Our virtual German city project, #pfefferhausen, will continue to grow in the 2016/17 academic year. I will write more extensively about the growing project in the coming months, and a couple of conference presentations are also in the works. At this point I wanted to give a brief update about Read more…
It’s been a while… After receiving tenure, I took a small break from blogging. Also, I was elected as President-Elect of the International Association for Language Learning and Technology and have been working on a couple of articles and an (edited) book project entitled “From Language Lab to Language Center Read more…
My experiences with Storybird this semester were great. I wrote part one of this a few weeks ago, and now that the projects are in, I’d like to write a few lines about the final results. First of all, we did not have any technical glitches, and the administrative side of Read more…
I have been using Storybird this semester with my German introductory and advanced writing courses this semester. the browser-based software provides a very large amount of artwork as prompts and allows writers to add text to their stories. You cannot use your own images, you have to rely on the provided ones. I Read more…
Teaching grammatical concepts like two-way prepositions can be difficult, especially translating the theoretical concept into meaningful and possibly even interesting or motivating exercises and tasks. I’ve always liked using small browser games in my classes to have students do something concrete and see the outcomes. Papert called these little helping Read more…
I recently gave a talk on digital storytelling for the Associated Colleges of the South. The focus of the talk was to portray the range of possible activities for language learning. You can watch it here: http://blcollaboration.wordpress.com/2013/11/21/digital-storytelling-linking-language-learning-with-student-experience/
I was recently invited to give the fall keynote for the FLTP (Foreign Language Technology Program) at the fantastic ALTEC at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Here’s the video: http://altec.colorado.edu/speakers/Kronenberg-10-2013.shtml And here’s what the talk is about: “Tag, You’re It: Language Learner Motivation, Identities and Agency in Computer Gaming Spaces” Read more…
Scribblenauts Remix is an interesting and very creative iOS game available in English and German. Simply switch your iOS language settings and the game will load in the chosen language. There’s also an Android available. The game is a series of scenarios, each of which gives the player tasks that can be Read more…
My book chapter (“Computer games as agentive and immersive spaces for language learners”) just got published in: “Playing with Virtuality: Theories and Methods of Computer Game Studies.” http://www.peterlang.com/index.cfm?cid=5&event=cmp.ccc.seitenstruktur.detailseiten&seitentyp=produkt&pk=73330&concordeid=264060
The 20 Questions game is a great game for language students. A person thinks about an object, say a table, and the other players (or player) have to ask questions that can be answered with yes or no, or a few select answers such as probably, rather not, or Read more…