Dine Language site

[Phil Cash Cash]

Thanks for that review Mia!

Phil Cash Cash
UofA, ILAT


> ----- Message from miakalish at REDPONY.US ---------
>     Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 07:33:43 -0600
>     From: "Mia at RedPony" <miakalish at REDPONY.US>
> Reply-To: "Mia at RedPony" <miakalish at redpony.us>
>  Subject: Re: Dine Language site
>       To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
>
> I tried this to. I created a user account, and then tried the first
> lesson,
> Shirley. I spent 5 minutes loading and loading and loading. We have
> DSL here
> at Red Pony, and 5 minutes is LOTS AND LOTS of load time.
>
> Also, I wasn't sure who the "lesson" was for: the English lables
> seemed to
> be for teachers. There were "Standards and Performance Objectives"
> options
> for Navajo Nation, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. These seemed to be
> hot, but
> clicking did not result in any action. Mouse-over showed the link,
> but
> nothing happened when I clicked on any of the options.
>
> The registration seeemed to be strongly focused on K-12 schools;
> because I
> am associated with a University, I was an "unknown". This status may
> have
> affected the generation of Pre-test questions, because when I clicked
> that
> option, it said that No Pre-test questions had been generated". But
> this
> time when I clicked "Lesson", it loaded. Apparently there is a
> proscription
> on loading the lesson without the pretest questions.
>
> The material had static drawings, without specific references to what
> was
> being said. There was no internal volume control in the application,
> and it
> was too quiet for me to make it audible with my volume control.
>
> There was a glossary that translated the Navajo to English. This is
> misleading in that verbs were translated as "nouns". This may be okay
> for an
> English precis/gloss, but it is fatal for learning Navajo.
>
> Finally, the material was developed in the traditional way for
> stories where
> reading and writing are being taught in an environment where the
> language
> abounds. For some reason, people don't seem to realize that when
> learning
> new languages, students need the kind of materials that simulate the
> learning opportunities in environments where they hear the language
> all
> around them. Instead, people develop sparse materials that do not
> provide
> enough learning information for the brain. I don't know why they do
> this,
> but they do. Perhaps there is not enough hard research on the
> cognitive
> impacts and results of the different materials. So far as I can tell,
> Pschologists and educators study students, but not materials.
> Materials need
> to be subjected to hard scrutiny in different environments so that
> robust
> materials that actually facilitate learning can be developed.
>
> My overall response to this site is that it is not appropriate for
> children,
> especially in the stipulated grade levels 1-3. There is "too much
> chatter on
> the line": "Landing site", "pre-test", "lesson", "post-test" are not
> a good
> structure for children. The process should be seamless, and take them
> through each step without requiring that they click. The Download
> Authorware
> link was inappropriate on the learning page. The copyright agreement
> was
> inappropriate on the learning page, also. And the hidden requirement
> that
> one run the pre-test before loading the lesson, if this was really
> what was
> going on, was a serious design flaw.
>
> Load time is too long. People lose attention when they have to wait
> for the
> computer to respond. Ending with the Macromedia Authorware page,
> which is
> not an option, it is a forced structure in the tool, is also not good
> because it is also cognitively distracting. This is cute technology,
> but
> just, just, just NOT good learning material.
>
> I have a thought that perhaps these kinds of things happen because
> people
> are really unfamiliar with how to use technology in a learning
> environment.
> I have seen situations where Psychologists have moved black and white
> text
> to the computer, and run comparative learning tests on the text on
> the
> computer vs. the text on paper, and said, People don't learn better
> when the
> material is on the computer. Well, Duh!
>
> Computers should provide the rich interaction opportunities. Things
> should
> move, they should be in color, there should be lots of sounds, and
> above
> all, lots of opportunities for interactive response. [Tribal College
> Journal
> says this over and over and over and over.] People can argue that
> these rich
> resources are "distracting", but the simple fact is that these rich
> resources simulate the natural learning environment where birds fly,
> dogs
> bark, fish swim, and people talk. Children aren't "overwhelmed" by
> they
> environment when someone puts them on the floor and lets them wander
> about.
> Language learners do better in rich, involving environments than in
> sparse
> environments. I know this because I tested it. :-) [for my master's
> thesis].
>
> Finally, at AILDI last year, Lilly Wong Fillmore told the very sad
> story of
> some students in the Yukon in Alaska who could "read" "fluently".
> They were
> still failing the inference tests on their college boards; Lilly
> discovered
> that the problem was that no one had thought to teach these children
> that
> the words had meaning in the concrete world, so while they were able
> to
> pronounce the words flawlessly, because of years of drill and
> practice, they
> couldn't tell you what the "story" was about, and they were
> positively
> incapable of drawing more subtle inferences and structuring
> hypotheses.
>
> . . . thus ends my review of this beautiful site (it really is
> beautiful,
> just not appropriately structured).
>
> Hi, Sue, thanks for this link. Hope you are having fun in your class
> at
> AILDI this year.
>
> Mia
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "phil cash cash" <pasxapu at DAKOTACOM.NET>
> To: <ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU>
> Sent: Monday, June 16, 2003 8:51 PM
> Subject: Re: Dine Language site
>
>
> > Dear ILAT,
> >
> > The link came up okay from my end, but if you look closely, you
> need to
> > register as a user to access the language lessons.  You may have to
> > download the Authorware plug-in to play the lesssons.  A bit of
> > manuevering here but well worth the effort.
> >
> > Phil Cash Cash
> > UofA, ILAT
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Indigenous Languages and Technology
> > [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Dorothy Martinez
> > Sent: Monday, June 16, 2003 12:35 PM
> > To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: Dine Language site
> >
> > Susan:  Please resend.  The URL couldn't be recognized.  Thanks
> >
> > >>> sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU 06/16/03 12:00PM >>>
> > Everyone,
> > This site has some great language lessons for Dine composed using
> > Authorware...
> > http://nettrain1.unm.edu--    It is also offers a very
> comprehensive
> > tribal education site generally.
> >
> > Susan
> >
> >
>
>
> ----- End message from miakalish at REDPONY.US -----