Complexity Theory: CALL @ 
The Edge of Chaos "WOLFRAM CLASSES/LANGUAGE CLASSES" 
by Stephen A. Shucart 

venturing out...  
Offering new ways of 
thinking about learning and 
computers by Scott H. Rule 

Media and Formats on the Net by Paul Daniels   

CALL lab management: A hardcore story byKazunori Nozawa 

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Mime-Version: 1.0 

Date: Sat, 30 May 1998 14:48:23 

To: CALL N-SIG Members 

From: Rule rule@gol.com 

Subject: Get Rich Quick! 

SPAM, this is not. JALT 98 http://www.seafolk.ne.jp/kqjalt/jalt98.html will offer a virtual goldmine of CALL events. If you are interested in using computer technology with your students, read on (no purchase necessary). 

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- "Mindtools for Supporting Language Learning," Sunday, November 22nd, 

16:30~18:15. 

This year the CALL N-SIG is proud to announce a workshop featuring video speaker, Dr. David H. Jonassen of Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Jonassen is, among other works, author of Computers in the Classroom: Mindtools for Critical Thinking and co-editor of Constructivism and the Technology of Instruction: A Conversation. In Computers in the Classroom, Dr. Jonassen differentiates between learning from the computer (CAI), about the computer (computer literacy), and with computing (mindtools as cognitive tools for learning--the focus of the book). He discusses how mindtools, such as mind mapping tools, the Internet, and hypermedia software, "can ... function as cognitive tools for enhancing, extending, amplifying, and restructuring the way learners think about content they are studying" (1996, p. 18). While examples from the book cover a wide range of subjects, Dr. Jonassen's video presentation will address language learning specifically. 

Following the video segment of the forum, attendees will participate in a workshop on specific applications for using mindtools in language classrooms in Japan. The workshop will involve a brainstorming session and culminate in a poster session. Throughout the workshop, "consultants," JALT members well versed in the use of mindtools, will be available to answer questions as well as offer suggestions. The final segment of the forum will be a conference call to Dr. Jonassen. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions relating to his presentation, or that arose during the brainstorming or poster sessions. 

In preparation for the workshop it is recommended (but not required) that attendees check out "Computers in the Classroom: Mindtools for Critical Thinking" which is readily (and inexpensively) available from Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=002361191X/venturioutofferiA/. 

Attendees interested in learning more about Dr. Jonassen are invited to visit his Web site at http://www.ed.psu.edu/~jonassen/. 

The CALL N-SIG offers their special thanks to 0061 for their participation in making the conference call possible. 

Reference 

Jonassen, D. (1996). Computers in the classroom: Mindtools for critical thinking. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. 

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- "CALL N-SIG Swap Meet," Sunday, November 22nd, 15:30~16:15. 

Ask almost any language teacher and they will tell you they are interested in incorporating computer technology into their classroom. Ask them for details and they may have difficult giving any. Teachers will leave the CALL N-SIG Swap Meet not only with ideas, but also with project ideas and lesson plans. 

The Swap Meet offers hands-on presentations by teachers who have used software and/or the Internet with their students. The focus is on showing how the technology has been used, not on technical explanations. Demonstrations, given on laptop computers brought by the presenters, may be of student projects or files created for students. Several presentations occur simultaneously and participants choose the demonstrations they wish to "attend." 

Presenters also offer handouts giving general information about the technology, e.g., the level of students the software is appropriate for, CALL applications in their language program (include a brief description of their program), the technologies strengths and limitations, an outline of a typical project, hardware and software requirements, and cost, publisher and ordering information (as applicable). 

Guidelines for submitting a proposal for the CALL N-SIG Swap Meet are available online at http://langue.hyper.chubu.ac.jp/c@ll/swapmeet.html, by email at holmes@nucba.ac.jp
 

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- "CALL: Classroom Interactions," Monday, November 23rd, 9:30 to 11:15. 

Which of the promises of CALL are actually being realized inside classrooms today? The purpose of this colloquium is to provide a shared insight into the changes attributed to the integration of CALL software, the Internet, interactive multimedia, and other forms of information technology that have occurred in teacher and student interactions, teacher knowledge as a primary mediator of instructional practice, and student attitudes toward language instruction. Since the colloquium presenters come from university settings whose various curricula and variety of instructional facilities in CALL represent a cross-section of those found in Japan and elsewhere, it will be possible to survey in one session the current state of evolution of CALL planning, curriculum and instruction. 

One of the major contributions information technology can have in the classroom is to turn the usual centrality of the teacher upside-down. The effect that computers can have on interactions between students and teachers, among the students themselves, between teachers, and on teacher knowledge is an area of growing interest. This colloquium will provide a forum for participants to express their views on this important issue and to listen to presentations by people who have documented the effects of information technology and computer-assisted learning experiences on teacher knowledge and classroom interactions. 

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- "YOUR EVENT HERE," YOUR DATE HERE, YOUR TIME HERE. 

Planning to present at JALT 98? Consider designing a corresponding Web site with an abstract, handouts, suggested pre-reading, etc., and send the URL to me at rule@gol.com. I will be posting a page with all links off of the CALL N-SIG site. 

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Did you find this information intriguing? If you send it to ten of your friends in the next twenty four hours you, too, can take an active part in increasing the world's CALL awareness. If you fail to do so, it is hard to predict the consequences ;-)  

Cordially, 

Scott Rule 

CALL N-SIG Program Chair