Comments on Obsolete Learning Technologies

• Good morning--you're old!
• Posted by Margaret Campbell on December 30, 2009 at 7:30am EST

• My first job in graduate school was running the computer lab. When I was teaching at prison, I went out of my way to get permission to show either the VCR or DVD of Grammar Rock (still one of the best introductions to basic written language usage). I loaned out some of my own language books, and got permission to photo-copy short stories and poetry for handouts.

  On campus, I always annoyed my students by demanding that some of their work cite books that were not available other than in physical form, as in hidden in the stacks and not on computer.

  If it were possible, I'd still make the same demands of students.

• Obsolete is in vogue again
• Posted by Michael Bugeja , Director, Journalism School at Iowa State University on December 30, 2009 at 8:30am EST

• Given state budgets around the nation, educators soon will be using pencil and paper, which they will pay for out of their pockets. If this continues, innovative technologies will price themselves out of the market because of upgrades and maintenance, and obsolete learning technologies will come back into vogue. Consider the rise, fall and rise again of NetZero because fewer people can afford broadband in the recession.

• CD-ROMs?
• Posted by stevenb on December 30, 2009 at 9:15am EST

• Since you mentioned a few library-related technologies (microfiche? does something from 50 years ago qualify as a technology - which by the way we still get) how about CD-ROMs. They kind of started dying out at the end of the 90s, but some resources were still distributed on them, but most academic libraries no longer deal in them - although some textbooks still come with them, but I can't say if the students bother to use them.

  Photocopying? Students run our machines pretty much all day, everyday. They copy from books and journals. They copy each other's notes - and we have scanners sitting 25 yards from the copiers. So I'd say photocopiers are not going away anytime soon. We even have students who regularly ask where they can find a fax machine (at the campus UPS store) -and this puzzles me even more.

  Ditto paper - not going anywhere soon. Some types of journals (art, design, fashion) just work better on paper. Believe me, we would probably prefer no paper magazines. Do you have any idea how many times this semester alone we've gotten complaints because students can't find the latest issues of the Economist on the periodicals shelving. Yep. Someone keeps taking it and hiding it somewhere. Just try and hide the e-version.

• Yesterday's future
• Posted by Richard Malone on December 30, 2009 at 9:15am EST

• Was Scantron an Autobot or a Decepticon? ;)

• Computer labs still serve a function as do photocopiers
• Posted by EH on December 30, 2009 at 9:15am EST

• Computer labs remain relevant for several reasons (although some may decide to remove some of the machines to make room for students to plug in their own). First, learning is sometimes social and it helps to have a space where students can sit with others while doing their work. Second, some specialized software will only be available to students on such university machines. Third, sometimes the instructor might want to teach class about something requiring machines and instead of assuming/requiring that every student bring his/her laptop to class, it may be a safer bet to schedule a session in the lab.

  As to photocopiers (which, to be clear, do more than simply photocopy now), they are still quite helpful. Not all books are available easily in electronic copy so sometimes I need to use the copier to scan in or print a few pages from them

• Obsolete for whom?
• Posted by Caracas on December 30, 2009 at 9:30am EST

• Seems to me that several of the items on these lists depend on personal or institutional wealth or access to it, something my students do not have, and something my institution lacks as well.

  Whatever happened to the idea of public use? Does everything have to be privatized, and, if it is, what happens to the people who can't afford to go that way? Public telephones, anyone?

  And what about those "marginal" cultures where not everything is available on Google or Amazon? These lists are dismissing entire countries, you know.

• What goes around...
• Posted by James Wilding , Principal at Claires Court Schools on December 30, 2009 at 9:30am EST

• I remember finding an epidiascope 25 years ago, a bit of technology already 50 years old, and amazing pupils by projecting book pages onto the white board. Showing an original page of an authors work could bring a hush to the nosiest of classes. Of course, where we are now, is that we can scan, sample, cut and paste to the heart's content. Vast volumes of content are but a click away, but teaching has never been about the technology and always about the people - Ian Yorston, a leading digital strategist within UK Independent education has these 2 insights to share
  "Its never an IT Issue, its always a People issue" and "Find a teacher that can instill awe and wonder and give them what they need to do it"
  Frankly if the teachers need videotape or DVD, chalk or a slate (ancient or modern) let them have it; we all remember our great teachers, and they inspired us despite, not because of it all.

  On hard copy magazines, broadsheets and the like, it's a great vanity that suggests I can browse the internet as successfully as the editor of the Guardian G2 can. What allows me the insights I have as much as anything are the frequent unplanned reads of cleverly assembled articles/content in close proximity. I remain in awe of quality journalism, and I'll pay for the privilege of waiting for the hour, day or month of publication to read the best at their best.

• Classroom Technolgy vs. Student Engagement
• Posted by James Dalton , VP of IT and PR at Roanoke College on December 30, 2009 at 9:45am EST

• The concept of using student laptops in lieu of computer labs is attractive be fraught with complications. The predominate hurdle is the lag in software publishers providing such services as web based applications or flexible licensing models. Yes virtual labs do address some of these issues providing tremendous convenience but there is still a significant cost for hardware as well as core software to provide such services. Finally numerous practical issues must be addressed when there is little control of what type of system a student may use to access services which cuts significantly into instructional time.

  Addressing this issue from the perspective of technology in the classroom may be too narrow if we do not address pedagogical changes which move technology out of the classroom and faculty to student engagement into the classroom.

• Why purchase print journals?
• Posted by E-Resource Librarian on December 30, 2009 at 9:45am EST

• In most cases the library does not own the electronic version of these periodicals, it leases access to them. So you can subscribe to the electronic version of a journal for years yet lose all access (even to those years that you paid for) by not renewing the lease. Until that changes libraries need to keep print copies of some journals, especially those that directly support the curriculum.

• On the subject of e-journals
• Posted by Anne on December 30, 2009 at 10:00am EST

• There are several reasons that libraries cannot switch entirely to e-journals. Among them:

  1) Publisher does not offer IP authentication. At a large institution it's impossible to manage individual login/password authentication for individual journals.
  2) Publisher does not offer perpetual access (aka post-cancellation rights), meaning that if you cancel a subscription in the future you do not retain access to the years you paid for.
  3) Publisher charges an excessive premium for online access.
  4) Publisher offers access through a non-standard method, meaning that OpenURL linking is not possible.
  5) Publisher does not offer online access at all.

• Microfilm
• Posted by bibliothecaire on December 30, 2009 at 10:45am EST

• Microfilm is still a primary source for students and researchers, especially those working on material that has not been digitised and is not likely to be. The costs involved for scanning, ocr, metadata & digital curation are insurmountable for less-used, but still important, sources.

• Not quite!
• Posted by Tracy Lightcap , Professor / Political Science at LaGrange College on December 30, 2009 at 10:45am EST

• To the above, I would add:

  Transparencies are out?

  Nope. Why, you might well ask? Resolution. The typical computer and projector are still very low resolution devices compared to camera ready proofs. I can put up very detailed graphics from transparencies that I can't manage with any computer based system. And, I might add, I do use LMSs for other purposes. This is a drawback that will disappear over time, of course, but right now it's a deal breaker for many pedagogical purposes.

  Paper journals are out?

  Nope. One reason has already been given: ownership. The other hasn't been: durability. Computer databases are held on electronic equipment. Electronic equipment deteriorates over time and, not to put too fine a point on it, breaks. File formats get superseded and the files in them aren't updated. Incompatibilities between privately developed electronic systems make life difficult too. Paper, especially the kind we use now, lasts for 100 years easy. And, despite what the guys at Google say, there is never going to be a complete transfer of existing paper resources to electronic files. The return on doing that is simply too low, even with decreasing computer and scanning costs. Besides, searching books and journals on-line is much less efficient.

• Star Wars Predicts the Future
• Posted by Ms Meyer , Clinical Library Specialist at Chamberlain College of Nursing on December 30, 2009 at 11:15am EST

• "Fact is, if the archives are not online then for all intents and purposes they do not exist."

  This comment caused a deja vu moment for me. The Star Wars Movie had a scene with a librarian where Obi Wan asks the librarian about information on a planet because he cannot find it in the database and the librarian replys "If you cannot find it in the database, then it does not exist."

  Thank you George Lukkas,

• Obsolete for the Privileged
• Posted by Mikaila Mariel Lemonik Arthur , Assistant Professor of Sociology at Rhode Island College on December 30, 2009 at 12:45pm EST

• Clearly, Joshua Kim is speaking from his privileged position as a member of the Ivy League. For our students, few of these technologies are obsolete (ok, maybe the overhead projector). Many do not have computers (or if they do, the computers are out-of-date and can't handle the demands of new technologies) and even fewer have printers at home. They need the computer lab just to complete their coursework. Online testing and video viewing might be great, but as long as LMS is not fully compatible with smart phones, it will leave some students unable to complete the course requirements. Many are unable to access readings online and unable to afford the fees for printing out the many pages these readings comprise. We are using these and other new technologies in the hopes that by doing so, our students will develop the technical competencies necessary to succeed in today's economy, but our students are not happy about it. Many prefer the old version, which to them is the way things are--not something obsolete.

• obsolete print?
• Posted by John Farley , Physics and Astronomy at UNLV on December 30, 2009 at 12:45pm EST

• There certainly are space-saving advantages to electronic books and journal articles, a fact underlined by the bulging bookshelves in my office.

  However, a case can be made for hard copy: I can read hard copy (typed reports) from many decades ago. But some of my old data, stored on magnetic tapes or 8-inch and 5-inch floppies, is not easily accessible. Reading one of those old media is a so inconvenient that I'll probably retire first. It would be easier to read an original Gutenberg Bible. I've been told that real archivists don't believe in anything except books (on acid-free paper, of course).

• Obsolete???
• Posted by Jim in Illinois , Media at Career Center on December 30, 2009 at 1:30pm EST

• Last year I was still using all of the above tools in class (except microfiche) because the schools I worked for could not afford adding the latest technical tools (i.e.: on-line computers for each student). I did use and taught about new digital technologies, however budget limits kept the spread of new tools very limited in our school, for example, only a few Macs for video editing, old PCs for audio and the web, a limited number of workstations for on-line access, smartboards for only a few teachers--and yes we still used Scantron for the required exams. And all this happening in a Media lab class at a Career and Technical center.

  New technologies and new learning methods are held hostage by failed funding and top down bureaucratic curriculum policies in most states and school districts.

  Even with these limitations, I found my high school students often had more access to new technologies than most of my college students.

  By the way, many of the employers who hired my graduates are still using analog and other "obsolete" technologies in their businesses (including microfische).

• Keep computer labs!
• Posted by Marissa on December 30, 2009 at 1:45pm EST

• I am a recent university graduate from who can honestly say I wrote upward of 95% of my papers in computer labs. Although all of my friends and I had personal laptops there is something to be said about having desktop computer access available. My friends and I all seemed to agree that getting work done in our apartments and dorm rooms was impossible and the labs served as quiet zones to truly focus. I will become an advocate for this cause if Syracuse ever discusses removing their labs, I think as another comment said, they serve as social areas and are a necessity on campuses!

• Laptops != ubiquitous (yet)
• Posted by Robert Talbert , Associate Professor of Mathematics and Computing at Franklin College on December 30, 2009 at 3:00pm EST

• "With almost all students coming to campus with their own laptop it makes little sense for colleges spend precious resources on a roomful of desktop machines."

  Be careful of overgeneralizing here. In my experience, nowhere near "almost all" of the students are showing up with laptops. The number is on the rise, but I would say at my place -- a college pretty similar to many small liberal arts colleges out there -- it's more like half of the students, and that's probably too high. Certainly only about 20% of the students I had last semester had laptops. For those folks, campus-owned and -operated computer labs are essential. Until that number starts pushing 90-95% I would say that computer labs are not obsolete.

• Obsolete Edn Technologies
• Posted by Frank Ferguson , Chairman at Curriculum Associates, LLC on December 30, 2009 at 5:15pm EST

• I, and other colleagues of mine, would argue that the 19th century, one-size-fits-all "textbook" is ripe for replacement in K-12. It may continue to serve the "middle" of the class but not those who struggle and poorly serves the gifted whe are bored and would move ahead if they were not contstrained to be in Chapter X in Week Y by district guidelines.

• Chicken and Egg
• Posted by Jonathan Dresner on December 30, 2009 at 10:45pm EST

• Most of this article basically boils down to "LMS's actually do most of what they're intended to do." There's nothing surprising that LMS's have academic functions that replicate a lot of what we do in the classroom (or library, etc.): that's the point! LMS designers set out to do just that and have, more or less, succeeded. That doesn't make the old technologies obsolete, exactly, but it does increase our flexibility in managing the tasks we mostly already do just fine.

• Mom, what grade were you in when you got a computer?
• Posted by Jane Jensen , Assoc. Professor Ed Policy at University of Kentucky on December 31, 2009 at 9:45am EST

• This was my 10 year old's question a few days ago. Mom, when did you get your first computer?" "It was a hand-me-down from my older brother as I headed off to graduate school with 5"+ floppy discs," was my answer. Her look of pure astonishment accompanied by the question, "What's a floppy disc?" made me laugh and feel a bit nostalgic for the days when social media consisted of waiting in line for the one computer lab on campus.

• The 1990s - the beginning of scholarship?
• Posted by Anne Pierce , Adjunct lecturer, History at University of North Carolina, Charlotte on December 31, 2009 at 1:45pm EST

• Tagging along in the dust of the electronic age are all those works, good, bad, and mediocre, that form the foundation of current scholarship. Does anyone really foresee a time of infinite money and research assistants that will allow all those pre 1990 books to be scanned? Shall we just discard them as unimportant to the work we are doing now?

  Does anyone other than myself worry about the dangers of placing knowledge stores in the relatively fragile realm of electrons? One of the ideas I hammer home to my students is the revolution in knowledge that followed the invention of movable type. Now, instead of being limited to a few copies held in secure places, knowledge could spread quickly and easily via comparatively cheap, easily transported, and incredibly stable mass produced books.

  Take your latest lecture, stored on your flash drive, and drop it in the sink. Now do the same to your lecture notes. Which one do you have a better chance of being able to use in an hour when class meets?

  Obviously I've nothing against the computer - but why must it be an either/or proposition? In addition to complementing each other technologically, the two also complement each other economically and aesthetically. Perhaps we should do as much to show our 'privileged' students the value of the written word as we rightfully do to provided our 'underprivileged' ones with the latest technology.

• To 'Be' Obsolete, or To 'Become' Obsolete
• Posted by Profgood , Professor of Business & Mgmt. at Notre Dame de Namur University on January 2, 2010 at 3:15pm EST

• I would agree with some of the previous, comments ... but only to a degree. In terms of computer labs, Joshua did not state that they would go away totally but 'they would soon follow' the demise of language labs. And, of course, there will always be 'specialized' uses for desktop computers and perhaps even (very) small specialized labs. (Hey, there were those that thought that UNIVAC would never go away in the late 1950s:-) More and more students, even on 'poor' campuses, are showing up with laptops. They can can use these in regular classrooms, student centers, libraries, local coffee shops (via WiFi) so the 'social learning' aspect of using computers will still be there.

  In terms of paper (produced by photocopiers, or used to produce journals) come on people . . .trees, forests, global warming, carbon footprints!!!! Many of us are constantly haranguing our students about these things; perhaps we should practice what we preach.

  LMS's are 'good' and are but forerunners of better and more integrated learning technologies which will allow for more social-learning networking. (If you want to read a speculative SciFi novel about what they might become over the next century, read Neal Stephenson's, THE DIAMOND AGE.) Actually, the free, open source LMS, MOODLE, appears to adapt more rapidly to new apps. such as Web 2.0 ones, than some of the commercially available LMSs.

  Finally, note that the news-PAPER business is in rapid decline and most that survive are rapidly increasing their online visability. (I get several daily via my newsreader, and have my students accessing Reuters through our LMS.) I would predict that most campuses will become pretty much paperless by the end of the next decade: independent learning via emerging learning technologies, not excluding advanced LMS-like ones, will either strongly augment or take the place of 'some' f2f class experiences in a number of academic areas and will no doubt totally replace some classes, or successfully merge them with others to which they are pragmatically related. .

• Silicon Valley is not my valley
• Posted by sukimon at Dartmouth College on January 2, 2010 at 3:45pm EST

• Dialup and landlines are still used and important in my area. The Silicon Valley article must be assuming you live in a region with great wired Internet and/or wireless access. The way things are moving in the telco world, I don't forsee these issues being addressed until 2020 at the earliest. Does dialup suck? Yes, but it's not obsolete.

  In 2020, you could probably add DVDs (standard def, most definitely blu-ray) to the list.

• Other obsolete items
• Posted by Michael Kuentz , Director of Media Operations at Detroit Youth Foundation on January 2, 2010 at 9:45pm EST

• Going the way of the albatross are the pen and pencil (or preferred writing instrument) and the notebook. Students take notes on their laptop or netbook computers and thus leave the pen and paper behind. Interactive online tests have even done their part to discourage the use of ink and lead.

  Also disappearing - the student locker. In my facility, students have lockers assigned to them but few use them; instead they keep all of their belongings with them and take them from classroom to classroom.

  Headed in the same but opposite direction is the bookbag. When I was in school - elementary, high school, college and later grad school - the preferred mode of transportation of school materials was in a book bag or backpack. Now-a-days, kids are hauling wheeled mini-suitcases. Stuffed with books, folders and their laptops, these portable over-night bags are the favorite matching item for any student's uniform or wardrobe.

  And lastly, one more soon-to-be obsolete classroom item is the cell phone. Although nearly every school I have ever been in or taught in discouraged and even handed out suspensions to students caught using a cell phone, today the PDA, Smarthphone and Blackberry has replaced the cell phone completely.

• What's old is new again
• Posted by Tammy , Assoc Prof Spanish at IU South Bend on January 4, 2010 at 10:45am EST

• Photocopiers are in hot demand again on campus as SCANNERS. The addition of this feature means I can take student journals, group brainstorming notes, blue book essays, etc. and scan them to PDF to post in their LMS Drop Boxes (as a language instructor, I need spontaneous pencil and paper submissions on a regular basis). Result: ePortfolios that can be accessed for review by instructor and student alike through Net. I can scroll chronologically through an individual's writing samples, compare like assignments, and evaluate improvement without having to work to recall details or write extensive notes to myself. Also sharing such work with students is quick and easy as well as instructor's notes I make during our discussions in class. Instead of fooling with iPOD microphone, trying to transcribe and edit a document, Camtasia, Raptivity, etc. etc. all handwritten comments, suggestions, jokes, etc. can be PDF'd (does such a verb exist?) before I get back to my office.

• Waving goodbye to Blackboard and all branded LMS's
• Posted by Susan Gautsch , Director of eLearning/Faculty Information Systems at Pepperdine on January 4, 2010 at 1:15pm EST

• Q. Of all the different features/functionality found in an LMS, which one(s) cannot be replicated quicker, faster, sleaker, cheaper in another Web 2.0 tool?

  A. [according to my findings thus far] Gradebook. But everything else, content delivery, file share, discussion boards, chat, student administration, mass email, etc is so easily replaced with Google Apps (and the likes), microblogs such as Twitter or other customizable tools such as Socialcast, Yammer, etc., blogs (for me and my students), wikis for collaboration. And then there's some even better features not even dreamed of yet in LMS's: Voicethread for narrated presentations and social media collaboration, etc.

  As for the gradebook, there are some tools out there, but most are geared toward K12 and are too turnkeyish. Google Spreadsheets is great for maintaining a gradebook, but we're back to establishing secret codes for students to see their grades in a secure manner such that they're not seeing each others.

  So Happy 2010 and let's get rid of the LMS already!
  Susan

• Wow
• Posted by Bob , Teacher at ECHS on January 4, 2010 at 1:15pm EST

• "With almost all students coming to campus with their own laptop..."
  That line alone tells me how out of touch with reality you are. At least half of my students don't have internet access at home let alone their own laptop computers and I don't work at a school that is in a low income area.

• LMS still have their use
• Posted by Thomas on January 4, 2010 at 7:15pm EST

• I agree that much LMS functionality can be replicated for free in Web 2.0. But LMS provide more than just gradebook. Other essential functions include peer assessment and tracking. Due to FERPA, assessment-related functions may always require a significant degree of control.

  Nobody would like to kill off Blackboard more than I would. I detest being forced to use that clunky POS. But even if I succeeded in killing BB, I would still use Moodle for the above reasons.

• Obviously not a historian...
• Posted by Thomas on January 4, 2010 at 7:30pm EST

• I can't imagine that anyone who does historical research in newspapers would say that microfiche and microfilm are obsolete. These media are usually far easier to read and browse than electronic scans are. They usually have better resolution as well.

  So much invaluable data was lost when libraries filmed their newspaper collection an then discarded the paper copies. When we move from film to scans we'll lose even more history.

• requiem for the language lab
• Posted by Cindy Evans , Director, Foreign Language Resource Ceneter at Skidmore College on January 5, 2010 at 12:00pm EST

• I count myself among a strong community of language lab directors who believe that we provide vital learning spaces that are typically now called "language learning / language resource centers." Gone are the audio language labs of the past, indeed, but most of us have transformed our facilities into multimedia, multipurpose centers that support the foreign language, culture, and literature curriculum. The value of the language center is in the unique support it provides to a community of learners and that has everything to do with it being a physical space. Our facility at Skidmore includes a heavily booked multimedia classroom that allows us to use media and resources in a variety of ways & forms in our teaching. Language teachers have long been early adopters of technology because of the opportunities to provide context for language learning, so I believe that language centers will be around as long as we keep current with technology that supports our goals.

• Course packs
• Posted by Kathym , Librarian on January 5, 2010 at 2:00pm EST

• Course packs have not gone away! Instead the production of course packs has been transferred to the students via the LMS. As a former academic librarian, I can tell you that probably 80% of the printing in the library was printing out of lab manuals, study guides, course notes, quizzes, etc. from their LMS course sites. And of course copies of the Powerpoints--most of which used a ton of toner to print. If faculty want to help students save paper, the first day of class they should show them how to print multiple Powerpoint slides per page --you'd be surpised how many students have no idea how.
  We also found many students who owned laptops did not want to carry them around because they were heavy and fragile and because the best wireless connection on our campus was slower than hardwired. Boot up on the shared wireless was VERY slow. Plus they needed access to specialized software they couldn't afford to buy--or which they were unable to buy because of licensing.
  Another reason paper journals persist is because of aggregation. A vendor or publisher gets a exclusive license to include a publication in a journal database--which comes at a hefty price. If you only want one or two journals in the aggregation, you buy them in paper instead rather than pay for a bunch of journals you don't want/need. This frequently happens with scientific society's journals where the undergraduate-appropriate journals are bundled with those that are only useful for advanced subject specialists--and all you want are the basic journals.

• #7? Really?
• Posted by Georges Detiveaux , Manager, Teaching & Learning Center Labs at Lone Star College System on January 6, 2010 at 2:00pm EST

• As the manager of bustling computer labs that serve a campus of a community college system now breaking 60,000 students, I object to #7 on your list. As a language teacher and technologist who sees first hand every day the benefits of a dedicated language lab space, I so object doubly!

• Language Labs
• Posted by Amber Kent , CALL Specialist at Indiana University on January 6, 2010 at 3:15pm EST

• The most valuable asset of a computer lab/language lab is not the machines and software themselves...it's the assistance of the people who work there. That will never be obsolete.

• A Reprieve for Computer Labs & Language Labs
• Posted by Gerry Sullivan , Director - Marketing at Robotel Inc. on January 6, 2010 at 3:30pm EST

• The common theme linking the 8 "obsolete" learning technologies is media related. With the wealth of electronic information available on-line, indeed we are seeing decreases in the use of older, traditional media like transparencies, microfiche, magnetic tape, optical disks, and even paper. And certainly the apparatuses (like overhead projectors) that were used to support these media are slowly but steadily disappearing from classrooms.

  That being said, I was surprised to find language labs and computer labs included in the list of "endangered technologies", as these labs have continued to evolve along with the underlying technologies. Modern labs are using digital content in an electronic format rather than the old audiocassettes and transparencies of days gone by.

  One reason that these labs continue to endure is that they encompass far more than individual students accessing electronic media from a computer. Teachers play a key role in most lab environments, and the real-time interaction amongst teachers and students still remains vital in the learning of most subjects - especially new languages!

  In summary, I believe that the obituary for computer labs & language labs is a little premature. The reality is that these labs are evolving and continue to provide meaningful benefits to the learning process.

• Language Centers are not obsolete if their staff is not
• Posted by Mike Ledgerwood , Chair of World Languages and Cultures at Samford University on January 6, 2010 at 9:30pm EST

• Language "Labs" have been obsolete for over twenty years. However, Language Centers that are well staffed and well placed in their institution will not become obsolete as long as their staff and facility exists to help their clientele in the best possible ways. Centers that serve as welcoming places and provide appropriate assistance for learners will be in fashion as long as learners need help with their language acquisition. In addition, Centers that support a variety of technologies and learning tools will be well position for learners who don't wish to throw out the "baby with the bathwater".

• Wrong.
• Posted by Andrew Ross , Director, Language Resource Center at Brown University on January 7, 2010 at 9:30am EST

• Computer labs, and language resource centers -- the language "lab" model is something of a hangover from the days of the audiolingual method -- aren't obsolete, as long as their missions and resources continue to adapt to the needs of their constituencies. At Brown, we're in the process of repurposing our computer lab spaces to serve broader populations and to support pedagogically sound, innovative uses of technology for teaching and learning. Some of our resources are moving to network-only, but certainly not all. Specialized software for language and other kinds of instruction, accompanied by staff expertise, isn't something that the student + laptop equation can provide.

  The author's point about redirecting resources to learning technologies is well-taken, though. Too many institutions of higher learning give lip-service to those areas where the "rubber hits the road" in terms of academic mission support without actually allocating much beyond basic plumbing and a one-size-fits-all approach to resources (you can have Blackboard, Blackboard or Blackboard).

• Language Centers Hardly Obsolete
• Posted by Mary Beth Barth , Director, Language Center at Hamilton College on January 7, 2010 at 3:00pm EST

• Language Centers are hardly obsolete--they are long-standing and excellent future models of academic support.

  I couldn't agree more with the author's comment as far as general IT computing centers go: "With almost all students coming to campus with their own laptop it makes little sense for colleges spend precious resources on a roomful of desktop machines. " This is why IT centers on nearly every campus have been experiencing an identity crisis (see Educause). Language centers are something completely different and the author is wrong in lumping Language Centers with general computing centers. Discipline specific, specialized, curricular based labs are very secure, necessary and successful--and the Language Center is an excellent example and has been a model academic support structure for over half a decade. Why? Because it recognized the importance of a community of learners decades ago, not to mention that technology has always been integral rather than a peripheral add-on, and most importantly driven by pedagogy and second language acquisition research. Forward thinking, ahead of its time. Has a long future!!

  Students at Hamilton refer to the Language Center as their Second Home. A community of learners where students and faculty of all languages and levels congregate, where formal and informal learning occur, supported by the expertise and technical needs of the discipline. Check out my website videos--Changes, Always Something Going On (10 am we are generally packed) and the LC mission statement. It's about the tailored, dynamic, energized environment and shared purpose, goals, and commitment-- the expertise, the connection with the language curriculum on a daily basis, the efficacy and efficiency--far more so than the technology.

  Welcome to the Language Center!

  Centrally located within the language departments on the third floor of the Christian A. Johnson Building, the Language Center is a state-of-the-art facility that supports innovative pedagogy and leading edge technology. The value of community in learning has always been central to the mission, design and ambience of the Language Center. In addition to a place where classes are held and students work independently, students of all languages and levels intersect to work in an environment that facilitates the integration of formal and informal learning and promotes opportunities for interaction and sharing with others. Wherever future directions in pedagogy and technology take the Language Center, the sense of a community of learners—of people with shared purpose—will remain constant and its most valuable asset.

  http://www.hamilton.edu/LanguageCenter/

• An Open Letter to Joshua Kim
• Posted by Douglas W. Canfield , Coordinator of the Language Resource Center at University of Tennessee on January 11, 2010 at 9:15pm EST

• http://www.languagelabunleashed.org/2010/01/11/an-open-letter-to-joshua-kim/

• an excellent example of poor journalism
• Posted by Deanne , Director, Language Resource Center at Kutztown University on January 13, 2010 at 10:00am EST

• I respectably suggest that Mr. Kim needs to go to journalism school (go back to journalism school) to learn that research is the basis of all stories worth any salt.

  Not only does it appear that Mr. Kim does not know what language learning technology is about or what specialized technology is still involved in the complex demands of technology-enhanced language learning, he also hasn't bothered to check what is really happening in the world. It would take only a few visits to college campuses of different types (small state, large state, top-10, private) to figure out that language labs are not obsolete by any means to those people that use them on a daily basis, including faculty and a large number of students. However, if Mr. Kim were to be in doubt still after witnessing this rather blatant evidence that we are still on the cutting edge of technology for pedagogy sake (as opposed to technology for technology sake), then he simply needs to have a look at the following article in Education Week - http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2010/01/08/02languagelabs.h03.html?intc=es . Language labs are not like any other computer lab, nor is every student going to purchase specialized hardware and software specifically for their college language classes. And learning management systems, as Mr. Kim states, are not a one-size-fits-all solution to every discipline that approaches blended or distance-learning solutions.

  This particular blog has reduced my opinion of Mr. Kim, and of Inside Higher-Ed as a result. I expected better.

• More comments
• Posted by Language Lab Unleashed on January 15, 2010 at 8:46am EST

• More comments here: http://www.languagelabunleashed.org/2010/01/14/low-hanging-fruit/