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UMass Alumni eNews (July 2012)


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"Be the Change" says JFK Award Winner       

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Albert Chen had been working in the private sector for three years when he decided that he wanted to be part of something more than profits and market shares. While he could have stayed in the fast-paced, high-paying fields of marketing and technology, Chen decided to go to school and learn how to best serve others. more >

Be current with Alumni News -- Like Us Now!
39,920 alumni have listed themselves as graduates on Facebook, but only 212 have "liked" our Alumni Facebook page! 


 

New Alumni Online Community Launched

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Our updated online community has more power than ever to help you achieve your goals.

Request your i.d. to join today to stay connected with your alma mater; look for a job and network with alumni; share and view photos and class notes; get email for life; learn about special programs and more!

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University News

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"I've taught at five universities, and UMass Boston has been my favorite," says American Studies Professor Rachel Rubin.

franklinpark_why_2011_wytp2.jpgUMass Boston’s Baseball Team Spruces up Boston’s Largest Park



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Alumni and Friends Spend an Afternoon at Monet's "Giverny" Recreated in New York City

President Caret on Why UMass Needs a 4.9 Percent Fee Increase

GoKids Boston Director Helps Create National Standards for After-school Activity
Professor Blum Shares his Thoughts on School Integration in the New York Times.
College of Public and Community Service Celebrates 40 Years

Professor Cunningham Shares What's Unique about UMass Boston Graduation

Trotter Institute Showcases the Enduring Legacy of Black Theater
Associate Professor Shares Why It’s Easier to be a Good Daddy Than a Good Mommy
In Memory: Professor Orville Wright

More news at the UMass Boston news page




Athletics 10th Hall of Fame Dinner: October 11

Come to see the newly renovated Clark Athletic Center and Ice Rink and salute the university's top athletes.

Support UMass Boston

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Donor Dee Dow Chase takes pride in meeting the first Carna Scholar.

Your gift to the UMass Boston Fund supports innovative programs like these. 

As we begin our new fiscal year we hope we can count on your gift!

Give Now>


UMass Boston on the Move: California

Join us for these free events:  San Diego (7/27); Pasadena (7/29);  and San Francisco (7/30).
                                  
Boston State Reunions Celebrate Education for Service 

State College at Boston and Boston State College members of the classes of '62 and '72 respectively joined for a weekend of fun in early June. Photos>

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Register now!
26th Annual UMass Boston Golf Classic
has been rescheduled to Monday, July 9



Join us for Ideas Boston 2012 on October 24



Andrea Leone '12 Named Fulbright Scholar  

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An anthropology major, Andrea Leone '12 will 
travel to Italy to teach English.
 more>


Alumni in the News 

Andrea Densha '94 Named Executive Director of Childcare Network

John Perella '12 Named Headmaster of Medford High School 

Bryan Finocchio '11 Pairs the Arts with Good Deeds
 

Support UMass Boston

abayomi-and-dee.jpg

Donor Dee Dow Chase takes pride in meeting the first Carna Scholar.

Your gift to the 
UMass Boston Fund supports innovative programs like these. 

As we begin our new fiscal year, we hope we can count on your gift.

Give Now>

Alumni Relations has introduced two new blogs and invites contributing writers to submit content. We are looking for your thoughts and memories about UMass Boston or Boston State. Contact Nan Cormier to submit content. 

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Benefits & Services


Join the UMass Boston Alumni Association and enjoy all thebenefits of membership

Liberty Mutual 
UMass Boston alumni enjoy added savings on auto and home insurance through an exclusive partnership with Liberty Mutual. More>

Alumni Insurance Program
The UMass Boston Alumni Association has partnered with Collegiate Insurance Resources to offer exciting benefits for alumni. Plan availability varies by state. More>

Healey Library Alumni Research Gateway 
UMass Boston now offers all Alumni Association members access to professional scholarship and business information. More>



 
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Yesterday we were able to procure the UMassLinguistics.com domain for the next 10 years! This means that whenever you want to come visit this community all you have to do is go to http://www.umasslinguistics.com :-) By the way, if you are looking for a cheap, no frills, domain, go to hover.com and use the promotional code "twit" (I follow the This Week in Technology podcast) and this gets you a 10% discount :-)
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New issue of IRRODL out! Vol 12 issue 3

While this journal isn't specifically for language learning, it does have research about teaching with technology, if you're interested in that field :)

http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl

Table of Contents

Editorial

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Editorial: Volume 13, Number 3 HTML PDF MP3EPUB
Terry Anderson i-iv

Research Articles

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Odyssey of the mind: Social networking in a cyberschool HTML PDF MP3EPUB
Michael K Barbour, Cory Plough 1-18
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Motivation levels among traditional and open learning undergraduate students in India HTML PDF MP3EPUB
Shashi Singh, Ajay Singh, Kiran Singh 19-40
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Development and validation of the Online Student Connectedness Survey (OSCS) HTML PDF MP3EPUB
Doris U Bolliger, Fethi A Inan 41-65
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Quality assurance in e-learning: PDPP evaluation model and its application HTML PDF MP3EPUB
Weiyuan Zhang, Yau Ling Cheng 66-82
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Creating a sustainable online instructor observation system: A case study highlighting flaws when blending mentoring and evaluation HTML PDF MP3EPUB
Marthann Schulte, Kay Dennis, Michael Eskey, Cathy Taylor, Heather Zeng 83-96
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Mapping the interplay between open distance learning and internationalisation principles HTML PDF MP3EPUB
Pumela Msweli 97-116
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Economies of scope in distance education: The case of Chinese research universities HTML PDF MP3EPUB
Fengliang Li, Xinlei Chen 117-131
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Teaching time investment: Does online really take more time than face-to-face? HTML PDF MP3EPUB
Rebecca Van de Vord, Korolyn Pogue 132-146
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M-learning adoption: A perspective from a developing country HTML PDF MP3EPUB
Shakeel Iqbal, Ijaz A. Qureshi 147-164
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The development of distance education in the Russian Federation and the former Soviet Union HTML PDF MP3EPUB
Olaf Zawacki-Richter, Anna Kourotchkina 165-184
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Delivery of open, distance, and e-learning in Kenya HTML PDF MP3EPUB
Jackline Anyona Nyerere, Frederick Q Gravenir, Godfrey S Mse 185-205
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Learning in educational computer games for novices: The impact of support provision types on virtual presence, cognitive load, and learning outcomes HTML PDF MP3EPUB
Claudia Schrader, Theo Bastiaens 206-227
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Examining interactivity in synchronous virtual classrooms HTML PDF MP3EPUB
Florence Martin, Michele A Parker, Deborah F Deale 228-261
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A preliminary examination of the cost savings and learning impacts of using open textbooks in middle and high school science classes HTML PDF MP3EPUB
David Wiley, John Levi Hilton III, Shelley Ellington, Tiffany Hall 262-276
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Using self-efficacy to assess the readiness of nursing educators and students for mobile learning HTML PDF MP3EPUB
Richard F Kenny, Jocelyne MC Van Neste-Kenny, Pamela A Burton, Caroline L Park, Adnan Qayyum 277-296
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Identification of conflicting questions in the PARES system HTML PDF MP3EPUB
Avgoustos Tsinakos, Ioannis Kazanidis 297-313

Book Notes

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Book review - Quality assurance and accreditation in distance education and e-learning: Models, policies and research HTML PDF MP3EPUB
Kay Shattuck 314-318
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Book review - The publish or perish book: Your guide to effective and responsible citation analysis HTML PDF MP3EPUB
Michael Barbour 319-321

Full Issue

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IRRODL Volume 13, Number 3 PDF
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Good Morning everyone!

I hope everyone had a great weekend! :-)

I just wanted to write a quick note to talk about the offering of the comprehensive exams.  Generally speaking the comprehensive exams is offered once every year for our online students. Usually this exam is offered every May (mid-May).  This, as I understand it, is the case because our program only admits new students in September so everything is scheduled as starting on September and ending in May. As I understand it, there have been one or two instances of December comps for the online program, but I am not sure what the factors were that lead up to that - this is something that I am checking out now.

Our On-Campus program does have comprehensive exams in December, so if you are indeed done with your coursework, and feel ready to take the exam, you don't have to wait until May to take the exams, you can come on-campus to take the December comprehensive exams.  If can't make it into Boston to take the exam in December, but still want to take the exam, please email aplingonline@umb.edu.  I can collect any such requests and present them to our exam coordinators and they can take your request under consideration.

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A letter from our new Department Chair

Dear Applied Linguistics Students,

I'm writing to inform you that Prof. Macedo has stepped down as chair of the Applied Linguistics Department, and that I have been selected as his replacement.

I don’t regularly teach in the online program, so let me provide you with some background information about myself. I have been teaching at UMass Boston for 25 years. Within the Department of Applied Linguistics, I teach courses dealing with language theory, structure, and use: Linguistics (601), Phonetics/Phonemics (627), and The Structure of the English Language (629). Several years ago, I taught 629 online, and I hope to be able to teach another course in the online program very soon.

I conduct research in the area of corpus linguistics. Linguists working within this branch of linguistics analyze large computerized databases of spoken and written language to study the structure and use of English and other languages. You can read more about the research I do on my website and also look at past syllabi from the classes I teach: http://www.cs.umb.edu/~meyer/

In closing, I would like to thank Professor Macedo for his many years of service to theDepartment of Applied Linguistics. He has been instrumental in developing the department to the point that students can now earn an MA in Applied Linguistics both on-campus and online. I wish Professor Macedo continued success in his teaching and with the two grants he is currently overseeing.

Sincerely,

Charles Meyer

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This past week I had the opportunity to attend the New Media Consortium's annual conference. This year it was held locally (yay!) and hosted by one of our neighbors (MIT).  I have written three separate blog posts to share some news, aha moments, thoughts and criticisms from the plenaries and sessions I attended: http://idstuff.blogspot.com/2012/06/nmc12-day-1-highlights-part-1.html http://idstuff.blogspot.com/2012/06/nmc-day-1-session-overview.html http://idstuff.blogspot.com/2012/06/nmc2012-day-2-highlights.html I also tweeted (a lot!) during the session and snapped some photos of the presenters, as well as their slides.  Checkout my twitter stream for these photos: http://www.twitter.com/koutropoulos As an aside, are any of you (current student and alumni) interested in teaching language online? If you are teaching online, what are your experiences. If you would like to teach online, what sort of knowledge and tools do you think you are lacking? I've been thinking seriously about proposing a course on teaching languages online and this conference made me think more about it.
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New issue of ReCALL now available!

This goes out there for all you CALL (computer assisted language learning) fans :)

New issue of ReCALL is now available online at the library: http://search.proquest.com/publication/43616?accountid=28932

Even though there is a 1 year embargo (i.e. you can't access the most recent issue), you can get it through InterLibrary Loan for free! :-)

Vol 24, No. 2, May 2012

Editorial

  • The use of videoconferencing to support multimodal interaction in an online
    language classroom
    Regine Hampel and Ursula Stickler
  • Beyond learner autonomy: A dynamic systems view of the informal learning of
    English in virtual online communities
    Geoffrey Sockett and Denyze Toffoli
  • Exploiting a corpus of business letters from a phraseological, functional
    perspective
    Lynne Flowerdew
  • Mobile Assisted Language Learning in University EFL Courses in Japan:
    developing attitudes and skills for self-regulated learning
    Mutsumi Kondo, Yasushige Ishikawa, Craig Smith, Kishio Sakamoto, Hidenori
    Shimomura and Norihisa Wada
  • The Effects of Captions in Teenagers’ Multimedia L2 Learning
    Lwo, Laurence and Michelle Chia-Tzu Lin
  • Using a stance corpus to learn about effective authorial stance-taking: A
    textlinguistic approach
    Peichin Chang
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Congrats to our 2012 graduates!

I wish to extend my heart felt congratulations to the 2012 graduates of our Applied Linguistics program!  Having gone through the program myself, I know that it is concurrently difficult, but also very rewarding, and reaching that finish line is only the beginning!

Last night, at the department dinner, I had the pleasure to meet in person and have a quick chat with Noé, Adrienne and Adriana who have come to Boston for the commencement ceremony. Even though I am the new guy on the applied linguistics team, it was really great to online colleagues in person and I hope to see see you at graduation today (I'll be floating around :-)  )

Also, on behalf of the Applied Linguistics Department and the online faculty, I am very happy to announce that Alison Howard has been awarded the 2012 Outstanding Online Student Award. Since Alison began in the Applied Linguistics Program in 2010, she has consistently impressed us all with her high degree of commitment to her studies and to our online community of scholars. Considering her academic record, it does not surprise any of us that she should be leaving the program with a High Pass on the capstone exam. Please join me in congratulating Alison!

In the past, out Ning profiles have only indicated whether you are an online, or on-campus student.  Starting today, I have added another category, Alumn!  If you have graduated, please feel free to update your profile to indicate that you are an alumna or alumnus!  Also, please join our Alumni sub-group on ning, and, if you want, check out our Alumni group on LinkedIn. It is true that in the past our Alumni groups have been dormant, however I do hope that we can keep in touch, see you back here and on LinkedIn!

Again, congrats to my fellow alumns (and keep posted for photos of the ceremony!)

AK

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This is for those fellow applied linguists who are interested in computer assisted language learning :-)

We are happy to announce that Volume 16, Number 2 of Language Learning & Technology is now available at http://llt.msu.edu. This is a Special Issue on "Hegemonies in CALL" and was guest edited by Marie-Noëlle Lamy and Mark Pegrum. The contents are listed below.

Please visit the LLT Web site and be sure to enter your free subscription if you have not already done so. Also, we welcome your contributions for future issues. Check our guidelines for submission at: http://llt.msu.edu/contrib.html.

Sincerely,

Dorothy Chun and Mark Warschauer, Editors

Language Learning & Technology

http://llt.msu.edu

----- FEATURE ARTICLES -----

Power within Blended Language Learning Programs in Japan

by Don Hinkelman and Paul Gruba

Interactive Whiteboards in State School Settings: Teacher Responses to Socio-constructivist Hegemonies

by Euline Cutrim Schmid and Shona Whyte

Caught in the Web: Overcoming and Reproducing Hegemony in Azerbaijan

by Cara Preuss and Carolyn Morway

Promoting Dialogue or Hegemonic Practice? Power Issues in Telecollaboration

by Francesca Helm, Sarah Guth, and Mohammed Farrah

----- COLUMNS -----

Special Issue Commentary

Hegemonies in CALL

by Marie-Noëlle Lamy and Mark Pegrum

Emerging Technologies

Challenging Hegemonies in Online Learning

by Robert Godwin-Jones

Action Research

Edited by Greg Kessler

Building Computer Skills in TESOL Teacher Education

by Margo DelliCarpini

Announcements

News From Sponsoring Organizations

----- REVIEWS -----

Edited by Paige Ware

Foreign language learning with digital technology

Evans, M. (Ed.)

Reviewed by Elodie Vialleton

TESOL Technology Standards: Description, Implementation, Integration

Healey, D., Hanson-Smith, E., Hubbard, P., Ioannou-Georgiou, S.,

Kessler, G., and Ware, P.

Reviewed by Dafne Gonzalez

Evaluating computer-assisted language learning

Leakey, J.

Reviewed by Deborah Crusan

Criterion for English Language Learning

Educational Testing Service

Reviewed by Hyojung Lim and Jimin Kahng

----- CALL FOR PAPERS -----

Special Issue: Game and Play Activity in Technology-Mediated L2

Teaching and Learning Edited by Jonathon Reinhardt & Julie Sykes

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I think I have developed a workaround the signup issues.


The main issue seems to be that email notifications are not going out in a timely manner, or email notification and account confirmation are not going out at all! This means that if you created an account and waiting to hear back, you might never hear back from the system!

So, in order to work around this issue I have:

  • Made the first page visible to everyone (members still need to login to see more information, but at least this way more people can see the "sign up" link on the top right)
  • Removed the requirement to confirm your email address before you're allowed to create a profile (and thus be approved by the umbapling admins :-)  )

I have tested this work around with a couple of my emails and it seems to work :-)

My apologies for Ning's snafu :)

AK

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Comprehensive exam tip: Start early!

As I was cleaning up the digital space where the comprehensive exams took place this morning I noticed that some students has emailed me on Blackboard in March asking for tips about studying for the comprehensive exam; D'oh!  

I am sorry that I missed your message! I honestly wasn't expecting anyone to email me on Blackboard about the comprehensive exam :-)  It is now too late for the most recent group of test-takers to benefit from any advice I have, but I thought I would post something here anyway for those new to the program, and those who haven't taken the comprehensive exam yet.

The comprehensive exam isn't about rote knowledge; it's not about regurgitation of facts, but rather it is about a synthesis of knowledge and information that you have gained throughout your studies in applied linguistics.  Having felt the pain of studying for the Applied Linguistics comps, and having taken the comps as well (a couple years ago) I know what you will be going through.  I thought I would start a series of blog posts on here to help alleviate some of that anxiety over the comps :-)

So, my first tip for studying for the comps is to start early! I wish someone had told me this when I started the applied linguistics program, it would have helped me study in a different way (or perhaps alleviated some of the stress felt around having to read everything all over again in order to revise!).  I will be writing more about note taking strategies in future posts, but for this one I will start you off with the basics:

Each course has a syllabus of readings. When you read, you may highlight, write in the margins, or doodle on the page. The worst thing that you can do is read, but not make any notes.  This is a sure way to forget about the readings three semesters down the road :-)  You may retain some of the essence, but won't necessarily remember something important to refer to in the exam.  Strategic underlining, highlighting, "aha" moments in the margins and reactions in the margins are your friends! They act as road markers that jog your memory a few semesters down the road when you have to reference them again :-)  

In the on-campus program, there were some seminal readings that came back in a couple of classes.  Don't throw away your highlighted, underlined, annotated articles! Use them again for the second class that uses the same reading - you can add to your insights already existing in that first annotated version of the article.  Also, don't throw away any articles until you are done with the program - you will need them for the comps.

What about my articles?  I still have all mine.  I packaged them up, put them in a waterproof bin, threw in some desiccant and put them in the basement.  Every not and again I need to go back and reference one of them.

More comprehensive exams tips coming soon!

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Happy Friday everyone (and to those of you taking the comprehensive exam, good luck :-)  )

The department has recently come up with a tentative schedule for Spring, Summer and Fall semesters from 2013 to 2016! You can see the tentative schedule here: http://umbapling.ning.com/group/theclassroom/page/tentativeschedule

You can also discuss the tentative schedule in the Classroom Group discussion boards here: http://umbapling.ning.com/group/theclassroom

This schedule represents where we want to be in the next few years, especially with regard to electives!  I am a big advocate of choice, so I tried to propose as many electives as possible in the next few years (especially in the summer).

Now, having said this, this schedule is only tentative, it's not etched in stone.  We still have to figure out instructor assignments so that these courses can run, and if courses don't have sufficient enrollments, or if we can't find an instructor to teach a specific (elective) course, it may get cancelled. If you are really excited about a specific elective take the opportunity to talk about it in the classroom group. Obviously if enough students are interested in a specific elective we can figure creative ways of getting faculty (especially people not already on our staff) to come teach those courses :-)

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Hello everyone,

Here's a bit of information on the cleanup and improvement process here on our online social. First of all, some groups are gone! I am sorry if I axed one of the groups that you had created, or been a member of, but it seemed like most activity centered around the main forums instead of groups. So, in order to keep things a bit neat, I removed all groups, except for the ones that deal with administrative news, procedures and issues.

In the future, as our network evolves, we can revisit the issue of groups as a place for SIGs (special interest groups) to congregate and talk about something specific.

As far as improvements go, there are now two new ways of logging in! I've created a connector for LinkedIn and a Windows Live. This means that if you have a Windows Live account (aka a "hotmail" email address) or a profile on LinkedIn, you can connect those to your account here! What's the benefit? Well, if you forget your Ning password, or if you change email addresses and can no longer log on, or...just experience general log-on weirdness - you always have a back door to enter! I personally have my Yahoo, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts tied to my login here, so in case I forget what my password is, I can always log in.

More updates and cleanup to come over the summer :-)

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Sad News, Passing of Professor George Smith

We received some sad news in the department today. Professor George Smith passed away a couple of days ago. Professor Smith taught APLING 601 (Linguistics) and APLING 625 (Second Language Acquisition) in our online program.

Here is the full university broadcast:

April 24, 2012

MEMORANDUM FOR: University Community

FROM: Winston Langley, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

SUBJECT: Passing of Retired Professor George W. Smith

I am writing to inform you that retired faculty member George W. Smith passed away peacefully at home on April 22, 2012, after a long illness. Born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, he earned a B.A. and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Virginia. He taught at St. Paul’s College in Virginia and, in 1971, joined the University of Massachusetts Boston as a professor of English Renaissance literature.
In mid-career, Professor Smith’s interest in stylistics led him to conduct research in computational linguistics. He wrote Computers and Human Language (Oxford University Press) and developed expertise in applied linguistics. Professor Smith helped to design and implement the M.A. Program in Applied Linguistics and, after retiring in 2005, continued teaching its online courses through December 2012. He enjoyed restoring the William Otis Lincoln House, his residence in Hingham since 1977. Active in the Hingham Historical Society, he surveyed historical properties in the Lincoln Historic District and restored the antique maps that appear in the Town history, Not All Is Changed by Francis Russell and Lorena Laing Hart, his lifelong friends. He enjoyed country music and followed the Red Sox, the Celtics, and the Patriots. Professor Smith leaves his wife of 46 years, Louise Z. Smith (Professor Emerita of English); their daughter Allison and her husband David Keefer of Wollaston; their son George and his wife Jessica (Bernier); his sisters Nancy and Jennifer Smith of Methuen; two grandchildren; and many friends.

Memorial services will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Hingham Public Library, 66 Leavitt St., Hingham, MA 02043; or to Hospice of the South Shore, 100 Bay State Drive, Braintree, MA 02185-9060.

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More ways to log-in!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I enabled Twitter and Facebook integration for our APLING network. What does this mean? Two things, actually! The first thing is that you can connect your facebook and/or twitter account with your umbapling.ning.com account and you can then use your facebook or twitter account to logon (one less password to remember!)

The second thing that this integration enables is cross-posting. If you want to post something in both twitter and this network, you can check off the little twitter checkbox and your status update will also be sent your twitter account :-)

More improvements coming soon!

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Hello (again) :-)

Hi everyone,

I've been dormant for a while, but I am back! Those who've seen my previous introduction post know that I was a student in the face to face program a few years back, and I was the technical advisor for this social network.

A few years have gone by and I am now back in the in the community with a new role. I am now the Program Coordinator for the Online MA program in Applied Linguistics. I am currently getting acclimated with what's happened up to now in the program, but I am looking forward to working with the faculty to try and get some more electives online, to clean up, and improve, our social community and in general to move the program forward. If you have questions please feel free to drop me a line on here, or by email (a.koutropoulos@umb.edu). I don't yet have a computer I can work with, but as soon as I do, I will add my skype contact info on here as well.

I look forward to workign with you all! :-)

AK

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Instructional Design on Twitter

Hey all! Over the past year or so people have asked me about Instructional Design (because I am a dual MA/MEd student at UMass Boston). In the past couple of weeks, the student+alumni association of the instructional design department has launched a twitter presence. Come and follow us on: http://twitter.com/umbgida We regularly post (or retweet) information pertinent to instructional design, education technology and some program information (if you are interested in joining that program after you finish linguistics ;-) ) Of course if you have questions about the program feel free to ask me on here as well :) AK
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Just as the new semester is starting, I feel like I should give my fellow classmates a tip that I've learned as a graduate student - use the library! Sure, for face to face programs using the library seems fairly simple since computer labs are located in library buildings and students generally spend at least some time there. In an online program most people (that I have come across) don't really give the library a second thought. The library however has a wealth of resources that you can use for class and your your personal pursuits. You can read articles in journals, access ebooks, and if there is an article that the library does not have - they can get it for you! for free! :-) For instance I like reading ReCALL - the journal of the european computer assisted language learning group. It's got some pretty interesting articles if you are interested in CALL. The library does not subscribe to this journal, but I request articles each quarter and I receive then electronically via ILL (interlibrary loan) for free. Here are some linguistics and language related journals that the library has indexed and whose articles can get: The Modern language journal ReCALL Modern Language Quarterly Modern Language Review Modern Language Studies Language acquisition Language and computers studies in practical linguistics Linguistic Discovery Linguistic Inquiry Linguistic review Linguistic typology Lingua Linguistics Journal Linguistics and the Human Sciences Linguistics and philosophy Linguistics and Education Linguistics Applied Psycholinguistics Australian Journal of Language & Literacy Brain and Language Acta Scientiarum : Language and Culture The Canadian modern language review Computer Assisted Language Learning Foreign Language Annals Humanising Language Teaching If you are an online student, you can get your library barcode by emailing library.circulation@umb.edu If you've got questions about the library, let me know!
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A resource for ESL teachers

I came across this site today: http://www.usalearns.org/ I thought ESL teachers would find it interesting. From the About Us page: The Project U.S.A. Learns was an outgrowth of a project that was conceived by the U.S. Department of Education (ED), Office of Vocational and Adult Education, Division of Adult Education and Literacy (DAEL). Core funding for U.S.A. Learns was provided by ED. Additional funding for U.S.A. Learns was made available by the California Department of Education, Office of Adult Education. DAEL promotes programs that help American adults get the basic skills they need to be productive workers, family members, and citizens. The major areas of support are Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English Language Acquisition. These programs emphasize basic skills such as reading, writing, math, English language competency and problem-solving.
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Why do blue books for exams persist?

ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE: click My Personal opinion is that Blue Books are great. They allow you to THINK before you write. Editing is a great feature but it all too often is abused when people just 'vomit' their thoughts on paper and never bother editing their papers well. I also like blue books for the same reason that I like reading paper books and not ebooks - no need for electricity. ARTICLE: UNC trying to update by using software that keeps students from cheating on laptops. By Eric Ferreri (Raleigh) News & Observer Posted: Sunday, Oct. 19, 2008 CHAPEL HILL College students communicate with text messages clicked out on cell phones. They take class notes on their laptops. Yet, when they take an American history exam, they do what students a generation earlier did: They scribble in a blue book, pausing only to grimace and shake a cramping hand. The blue book is widely loathed by students, who must write coherently without the benefit of a backspace key, and by professors, who must fight through a jungle of bad cursive. But no technology has managed to displace it. Now UNCChapel Hill is trying to relegate the venerable school supply to the academic dustbin with a computer program. So far, the blue book retains the upper hand. A couple of dozen UNC professors are using word-processing software called Securexam, which locks all other applications on a student's computer so there's no way to cheat. Each exam is encrypted and cannot be reopened once the student completes it, unless the professor OKs it. “They can't surf the Web,” said Andy Lang, director of information services in UNC's College of Arts and Sciences. “All wired and wireless connections are shut off.” The college is spending about $30,000 a year on the software, and last semester about 1,000 students took exams with it, Lang said. Joseph Wittig, who teaches medieval British literature at UNC, is using the software and loves it. “I can read and grade 40 exams in one full day,” he said, adding that with blue books that task takes two to three times as long. “At a certain point, you'd start skimming because you're worn out. It's a huge advantage for students and teachers.” The software was cheered recently by an editorial in the Daily Tar Heel, the student newspaper, that read in part: “This isn't 1860. We don't have to scrawl out long-winded treatises by hand anymore. We have these things called computers that allow you to type fast enough to keep up with your thoughts.” But, like the cockroach, the blue book persists. Only about 25 to 30 UNC professors use the new software. That's a small percentage of the faculty, though Lang said the product is gaining popularity. Ready … write Professors say blue books are still here because, well, they've always been here. But most would readily move to a new technology if the transition were easy, said Ed Neal, the retired former director for faculty development programs with UNC's Center for Faculty Excellence. If nothing else, the blue book is simple. No log-ins or passwords. At one blue book manufacturer, demand for the product is actually increasing. Comet School Supplies of Palestine, Texas, keeps churning out the blue books, said Don Howard, the company's operations director. Neither automated multiple-choice tests nor the Internet's vast stores of information have dented his trade, Howard said.
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