Humanities Program Spotlight:

Foreign Language Center Offers Instructional Technology Certificate to Doctoral Students

Gaining fluency in a foreign language and critical understanding of another culture demands active experience with authentic language in a wide variety of settings. Increasingly, learning another language requires experience with new media, from e-mail to e-commerce and workplace videoconferencing to social networking. To meet that need, universities around the world are seeking instructors who are at ease with instructional technology, can help other language faculty use such technologies effectively, and can enable students to use the same or similar technologies in their learning. To prepare the next generation of language faculty to use instructional technology effectively, the Foreign Language Center (FLC) is currently piloting a Foreign Language Center Technology Certificate for doctoral candidates in languages. Developed by FLC Director Diane Birckbichler, Assistant Director for Instructional Technology Abhijit Varde, and IT Integration Specialist Rebecca Bias the certificate program helps graduate students develop technical skills and integrate multimedia into their teaching.

To qualify for the program, doctoral students must first attend a two-week Graduate Teaching Associate Workshop and an accompanying quarter-long course on foreign language pedagogy. To fulfill the requirements of the certificate program, candidates will draft a teaching philosophy; create an online teaching portfolio containing materials such as sample lesson plans and syllabi; maintain a Digital Progress Journal; complete basic online software tutorials on topics such as Web site design and audio, video, and image editing; and attend a number of advanced instructional technology workshops offered by the FLC and other units on campus that support teaching and technology. After a successful review of candidates' work by the program's instructors, students will be awarded the FLC Technology Certificate.

The Technology Certificate will enable doctoral candidates to help foreign language learners develop fluency in increasingly media-rich communications environments, whether local or global. For that reason, doctoral students who earn the certificate should be especially competitive candidates for faculty positions.

Learn more about the Foreign Language Center Technology Certificate Pilot Project.