North East Association for Learning Laboratories NEWS & NOTES MAY 1997

The President's Column
Robin Lawrason
Temple University

Thanks to Mike Jones at Swarthmore College for all his hard work in organizing and providing excellent host duties for NEALL 97 in March. We had more than 60 people in attendance over the three days with people from California, Ontario, Connecticut and England in addition to our own regional folk.

Mike surprised everyone by taking on the daunting task of feeding us all for both lunch and dinner on the Saturday. I downloaded all his recipes from our NEALL Web Site and tried them out on company myself to great success. Try the Ginger Beans!

We have left our Conference Program up on the Web Site and added E-mail and/or web sites for presenters so that people could see what they were doing at their own institutions or learn more about the presentation. Check out our Web Site, also being kept by Mike at Swarthmore. Thanks again Mike!! The NEALL Web Site is at:
http://www.swarthmore.edu/Humanities/langlab

IALL 97/FLEAT3 in Victoria BC
August 12-17, 1997

This summer the International Association for Learning Labs, our parent organization, is holding its biennial Conference in Victoria, British Columbia along with our sister organization, the Learning Lab Association of Japan (LLJ.)

The FLEAT [Foreign Language Education and Technology] Conferences are joint projects of IALL and LLJ. The last two Conferences were in Japan, the first in Tokyo (in 1981?) and FLEAT2 at Chubu University in 1992. IALL is now hosting FLEAT3, the first to be held here in North America.

Attending the FLEAT3 planning sessions last summer in Victoria, I got a preview of this "cool" and wonderful English-style city on the Pacific. There is much to do for the whole family in terms of touring gardens, shopping, the old city and, of course, the famous Empress Hotel for "high tea."

The FLEAT3 program looks full and exciting with many workshops free as part of the Conference Registration. Workshops include sessions on HTML Basics, Javascript and Web design; Libra and Claris authoring systems; lab design and management; schMOOze University: Virtual Community, real language and learning; how to create a digital audio lab; statistical programs for educational research; approaches to marking electronic text and Web Whiz Bangs (tips on adding Flash to your pages.)

Check out more information on Victoria and this exciting summer Conference, including an on-line registration form on the FLEAT3 Web Site at:
http://web.uvic.ca/hrd/fleat3

NEALL 98 SITE??

We are now actively looking for a member to volunteer a site for NEALL 98. Since we have been in Pennsylvania this past time, we would like to find a site in New York or New Jersey. Since we have made the switch to the March date, people seemed to agree that this was a better time than October when people were busy into a new academic year.

Can your college host NEALL in March 98?

The NEALL Board takes care of the program and registration arrangements, a Site Coordinator arranges for rooms, receptions, meals and housing. Vendors often contribute to the receptions and participant's fees should cover the meals expenses.

If you think you might be able to handle a Friday afternoon through Sunday noon Conference, please contact me here at Temple. We would like to get the site nailed down so we can issue a Call for Proposals for September.

Call for Nominations

NEALL Board Members
President
Vice President (President Elect)
Secretary Treasurer
Newsletter Editor

Dale Lally, NEALL Past President We are now calling for nominations for leadership positions in NEALL. The unforeseen departure of our former Vice President (President-Elect) has resulted in a situation where all three NEALL leadership positions are up for election this year.

In order to bridge the gap caused by the early departure of the former Vice President, both Robin Lawrason and Wendy Baker-Davis have kindly agreed to remain in office until the next election.

All NEALL offices run for two years to begin in mid-March 1998. All officers are expected to attend the annual conference. The 1998 conference will be held sometime in mid-March, at which time the new officers will assume their official duties. The location of the 1998 conference has yet to be determined.

NEALL is also seeking the services of an Editor for the Newsletter. In the past, this position was held by the President-Elect. However, due to the continued growth of the organization, the production of a high quality newsletter demands more than part time attention. This is not yet a regular Board position.

Board Office Duties

President:

• Represent NEALL at various national conferences, including the annual summer of the IALL board.
• Organize the annual conference. This involves selecting a site, determining a central theme, recruiting speakers and exhibitor sponsors. Over the past several years, the annual NEALL conferences literally doubled in numbers of participants. At the same time, the presentations have come to represent the latest state of the art in the use of educational technology for language teaching. The annual NEALL conference provides a unique opportunity to present innovative ideas within the framework of a small, intimate setting, where quality, not quantity is stressed.

Vice President (President Elect):

• Produce the NEALL newsletter
• manage the NEALL home page on the World Wide Web until such time as a newsletter/web page editor is named.
• Assist President with annual meeting. This could involve a certain amount of travel.

Secretary/Treasurer:

• Maintain the organizational history (minutes) and membership files.
• Manage the NEALL treasury by taking in funds for memberships and disbursing funds at the direction of the President
• Manage NEALL conference registration.

Newsletter Editor:

• Produce the quarterly NEALL newsletter.
• Manage the NEALL home page.

Holding office represents a opportunity to assume a leadership role in an active organization dedicated to the use of educational technology in all the latest forms. In addition, the task of arranging the annual meeting gives the NEALL officers the opportunity to interact, on a personal basis, with leaders in the field of educational technology.

The NEALL officers assume an obligation to attend the annual NEALL meeting. Their institutions must be willing to provide some support in the form of travel, telephone, Internet and office supply funds. In regards to travel, the President, or duly appointed representative, must attend annual meetings of the umbrella organization, the International Association of Learning Laboratories (IALL). The NEALL geographic area includes New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

Naturally, each candidate must be a current NEALL member and is encouraged to join the IALL. Nomination deadline is August 30, 1997. Elections will be conducted in October.

PLEASE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IN YOUR NOMINATION:

NEALL Office
NEALL Member Nominated
Member Institution and Address
Member Phone and E-mail
Indicate whether you have contacted the NEALL member and they have agreed to stand for office.

Please send NEALL Board Member Nominations by August 30, 1997, to:

Dale Lally, NEALL Past President
Modern Language Dept
St. Lawrence University
Canton NY 13617
dlal@music.stlawu.edu
Voice: 315-379-5857 Fax: 315-379-5989

The IALL Management Manual is available for sale. The last module on Copyright is currently rewritten and the Manual can be purchased through the IALL Business Manager, Tom Browne at Macalester College. He can be reached at 612-696-6336 or at browne@macalstr.edu

Modules in this practical Manual include ones on the role of the lab director, public relations, how to budget, how to build a collection, how to manage staff and how to integrate multimedia language resources into the curriculum.

A Workshop based on the Manual will be held this summer at FLEAT3 in Victoria. Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions or describe problems beforehand so that IALL Workshop leaders can respond directly.

The Manual is $20 for IALL members and $30 for non members. To learn more about the contents of modules and find the ones on Copyright and Professional Resources "on line" check out the IALL Home Page and look under IALL Publications:
http://eleazar.dartmouth.edu/IALL/index

Is your NEALL Membership Current?

If your label is highlighted in PINK, our records indicate that you have not renewed your membership for 1997-98. Most people renew at our Conference. If you were unable to attend, your membership is still due. Annual rates for NEALL are $10 and are collected by our Secretary/Treasurer. If you want to stay current, please complete the form below and mail a check payable to NEALL to:

Wendy Baker Davis
Language Resource Center
Franklin & Marshall College
P.O. Box 3003
Lancaster, PA 17604-3003 717-399-4467
w_davis@fandm.edu

Name & Title : _______________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________

Institution: __________________________________________

Phone: ________________ Fax: __________________

Email: __________________________

News & Notes Newsletter Editor Robin Lawrason
NEALL President
Media Learning Center (022-31)
Temple University
215-204-4758
lawrason@astro.ocis.temple.edu