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rd09 1/28/2010 5:50:10

General Session - Conference Presentation Only (no formal paper)

//Pete Smith, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA, psmith@uta.edu// //Jan Marston, Drake University, Des Moines, IA, USA,// //jhmarston@drake.edu// //Joe Liro, Drake University, Austin, TX, USA, josephliro@swbell.net//
 * It's a Complex World out There! Connectivism and Complexity in the Language and Culture Curriculum**

In the centuries-old tradition of formal language learning, a physical classroom is the central location for learning and the teacher is the source and transmitter of knowledge. In contrast, Drake University’s Virtual Language Studies (VLS) program uses network tools to develop connected, contemplative students of language and culture in the 21st Century.

Students in the VLS program are guided by a mentorship collective—a group of teachers, native speakers, technology and learning specialists --- who guide language and culture learning. Connected by Web-based conferencing, students, mentors, teachers, and conversation partners— who are often located physically distant from each other— work to broaden mindsets about learning and its relationship to the “real world” of language and communication.

Not only are Drake’s VLS learners “connected” in a technological sense, the connectivist curriculum is centered around student portfolio creation, tasking learners to collect and present evidence of their learning in a holistic fashion. Speaking, writing, communication, and project artifacts are woven together with reflective journaling as a tool to bring VLS learners not only to recognized levels of language and cultural competence, but also to deeper understanding of their place as learners in a globalized world.

A connected, connectivist curriculum such as VLS allows language educators and learners, as never before, to engage deeply with the complexity of modern languages and cultures and to develop in profound and holistic ways that transcend a focus on “skills” alone.

All Audiences language culture learning complexity connectivism