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IU pilot project teaches Creole through interactive learning
Jan. 24, 2001
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University is using technology for a pilot project in teaching Creole that may serve as a model for making courses in less commonly taught languages and other specialized fields available to students at Big Ten universities.
IU's College of Arts and Sciences, Office of Distributed Education and Creole Institute have joined forces to offer two semesters of Haitian Creole. The courses are available this year to students on the Bloomington and IUPUI campuses via the Virtual Indiana Classroom network, IU's interactive video network that uses two-way video and audio to allow students and instructors to interact.
Erwin Boschmann, IU associate vice president for distributed education, said the Haitian Creole courses implement one of the action items in IU's strategic plan for distributed education, a blueprint for integrating technology into the mainstream of teaching and learning.
"Students wanting to study less commonly taught languages have often been stymied by the lack of opportunity, because few universities can afford to develop and offer courses that generate small enrollment totals," Boschmann said. "Our strategic plan calls for the use of such technologies as interactive video and the Internet to allow universities to pool their resources and student numbers to offer courses not previously available."
Albert Valdman, Rudy Professor of French and Italian and of Linguistics and director of IU's Creole Institute, said IU is in a unique position to offer this course work. "The Creole Institute is the only center in the United States equipped to deal in depth with linguistic and related education issues in Haiti," Valdman said.
Boschmann said Big Ten universities have held many discussions over the years on joining forces to teach courses in specialized fields. "We hope the Haitian Creole courses will serve as a prototype that will enable IU to share its academic resources," he concluded.
(Lisa Denlinger, 812-855-1656, ldenling@indiana.edu)