Learning Symposium

09/17/2020

Blog Announcement

I just wanted to share with you a new set of resources for supporting language teaching online: the MSU Online Language Teaching Blog.
The best way to stay up to date with this blog is to sign up for our newsletter: https://olt.cal.msu.edu/connect/

The purpose of this blog is to collect the online language teaching principles, tips, and Aha! moments we stumble upon as we try to figure out online language teaching together. We will also use this platform to get the word out about free webinars and other resources you may be interested in.

We are hoping to draw from a diverse number of contributors in terms of languages taught, levels, and institutions. If you or someone you know has an idea for a great post or question, do not hesitate to reach out!

Have a great fall semester!

-- Austin Kaufmann and the MSU OLT Team!

08/10/2020

New Course Offerings with MSU's Online Language Teaching Initiative! Check them out!

(Limited seats available and going fast for the reduced-priced pilot courses offered for the first time in November!)

As the former organizer of the MSU Learning Symposium, I just wanted to check in with you all during these tough times. Due to pandemic restrictions and the many uncertainties ESL programs are facing these days, we are all scrambling.

06/04/2020

Summer Session 2 courses of Introduction to Online Learning begin July 6, but the early bird pricing expires Saturday (June 6).

Come learn with an engaged cohort of ESL and modern language instructors from all over the country. Sign up today! https://olt.cal.msu.edu/summer-2-session/

Introduction to Online Language Teaching is a fully online course designed for experienced classroom instructors who want to make the transition to teaching languages online.

04/24/2020

Introduction to Online Language Teaching

Registration is open now for:
Summer Session 1: May 18 - June 26
Summer Session 2: July 6 - Aug 14

Introduction to Online Language Teaching is a fully online course designed for experienced classroom instructors who want to make the transition to teaching ...

04/22/2020

I just sent this out via the email group, but in case you didn't see it! -Austin

As the former organizer of the MSU Learning Symposium, I just wanted to reach out to everyone and wish you all the best in these tough times. I also wanted to let you know about a very timely new project that I'm really excited to be working on here at Michigan State University.

03/09/2020

As you may have guessed from the radio silence from this account, MSU's English Language Center will not be hosting a Learning Symposium conference in 2020.

We have been searching for ways to fund the symposium since losing our corporate sponsorship from National Geographic Learning. Via a grant from MSU's College of Arts and Letters, we were able to receive funding in 2019 to hold two smaller Learning Symposium events, but we were not successful in securing funding for 2020.

As such, we have decided to skip 2020. With the Learning Symposium on hiatus, we will use the year to talk about the future directions explore different funding or conference models.

I refuse to let the Learning Symposium die without a fight, so it is my great hope to be able to resume the symposium in 2021.

Learning Symposium Organizer,
Austin Kaufmann

08/21/2019

Introduction to Online Language Teaching - Applications for the Fall 2019 cohort are now open

The Center for Language Teaching Advancement (CeLTA) and the English Language Center (ELC) at Michigan State University have focused on promoting the development and teaching of quality online language courses and programs at Michigan State University. We are now happy to offer our internal professional development course, Introduction to Online Language Teaching, to language educators outside of MSU.

Introduction to Online Language Teaching is a fully online course designed for experienced classroom instructors who want to make the transition to teaching languages online. Course participants will gain an understanding of key criteria and conceptual frameworks used to describe online pedagogy, and will develop expertise in the areas of course quality and design, accessibility, and media. The online nature of the course exposes participants to all of the affordances and constraints of an online environment for language teaching and learning, allowing them to experience a student’s perspective firsthand. This includes engaging in a variety of tasks and discussions, which are meant to be a non-comprehensive sampling of the possibilities of online learning. Participants will receive feedback from the instructor and, by the end of the course, will have developed a principled plan for developing an online course at their own institution.

The Center for Language Teaching Advancement (CeLTA) and the English Language Center (ELC) at Michigan State University have focused on promoting the development and teaching of quality online language courses and programs at Michigan State University. We are now happy to open our internal training....

04/15/2019

Saturday's "Mind the Gap: Bridging the Researcher-Teacher Divide" was a great success!

We here at the English Language Center (ELC) are so heartened by the important conversations that this Learning Symposium event has sparked, and we will do everything we can do to keep this conversation moving forward. Plans for future collaboration are already in the works.

Many thanks to our keynote presenters, Julie Foss and Masatoshi Sato, and to our partners Michigan Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages - MITESOL and the Center for Language Teaching Advancement at MSU (CeLTA). And many thanks to MSU College of Arts & Letters, whose vision and Transformative Pedagogy grant made this event possible.

04/12/2019

Gearing up for tomorrow’s “Mind the Gap” event!

04/11/2019

Our event begins at 12:30pm on Saturday, April 13.

At 2:00pm on the same day, the MSU Spartan Football team will host its annual "Green and White Game." Admission and parking are free for both events, but it may mean competition for parking in the lot nearest Wells Hall (Lot 79). The next closest lots are Lots 39 & 40, which I've highlighted in the updated Parking Map: https://elc.msu.edu/index.php/download_file/view/429/282/.

Additional nearby lots that also offer free parking on Saturday include: 63, 62W, 56, 39/40, 41 and Ramps 2, 5 and 7. (Lot 62E is reserved for disabled parking.)

Consider giving yourself a few extra minutes to get to check-in, as you may not be able to park immediately next to Wells Hall.

04/11/2019

I just sent out the "Last Chance to Register" call for Saturday's "Mind the Gap" event. It includes details for joining online via Zoom and some updates regarding Parking. See you Saturday!

- Austin Kaufmann, Learning Symposium Organizer

The last Learning Symposium event of 2019, Mind the Gap: Bridging the Researcher-Teacher Divide, is just two days away, on Saturday, April 13, from 12:30 to 4:30pm in Wells Hall on the MSU campus in East Lansing. If you'd like to attend this free mini-conference, please register today! This event br...