Academic Technology

Academic Background

Before becoming a member of Academic Technologies, Carly served as the Academic Computing Coordinator for Foreign Languages & Literature at Carleton College for 6 years.

After living and working in Japan for 3 years on the JET Programme, Carly graduated from the Monterey Institute of International Studies in 2001 with a Master’s in Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language, a Certificate in Language Program Administration and a specialty in Computer-Assisted Language Learning. Her interest in technology began in high school while she worked as a student assistant in the new Macintosh Writing Lab, and continued through college as she worked in the Language Resource Center at her undergraduate institution while completing her degree in Japanese.

Carly has been active in professional associations relating to foreign language education and the use of technology in that field. Other interests include:

• the use of multimedia as a way of attending to different learning styles
• interactive lesson design
• student generated projects
• working with students on learning styles and strategies
• assistive and adaptive technologies.

Selected Recent and Current Projects

• Moodle Language Lesson - Carly has been designing and developing a custom Moodle module focused on supporting oral assignments within Moodle. Language Lesson is quickly becoming a robust tool for foreign language educators that allows them to create extensive exercises incorporating both oral assignments and other types of interactive questions. The design is directly influenced by the pedagogy used in language programs at Carleton College. Currently, the project is released as an open source project and Carly is working with collaborators across the country to improve the module.
• Character Compass in Japanese - Carly has partnered with Mariko Kaga, Professor of Japanese, to develop and pilot a new program designed to assist in the kinesthic learning of writing foreign characters. This program relies on Tablet PC technology and was first piloted in Japanese 101 (Fall 2008) with the introduction of kanji.  A quizzing module is in development and will be piloted with students in the 2009-2010 academic year.
• iPods for Language Learning (Japanese, Spanish, German) - iPods with digital flashcards, delivered via Mental Case flashcard software, were checked out to students to assist with vocabularly acquisition.  The pilot was received positively and will be expanded in Fall 2009.
• Student-Produced Website Publishing (EDST 395 and FREN 309) - Similar to the Magazine projects listed below, this involved assisting students publishing their in-class writing by designing their own website in Adobe Dreamweaver.  Carly taught software training sessions, provided online tutorials on web layout design and software use, and served as a resource for students as they worked on their projects.
• Student-Produced Magazine Publishing (ENGL 109 and IDSC 209) - This project carried out in ENGL 109 and IDSC 209 in Spring 2008, and is a recurring project throughout many disciplines.  Carly taught software training for students in Adobe InDesign, provided online resources on print publishing guidelines and InDesign help, assisted with final compliations of student-produced magazines and served as a resource to students working on their projects. 
• Teaching Methods in English (EDST 379) - Carly guest lectured in EDST 379 on the topic of teaching with technology in the context of teaching English in grades 5 - 12.  Topics covered included challenges in using technology (both technical and pedagogical), the power of technology in presenting multi-modal materials, and effective implementations of technology in English classes.
• Assistive Technologies on campus - Carly has recently been working with the Coordinator for Disability Services for Students to provide various assistive technologies to students with physical and learning disabilities on campus.
• Magazine publishing in English 109 - Carly worked with instructors of two sections of English 109 on helping students generate a completely student-produced magazine by the end of the course. Carly helped to train students in professional level page layout software, provided resources for learning about page layout, color and design theory, and helped to coordinate and troubleshoot technical problems of printing the full magazines in Printing & Mailing Services.
• ELFE in French - With permission from the original authors, Carly collaborated with Scott Carpenter, professor in French, and other ITS staff to convert the Elementary French Exercises (ELFE) from an old HyperCard format to an interactive, online environment. Currently, she is working on a second iteration that will integrate the ELFE exercises tightly with Moodle, our course management and collaboration system.

Recent Presentations & Publications

2012 "Moodle 2 Roundtable", GusDay 2012, St. Olaf College, MN

2012 "Moodle Language Lesson", GusDay 2012, St. Olaf College, MN

2011 "Closing in on Vocabulary Acquisition: The Use of Mobile Technologies in a Foreign Language Classroom", co-authored with Andrea Nixon and Christopher Tassava. A chapter for peer-reviewed volume Models for Interdisciplinary Mobile Learning: Delivering Information to Students. IGI Global.

2011 "Moodle for Language Teaching", half-day pre-conference workshop, CALICO 2011

2011 "Moodle Quizzes", half-day pre-conference workshop, CALICO 2011

2007 “Choosing a Course Mangagement System", convener and co-presenter, CALICO 2007 pre-conference workshop

2007 “Information Commons: a Case Study of Collaborative/cooperative Programs in Proximity”, panelist, Leading Instructional Technology on the Evolving Campus (NITLE), Greencastle, IN

2006 "Experiential Learning in Japan: A Personal Journey"
Experiential Learning in East Asia Conference, Northfield, MN

2006 "Beyond the Essay: Technology in Assignments", co-presenter Joann Martyn
GusDay (Minnesota Private College Consortium's (MPCC) Annual User Services/ Network/ Servers/ Teaching Technology Conference), Minneapolis, MN