LANGUAGES OUT THERE ON FACEBOOK GETS THE WORLD SPEAKING EACH OTHER'S LANGUAGE

UK based Languages Out There has launched a new online, social-based language learning course designed to accelerate learning by chatting live with native speakers. Taking advantage of the global scale of the Facebook platform and the new Vivox Voice on Facebook beta application, Languages Out There aims to revolutionise how people learn a foreign language.

In development over the past eight years with a wide array of students, Languages Out There’s online courses specialise in teaching English as a second language. With the support of e-books to manage and focus the conversation to maximise learning, courses are available in three different styles: Self-study, One to One and Teacher Delivered Groups. Courses are available in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Spanish with further dialects to follow shortly.

"Online social networks are changing the way we interact with each other on a global scale," explains Jason West, founder of Languages Out There. There are millions of people looking to learn a new language on Facebook – either English as a second language or another dialect. Facebook and Vivox Voice allow us to remove any road blocks by connecting individuals on a shared platform with proven global scale. Immersion is a far more effective way of learning a new language than traditional classroom teaching. We are bringing that style to an online setting. After just a couple of sessions, learners will experience a considerable boost in confidence and fluency. It is Language Exchange 2.0 from the comfort of your home."

"The combination of the Facebook platform , Vivox voice and Languages Out There course materials create a dynamic and effective language school that makes the world feel a little smaller," comments Monty Sharma, co-founder and VP of Marketing at Vivox. "Languages Out There is just one of the many innovative means in which people are deploying voice chat in their communities on Facebook. By offering realtime communications to students they will see real results that will help drive their strategy while participants will experience lively and meaningful exchanges designed to forever enhance their lives."

About: Languages Out There Ltd.

Languages Out There (LOT) started teaching English Out There in London, in the UK, in 2001. Their real practice English conversation lessons teach learners some new language and then get them using it with complete strangers or native or fluent online practice partners. The technique helps learners to overcome their fear of speaking and boosts their confidence and motivation levels.

They have spent 250,000 hours preparing their tried and tested materials for publication for use by teachers and learners both in the real world and online. LOT has also just published a free ebook called ‘For Want of a Better Word’. It has been endorsed by Steven Pinker, the world-famous psycholinguist and multi-million selling author of ‘The Language Instinct’, ‘Words and Rules’ and ‘The Stuff of Thought’, who says it is, "A visual, verbal, and intellectual delight." The book uses humour to illustrate why the English language is so difficult to learn well. It is also a call to action for the world’s fluent English speakers and encourages them to help others to practise the language that they speak so well. For more information on courses and costs, visit www.Facebook.com/EnglishOutThere,www.EnglishOutThere.com or www.LanguagesOutThere.com

About Vivox, Inc.

Vivox is the leading provider of community-building voice services for online games,virtual worlds and the social web. Supporting over 15 million users in more than 180 countries, and over 2 billion minutes of voice chat per month, the Vivox Network is the world’s largest voice network for gamers. Vivox customers include game and virtual world developers and publishers such as CCP Games (EVE Online), EA, Gaia Online, Icarus Studios, Linden Lab (Second Life), NCsoft, Sony Online Entertainment and Wizards of the Coast. For more information on Vivox and the power of voice, visit www.vivox.com.

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Online Web-based courses might come to NU to near future

Moving classes into cyberspace is becoming the norm at accredited four-year and prestigious universities.

An increasing amount of college courses are being offered online via videocasts, iTunes and online publication of course material. Universities such as Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have been further developing this trend to make education more accessible to meet unique student circumstances, but have differed on their implementation. Northwestern offers two graduate degree programs already available online, but is exercising the possibility of bringing these classes to undergraduates.

The Chronicle of Higher Education published an article a few months ago explaining the popular growth of online courses, explaining that increasing educational access trumps all other concerns. The article reported that more than 36 percent of public university faculty members surveyed have already experienced either teaching or developing a course online.

NU is following this mentality, said Ronald Braeutigam, professor of economics and associate provost for undergraduate education.

“It could definitely happen in the next two to three years,” he said of online classes implemented into undergraduate curricula.

NU currently has two graduate degree programs — master’s degrees in Medical Informatics and Public Policy & Administration — available completely online through the School of Continuing Studies.

Assistant Director of Distance Education Caitlin Frano at SCS said these two programs are “parallel to the on-ground version of the degree,” or equivalent to the class taught on campus.

Braeutigam said he is not aware of proposals at the undergraduate level for degrees consisting of fully Web-based coursework, but added that individual classes are on the horizon.

“People have been talking about what other programs can be a good fit for the online classroom,” he said. “But the suggestions have to emanate from the faculty.”

Braeutigam said a class proposed for online instruction must meet two key criteria: curricular desirability and technical feasibility. Classes must have strong curricula that are conducive to an online teaching format. He said the Medical Informatics program was so successful online because of its academic strength and the high demand for the on-ground version.

Other schools like Harvard and MIT have varying levels of available online materials.
MIT OpenCourseWare publishes course documents online for more than 1,900 classes that are free and accessible to the general public. MIT indicates on its site that this material cannot be used toward an MIT education, degrees or certificates or to access faculty for office hours.

Harvard offers certain courses online through iTunes that are accessible to paying students. These classes can later be applied toward a Harvard degree.

Although the Chronicle of Higher Education article cites findings from a survey of public colleges that 70 percent of all faculty members believed online courses to be inferior to face-to-face instruction, participating professors recognize the benefits.

Harvard Prof. Jeff Parker said he is asked back year after year, despite offering videos of his lectures, because of a “richness” found only in the classroom.

“When you look at lecture notes, is that the same thing as being there in class?” he asked.
Braeutigam stressed virtual classes can also reach students abroad, and could pave the way for more projects like NU’s Qatar campus expansion.

But the initiative would come with challenges like ensuring academic integrity, especially during exams. There would also be a lack of interaction between students, and students and instructors. Braeutigam said professors would not be able to judge students’ comprehension of material by their body language. University resources, such as libraries and advising offices, would also be a loss for online-only students.

“I like to be around other people,” said Medill senior Rachel Lebowitz. “The whole point of school is to number one: learn, and number two: to meet new people who are also doing cool things and to talk to them about it and learn from it.”

Although NU only has two programs available online, Braeutigam said NU’s process has been purposely more controlled.

“We may not have jumped out in front,” he said. “But after hearing of other universities’ costly mistakes, we wanted to make sure our programs would be strong.”