teaching pashto by distance education november 11, 2008 san diego, california
Post on 01-Jan-2016
212 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
Teaching Pashto by Distance EducationNovember 11, 2008
San Diego, California
Indiana University Received Funding for SLCP in Spring 2007
• Paul Foster – PI• Henry Cooper – PI• LTC Eric D. Arnold, CM USA ROTC• LTC John D. Golden, CM AF ROTC• Blake Puckett, Director IU SLCP
• IU SLCP Program Outline
– Summer Intensive: Bloomington, Indiana– Academic Year: 10 months follow on study at
cadet’s home institution
Summer Intensive – 8-9 Weeks
Summer Workshop on Slavic, East European and Central Asian Languages
9 Strategic Languages Offered Regularly
Arabic AzerbaijaniRussian KazakhPashto TurkmenTajiki UzbekUyghur
Academic Year
Cadets return to their home institution for intermediate or advanced language studies
If home university does not offer required language, then…
• Distance Education – Language Study– CeLCAR has 5+ years teaching Central Asian/Afghan
languages by DE (NSEP grants)– Partners
• Department of Central Eurasian Studies at IU• College of Arts and Sciences/Indiana University
(IT)• Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC)
– Big Ten + Chicago – CourseShare
• Key Components – Unified Administration – Registration, Tuition and
Credit Transfer – Technology -- Polycom videoconference, but
many other affordable technologies– Pedagogy – mixed classes – multiple remote sites – Materials – CeLCAR has developed multimedia
and web-based resources – Assessment – Proficiency Standards and Exams
for Pashto
Success Story: 2 ROTC Cadets at IU in the Advanced Pashto Course
1st Cohort of SLCP in 2007/2008
Juniors in 2008/2009
What next for these two cadets?
• SWOT Analysis– Strengths: extends opportunities nationwide;
unlimited future use of technology and DE; Pashto interest continues to grow.
– Weaknesses: DE can never replace “bricks and mortars” especially for an undergraduate experience in a communicative classroom; drop out rate higher than expected.
– Opportunities: build partnerships, extend to other languages.
– Threats: beyond 3rd year? Summer programs? Funding?
• Question 1: what would the militaries need to do to make distance learning sustainable?
• Question 2: how to get a significant overseas Pashto language program experience for our cadets? PRTs, Pakistan?
• Question 3: how to better integrate our programs?
• Question 4: how to tie into other NSLI programs (STARTALK, Flagship, Title VI,etc.)?
top related