en-us Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:54:51 GMT 15 By Jonathan Shorman
Independent foreign language students have finished their first semester with a new method of computerized instruction that uses a system of deadlines. Some students fell far behind in the new system and have been asked to leave the class at semester. “I’ve been told that since I’ve gotten so far behind—I got stuck on one assignment for a whole month—that because of that I won’t be allowed to come back [to German] next semester,” senior Wade Inman said. Views on the deadline system are even-handed, however. “The deadline system is good, I guess, because it makes you work faster and get things done. The at-your-own-pace system allows you to read it and learn it better. The deadlines make you learn it faster, but I don’t think you grasp the concepts as well as you do teaching yourself,” senior Pamela Prescott said. Sophomore Janna Vo suggested that having the online teacher communicate more often and placing all students of the same language in the same class could improve the program. Vo liked the independence of the class and recommended it for individually motivated students. “You can work at your own rate and not have a teacher tell you what to do. You have to do it yourself,” Vo said. ]]> Thu, 13 Mar 2008 18:54:00 GMT