Broward Community College, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA Excerpt with permission from American Language Review March/April 1999 "Electronic Education" pp54-56. For full story see www.alr.org, go to archives/MarchApril99/Electronic Education. At Broward Community College the ESL and MFL departments are separate entities each having its own chairperson reporting to the campus dean of academic affairs. The center campus currently offers about 50 ESL and MFL courses to approximately 1,250 students per semester. The MFL department had a ten-year-old audiocassette language lab that was obsolete and worn-out due to years of constant use. The ESL department did not have use of the MFL language lab and needed to provide ESL students with learning lab activities. Due to the strong demand for MFL course offerings and the ESL department's continued solid growth, the administration decided to purchase a computer-assisted language learning lab. The new lab would be placed in the existing audiocassette lab space where furnishings could be adapted to conserve funds. The faculty was interested in a lab that could provide not only student listening and speaking but also student reading and writing, as well as the capability for teacher student interaction and communication. The faculty was also interested in providing computerized student testing and progress tracking. A smaller group of faculty members was very interested in computer self-authoring of multimedia lessons with provision for full motion video lessons and Internet access for student activities and lesson material. The college administration was interested in the multi-use aspects of computer-assisted language learning because this type of lab was based upon standard networked PC computers. The lab could function as well for language arts, science, math or any other discipline. This multi-use feature was a key element in the subsequent financing approval process. The interconnection of the language learning lab to the college's existing computer communication infrastructure would also allow for students on the four BCC campuses to access the language learning lab file server at the center campus providing for remote student access to language learning. The evaluation team selected the Instructlab/CAN-8 Multimedia Instructional System as the solution providing for all the functional criteria. The college ordered all of the computer equipment separately from established vendors with state contracts. The systems evaluation began in December of 1997 and completed evaluation and ordering in May 1998. Delivery was to take place in July with faculty training to be offered one week prior to classes starting in August. There were a number of lessons gained from this experience: The evaluation and implementation of a computer assisted language learning system must involve and provide for faculty development of the system requirements and features necessary for the successful use of the lab by students and faculty. Not all teachers will utilize this type of lab for various reasons and not all teachers will be interested in the development of multimedia computer lesson material but all teachers should be provided the opportunity to be involved with the development process. The language learning lab is based on standard networked computers with a file server. It is vital that those responsible for the instructional technology and/or computer network administration be involved in the process of hardware specifications, computer operating systems and computer network operating system specifications. Most colleges have made long range plans with respect to operating systems compatibility, hardware specifications and system communications. These decisions should be reflected in the computer system purchased for language learning. Mary Diaz, Professor of Spanish, indicates students have much less difficulty with computers than they had with the old tape systems. "The time saved in not having to copy audio material to student tapes for each class and students having to rewind or fast forward to try and find the right lesson provides more productive lab experiences for the students," Dr. Diaz said. Click Here to return to Case Studies