshop (two hours of a two-day workshop, 14 participants).

2007. Technology Workshop for General Faculty. Temple University (two hours, 40 participants).

2006. ACTFL Video for language teaching. Nashville. Participation limited to ten. (Three hours. Filled at ACTFL paid workshop rate.)

2003-2008. GW Tech Workshops (about four a year): Audio editing, video design, authentic and semi-authentic video, captioning, conversions, etc.

2003-2006. GW Workshop: How computers work. What computers can and can't do (two hours, 15 participants). This is one of my favorite workshops. Most workshops follow a cook-book formula to show participants how to accomplish a given task: first do this, then do that. In my How Computers Work sessions, I explain the basics of what computers can do so that participants can come up with their own ideas of what might be possible.

1988. Use of Video Technology. Middlebury College (two weeks, 10 participants).

1987-1988. Language instruction coordinator for US guides at the USIA exhibit on technology in the USSR. (I coordinated a staff of five instructors for three 21-day training periods for 24 USIA guides in April and October, 1987, and May-June, 1988.)

1987 Resource teacher for Soviet Television Workshop held at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana (20 participants).

MORE THAN POINT AND SHOOT...

In 2004, on the eve of the YouTube explosion, the National Capital Language Resource Center (NCLRC) asked me to give a four-day workshop on videography for language teachers. Since then I have repeated the workshop every year, except 2007.

The primary objectives of the workshop are these:

• Demystify videography (and allow foreign language teachers to catch up to their YouTube-wise students)
• Teach basic camera technique without recourse to special equipment (lights and boom microphones)
• Teach basic video grammar and editing beyond Windows Movie Maker
• Enable participants to produce a five-minute interview-type video with authentic language.
• Allow participants to share their new skills with others.

The simple methods I show the participants follow the style of on-the-street interviews used in the GOLOSA textbook series (detailed in Tech for Textbooks). But enthusiastic participants have sent back all sorts of production, including scripted videos starring their students.

SAMPLE PRODUCTION

Here's a sample of an interview video produced by participants who started from scratch on Day 1 and screened their video on Day 4, the final day of the workshop.

NCLRC Participant Video

VIDEO WORKSHOP ON A WEBPAGE

The NCLRC video workshops run four days for about a total of 25 hours. But I can boil the points we cover down to some bare essentials or the Ten Commandments of foreign language videography.

1. Thou shalt shoot cautiously. Shooting is harder than editing. That’s because in an age when almost everyone under 40 has had lots of experience handling a video camera, people have had lots of opportunities to form bad habits.
   
   
2. Thou shalt light well. Unless you’re outdoors, you always think you have more light than you actually do. Good lighting is essential.
   
   
3. Thou shalt fill thy frame. Decide on what you want to shoot and fill the frame with that object. If your subject a person, your subject’s head should touch the top of the frame. Shoot close: it's small screen. Plus, if you don't have an external microphone, you'll need to have the camera-mounted mike close to your subject.
   
   
4. Thou shalt wear headphones. On the subjects of microphone and sound, wear headphones to monitor what you're shooting. Background noise is always louder than you think it is. Hearing it through headphones makes you think seriously about your shooting location. Plus, if your subject is mumbling, you'll notice it through the headphones.
   
   
5. Thou shalt shoot leader. If you're behind the camera and doing the interviewing, start your shooting at least five (better ten) seconds before you ask a question. Then keep shooting for ten or twenty seconds after your subject has stopped speaking. You'll need the extra lead time for editing purposes. Remember, tape and disk space are cheap. Lost shots cannot be easily replaced.
   
   
6. Thou shalt not step on thy subject’s words. Let your subjects do the talking. Don't interrupt. You won't be able to edit out all your uh-huh's and eh-hem's.
   
   
7. Thou shalt shoot B-roll. B-roll shots are background shots to be edited in later on top of your subject. No one wants to look at a talking head for more than a few seconds.
   
   
8. Thou shalt not cast asunder shot video. Never throw anything out. Catalogue it. You never know when you might need it again. (There are some film snippets in some of the GOLOSA videos that I shot with a Soviet-made film camera in 1971!)
   
   
9. Thou shalt encourage thy subjects to speak in sentences. The need for full sentences has nothing to do with what might be good for the L2 learner. This is an editing issue. It’s harder to edit if all you have to piece together are sentence fragments. And on the subject of editing...
   
   
10. Thou shalt think about editing as you shoot. As your subject speaks, try to think about how it will all look in its final format. That will help you think of more areas to explore as you shoot, and what additional B-roll you might need.