Random …. and Not So Random Musings
Welcome to my Bog Blog!
A few of my MUCH earlier posts will have expired links, expired videos or expired information! So I will be updating them, combining them and hopefully IMPROVING them for my daily Bog Blog!
NOTE: Unfortunately, I recently discovered that ZOHO is no longer free, at least for the purposes that The CALL Facility used it for. I still have access as an Admin, but I am researching how I might be able to continue to provide the same resources in perhaps a slightly different format. Options such as a website, pdf, Word, Excel or other kind of document, but so far, they are not as easy to use, create, support and maintain. But I am hopeful and optimistic!
MANY THANKS to everyone who supported The CALL Facility (& me!) in offering this very unique resource over the past many years, probably dating back about 15 years or more! ZOHO came about as a response to needing a quick way to access Language bookmarks in CALL! Way back when, and this is BEFORE GOOGLE, I would email an attached bookmark file for specific browsers such as Explorer (Mac!), Safari and even Netscape Navigator! Good times, good times!
ALL the bookmarks are still ‘at’ ZOHO, and I can access them, and export them into a simple .pdf document if anyone wants them. I can subsort, or include them all in one document. Please let me know! But for now, I won’t be updating ZOHO on a regular basis while I research other, if any, similar resources for Instructors and students.
In the meantime, probably the best strategy, for Instructors, would be to Copy/Paste website inks directly into Brightspace for students. Yeah, cludgy and inelegant, but … sometimes old school works! The first shift I had in the CALL Facility – was bulk erasing and then making copies of Spanish lessons .. on cassette tapes! Good times, good times!
AND, if you DO CLICK HERE or on the icon of a PDF to the left, then you can view and download a .PDF version of ALL of The CALL Facility ZOHO Bookmarks in alphabetical order. Yeah, not ideal, but … at least they are all in one document.
And many thanks to Mark vH who helped me set it up so very long ago!
As of this morning, there are 896 language related links at ZOHO! WHOA! So many!
So I will be editing them one day in the future, removing and/or updating many of them. Often, the links disappear, they become commercial, have too many pop-ups, are re-routed elsewhere, so they need to be attended to.
So I bring to you, the Hall of Fame ZOHO bookmarks that are the Top Ten of All Time! At least, in my opinion!
You turn to Youtube! I have had to update some of the videos as they have disappeared from Youtube for some reason! But found a few more! Needed an update anyways, from way back in about 2014!
#10 – Klingon Language Institute
Just for fun and I have been kidding about including Klingon as a language in The CALL Facility for … years! And there IS a connection to UVIC too! Just click … here!
#9 – Tex’s French Grammar
Who would know that one of the best French websites is … deep in the heart of … TEXAS! And true love springs between Tex & Tammy – ARMADILLOS!
#8 – I’m Yan (Yan and the Japanese People)
THE most popular video series in CALL HISTORY! An original resource on VHS, no less, follow the adventures of Yan, a foreigner living and working in Japan! VHS? So not available anymore in CALL? Say it ain’t so … well … IT AIN’T SO! I have all 26 episodes digitized on a single DL-DVD! There is even a Wikipedia Page!
#7 – News and Media Sites such as CBC, BBC and CNN. There is also a single link for World Newspapers too! Many offer transcripts on a daily basis too.
#6 – CBC Digital Archives are an excellent source for Canadian History with articles, texts, videos, etc.
#5 – DICTIONARY sites – all kinds of them! Merriam-Webster and Cambridge and even more here.
#4 – ThoughtCo. Lifelong Learning – once known as About, all kinds of language links and others too!
#3 – Utilities – Another Filter where you can discover keyboard layouts, fonts, foreign characters, graphics, media conversions, Google Translate and even World CALL Language Links! One stop shopping for that hard to find font for the designer who has everything!
#2 – TED Talks! Bet you didn’t know there were Language based Ted Talks! Now …. you do!
#1 – UVIC SITES! Each Department has their own website with resources, links, tests, Instructor contacts and more! You might not need ZOHO for any of these, but they will be your single best resource for all the languages you are studying! Oh, and you can also download my CALL Orientation .pdf there too – which has all the Department links in it too!
What happens if you can’t find anyone to speak to you in …. German?
You turn to Youtube! I have had to update some of the videos as they have disappeared from Youtube for some reason! But found a few more! Needed an update anyways, from way back in about 2014!
How German Sounds to Other Languages
How to Speak Canadian
A bit of Fry and Laurie
How to Speak with an Irish Accent (Complete)
Top 10 Oldest Languages in the World
What is the Funniest Language? Stephen Fry’s Planet Word – BBC
Recently, we had great success with a Spanish multimedia assignment using macOS in The CALL Facility.
I believe this type of assignment provides great promise for any Instructors that want to challenge their students a bit more. Increasingly, students are improving their own digital skills at a phenomenal rate! Just a few years ago, I had to explain how to attach a file in an email! I would ask the class and all their heads would nod that this was something new to them!
Now, I don’t do it at all, other than briefly mentioning it in the form of ‘… and then all you need to do is attach your recording in an email to your Prof!’ and they all get it! Of course, I get a few obligatory ‘eye rolls’ too! 😂
In a recent Spanish 391 class, their assignment was to create a very simple PowerPoint presentation and then narrate commentary at their own pace, recording it as a self-contained MOVIE!
The content and narration was of course, in Spanish, but the emphasis was on the CONTENT and NARRATION, not PowerPoint skills or special effects! A VERY wide range of experience and abilities was instantly apparent in this class! From a complete novice to PowerPoint to Super Users of just about EVERYTHING!
Their Instructor was INCREDIBLY SUPPORTIVE of all their efforts – that is SO KEY to having a successful classroom experience, no matter the course! The most satisfying experience for me was helping a student with ZERO PowerPoint skills, ZERO digital recording skills and ZERO macOS skills, achieve success with this assignment!
I showed her how to create a basic PowerPoint slide deck (4-5 slides at home on her WIN computer), how to access her file on macOS in CALL, how to use QuickTime to record her narration (with our CALL USB headsets) and then edit/trim her new ‘movie’ and then export it!
All the hardware and software was available – iMac, webcam, USB headsets, PowerPoint & QuickTime and enough storage for her and her Instructor! He actually wandered around copying all the movies to his USB stick after each student was done! LOL!
Yes, earlier, it did take about an hour to build confidence in her, but she was so satisfied with her final product that time spent with her was WELL WORTH IT! AND she passed her assigment … well, actually, we are now working at home and one more class was scheduled for critiqing amongst her fellow students, but … I AM EVER OPTIMISTIC SHE PASSED!! I was quite impressed with what she was able to accomplish! I give her 100% on this assignment! My ‘grades’ will never show up on her transcripts though! LOL!
Unfortunately, all my sample files are at work, and the ‘Behind the Scenes‘ part of this story was …. even I had to learn this in a matter of .. seconds for his class in CALL!
The Instructor came down, completely changed what was going to be an Audacity class into a QuickTime/PowerPoint class and I proceeded to give a demo (using Fly By the Seat of My Pants Lesson Planning!) on something I myself had NEVER SEEN, NOR DONE BEFORE ….. with less than, oh, about 360 seconds worth of instruction from the Instructor!
Makes it seem longer if I convert 360 seconds to, oh, say …. NANOSECONDS = 360,000,000,000 !! Ah, all the time in the world now!
And that was a GOOD THING! As I mentioned above, an engaged and informed Instructor is a Key Factor, perhaps THE KEY FACTOR, to have a successful class, especially when involving even a hint of multimedia assignments and something new .. to EVERYONE!
I am basically describing this type of assignment as ‘Audacity on Steroids‘ to other Instructors. This may not be for all, but ….. it might be for some!
And remember … Many are Chosen, but few are … CALL-ed ! 😎
What exactly is WICKET? What is it used for? Has it always been used? Why is it called … WICKET?
Excellent questions! And this will be a short history of why The CALL Facility currently uses a UVic created application (many authors/coders!) to basically keep track of student attendance!
The CALL Facility opened in the Fall of 1989. I was hired shortly afterwards and started in early October of that year. I am paraphrasing but from what I mostly remember (old RAM still installed!), the intent was to have a state of the art Language Learning facility that all Humanities Departments (and thus Languages!) could use to enhance language learning for students. Other future objectives included research, conferences and inter-departmental sharing of successful (and not so successful!) ideas and strategies.
And to include usage of The CALL Facility as a course requirement, a system of recording attendance was needed. Just like a Biology class has a corresponding Biology Lab, Instructors needed a way to keep track of attendance! So many different methods have been used including, but not limited to:
Each ‘version’ had unique advantages and disadvantages at the time. But the disadvantages always meant crafting a new version to handle eiteher increased student usage, growing AND CHANGING resources (digital and analog), increased reporting back to Instructors as well as a newer emphasis on providing full security for personal information.
The latest version allows CHD staff to not only record student attendance, even with multiple courses, but location as well. Why? At a glance, WICKET displays how busy CALL really is and then staff can make a better decision where to place a student for either privacy, group work, table work, reservations for specific use (TAs) or an available favourite spot for a student! We are literally doing (at least!) three things at once:
Below is a layout (not current, but descriptive) of what CALL has looked like in the past, complete with locations, numbers, tables, etc. One Consultant can facilitate students, resources, usage and communication from behind the Front Counter! Okay, that is in theory!
Practically, the vast majority of assistance is available right at the Front Counter. But things happen and then we spring into action to help students and Instructors in CALL, as well as around the corner in CLE-LF hallway in rooms CLEA 030, 031 and 035 or anywhere else that we are needed!
A much more robust intro to WICKET as well as the history of CALL and my first ever CHD Training PowerPoint is located below. Just click on the CHD Workshop image and you will go to a comprehensive post of ALL the CHD Training Sessions – aka CALL:Jeopardy training sessions, all in .pdf format, which work in any browser, or can be exported in .pdf format too.
AND HUGE THANKS TO PATRICK AND ADAM who have always helped me out when WICKET has crashed, needed database updating or just listened while I described the weird stuff that sometimes happens in WICKET! I usually call those things – Undocumented Features! Thanks guys! I really appreciate your help!
Oh, and why it is called WICKET? You will have to go and look at my first CHD Training module and then all will be revealed … well, mostly revealed! LOL!
Most, if not all of us at CHD are now working from home or will be soon.
And that likely means everyone who also works at or attends UVIC.
Hopefully, EVERYONE will be at home soon to stay safe with social distancing and/or self-isolation. Take all the necessary precautions and keep checking back at the UVIC site and with colleagues! We are all in this together.
Many thanks to EVERYONE at CHD for setting us up with UVic laptops and resources so we can do the best possible work, from home, given the circumstances. Clicking on the banner above takes you to the UVic home page where everyone will get the most recent updates. I would hope everyone is doing that on a regular basis.
One always neglected interest for me is expanding my knowledge of blogging using OAC or The Online Academic Community at UVic. I will try to do one blog each weekday, language related, (or maybe not) either with links, information or interesting topics, just to keep the resources that might be out there, available. I believe that OAC is one of THE MOST UNDERUTILZED RESOURCES on campus, especially so for language learning, so … here goes!
One of the best CALL Facility resources over the years has been ZOHO, or also known as CALL Facility Bookmarks!
Many years ago, I added/collected the best language sites to each browser in The CALL Facility – both Mac and WIN. It rapidly grew and grew in size and time requirements, yet students wanted all the links that I was finding, or had been requested by Instructors. So I attached the bookmarks file in an email. That quickly proved too time consuming as well!
So … to make a long story short, I now use ZOHO to add new websites, either from me, Instructors or students that hopefully prove useful to students! Big shoutout to Mark vH for helping me back then! THANKS MARK!
Available anywhere, any platform, 24/7, I have literally added a new website sent to me from an Instructor, even IN PERSON as their class arrived in CALL ….. and had it posted at ZOHO before the students even logged in at their computers! Then they searched for the key word(s) given to me by the Instructor and they had the link instantly in seconds for their homework, assigment or group project.
Yes, Google could probably find it too, but … just where is it ranked? Way down low? Middle? How many different ads might pop up? Located somewhere else in the Multiverse? Good luck getting ahold of Doctor Strange or even .. The Doctor!
At ZOHO, it is right there, with the keywords and titles that the Instructor wants, not just now …. but … RIGHT NOW! Oh yeah, and it is free too! Easy to maintain as well, which is what I will task myself with in the next few days – cleaning up old websites and maybe bumping into a few new ones!
To see for yourself, you can click on either graphic above to instantly go there, or you could search at Google for the keywords “CALL Facility ZOHO Bookmarks” and … Google is your friend!
Do a search for Klingon at CALL Facility Bookmarks and see what you find – you might be surprised to even find Hobbits once roamed UVIC! And everyone knows about the Vampires at UVic, right?
Greg
Saturday morning Computer Help Desk workshops are fast becoming THE TRAINING EVENT OF THE YEAR! Come for the technology upgrade, stay for the food!
Over the past few years I have created the perfect blend of technology, training and a hungry, captive (yet paid!) audience, to place them all in …. JEOPARDY!
Below are 5 PowerPoint modules to bring a wee bit of humour to our CHD Saturday morning workshops!
Just click on any of them and the .pdf will download for you! Why a .pdf? OAC does not like PowerPoint files! LOL!
CHD Workshop is actually the first one, and has a brief history of CALL, including vintage photos of CALL, The Great Flood of 2015 and a history of WICKET, the custom written database program used to track student attendance in The CALL Facility!
The others are updated versions of an original PowerPoint Jeopardy presentation created by Sherri Puentes Graveran (CHD) for a Winter Fest a few years ago!
CALL Workshop – What is CALL?
Jeopardy: CALL
Jeopardy V: Pop Culture
Where were you in …. 1989? What job were YOU working at! In October 1989, I had just been hired as a “Microcomputer Laboratory Assistant” to work at a newly built “Microcomputer Laboratory” – The CALL Facility at The University of Victoria! CALL had a groovy colour scheme of PINK that was part of the design to have a nice …. calming effect on students ….. and staff!! LOL!
I had never heard of this place, and they even misnamed it in the ad, below, that I responded to, as “The Language Centre Computing Facility” What the heck was that? And where was it? That was sort of accurate, but also sort of … not! I had no idea there was even a basement in Clearihue either!
My first shift, ever, was from 4pm until MIDNIGHT! I think the main reason I was hired was that I was the only applicant who actually OWNED a Macintosh computer – a Mac SE! And since there was a single, lone Macintosh, mostly for show … I got the job! LOL! And guess what! I still have that same Mac SE and … IT STILL WORKS!
If you want to see what else happened in October of 1989, just click here!
My personal fave is October 15 when Gretzky overtook Gordie Howe to become the All-Time scorer in the NHL! I once had seasons tickets to the Oilers in their first year of the NHL in 1979! But that is another story!
