August 1, 2010
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WECB Launches First Internet On-Demand Professional Development Series, AIT Distributes DVDs Nationally
If you’re “in the mood” for teaching foreign languages, then Get In The Mode! with a new professional development (PD) series from Wisconsin Educational Communication Board: World Language Assessment: Get in the Mode! This PD project is the first on-demand Internet series from ECB and is free to all Wisconsin teachers, effective September 1, 2008.
AIT, a longtime partner with ECB, was recently awarded the distribution contract for this new PD project and will offer free previews in the Agency’s suite at the National Media Market (NMM) in Lexington, KY, Sept. 22–26, 2008. For those who can’t travel to NMM, AIT will provide a preview clip online at www.ait.net/catalog. DVDs may be purchased with a 30-day review period. For agencies interested in licensing the series for a region or state, please contact info@ait.net to request previews. AIT’s Broadcast/Training Specialist, Joann Flick, serves on NMM’s Board as its Secretary.
In the Mode
Beginning with a Mission Statement: “To support and empower all world language educators as they develop and implement effective assessment practices for learning” … and following through with a Vision that it “[r]evolves around three core levels of assessment: Formative, Interim, and Summative”—the World Language Assessment project is based on the National Standards for Foreign Language Education from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
The Project Director, Chad Reuter, consulted with Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction officers, Paul Sandrock and Pam Delfosse, and gathered a 12-member Teacher Advisory Board of excellent world language teachers to develop the videos. Some of the team members are featured in their classrooms demonstrating their instructional techniques. “I can’t say enough about them,” Chad says about his Team. “They went the extra mile to make this a relevant and useful series of programs for teachers.”
A unique aspect of this series is that it is most concerned about how world languages are taught and how learning is assessed, for any language at any grade level—making the distinction between “foreign language speakers” and “language learners” in the featured classrooms. Learning is the key; assessment of that learning is the focus. “We wanted to focus on the best practices by the best world language teachers,” Chad says, “based on the National world language instructional standards.”
To that end, the World Language Assessment PD series consists of seven 15-minute videos, focusing on the following Instructional Objectives:
- Assessing Communication
- Assessments for Learning
- Types of Assessment
- Assessment Tools
- Technology in Assessment
- Assessing Cultural Competence
- Using Feedback in Assessment
The components of the World Language Assessment series are:
The World Language Assessment: Get In The Mode! professional development series has debuted and is now available online for free for any foreign-language teacher to access. DVD sales and licensing outside the state of Wisconsin are managed by AIT. For more information about the series and/or its availability, go to the series Web site or email AIT Customer Service.