History of the Digital Language Centre

Fall 2011

The Language Labs' name is changed to Digital Language Centre (approved by the Vice Presidents' Council on December 1st, 2011). The name change reflects the shift from static, analogue media to dynamic, digital communications and replaces what is considered by many to be an outdated term.

Winter 2010

The Language Labs celebrated the grand opening of the newly renovated digital facility on February 8 with great fanfare! Special thanks to the Department of German and Russian for organizing this event.

During this, the first full semester of the new facility, there was an increase in the number of classes taught in the labs, some even for all their weekly contact hours. Instructors of French tried implementing new technologies into the (lab) classroom, such as Apple Remote Desktop, Desire to Learn and Moodle, with success.

Spring 2008 - Fall 2009

The Language Labs were closed for major renovations that saw the replacement of the analogue Audio Lab (now the DLC) with a newly-designed, digital language centre.The labs re-opened to students in October of 2009.

The MLC (SN-4022) was redesigned to allow for collaborative teaching and learning by including non-linear arrangement of workstations. Both facilities have projection equipment. The total number of computer workstations is seventy.

Fall 2006

The Department of French and Spanish introduced lab tests in French 1500 and French 1501 using the authoring tool Moodle.

The Department of German and Russian also began utilizing Moodle to administer lab exams. German 3010 and 3011 included online Moodle mid-term and final exams.

The Department of Linguistics implemented Moodle practice exercises for Ling 3104 students. As well, the MLC has been used in the teaching of experimental phonetics since Winter 2006.

Summer 2006

Language Labs student staff began digitizing the vast collection of LP records that had accumulated since the early days of language labs in the 1960s. Among the diverse materials there are musical and literary gems which, it is hoped, will be compiled into an online database in the future.

Russian was added to the line-up of satellite TV channels in the MLC.

August 2005

Through generous funding from the then Dean of Arts, Dr. Steven Wolinetz, the MLC was refurbished into a "smart classroom" consisting of 42 eMacs and multimedia projection equipment that included multilingual satellite television. The layout of the facility was altered to situate students facing in the same direction, thus benefitting computer-assisted language instruction. The previous layout had favoured individual study by students who were seated in clusters of six carrels each.

February 2004

The Language Labs Advisory Committee organized a discussion panel entitled The Future of Computer-Assisted Language Learning at MUN, during which participants Dr. David Graham (Dean of Arts), Dr. Anne Thareau (French and Spanish), Dr. Fred White (German and Russian), Dr. Yvan Rose (Linguistics), Dr. Magessa O'Reilly (French and Spanish) and Mr. Alan Richards (Computing and Communications) presented their views on where CALL could and should be going. They reported on their individual experiences with various software authoring programs and web-based materials. The discussion centered around a desired movement toward open-source software development and away from proprietary packages. Panelists discussed the benefits and challenges of offering language learning materials via the web that are presently accessible only in the MLC.

November 2003

The Language Labs gained wheelchair access through modification of one student station in each lab.

August 2003

Language students were introduced to an electronic means of attendance tracking through a website designed by ccwebworks for this purpose. Feedback from students to the new initiative was very positive as shown by responses to the online survey on the Language Labs website.

October 2000

The Language Labs acquired three Bell ExpressVu satellite receivers that allowed students to watch programs in French, Spanish, German and Italian on selected computers.

January-October 1998

Colleen Murphy joined the Language Labs' staff as interim programmer consultant while Jennifer Bates was away on maternity leave.

Fall 1997

The Language Labs participated in the high school Co-Op Education Mentoring Programme. Our staff was pleased to welcome Laurie Harvey, a student at Eugene Vaters Collegiate, to the Language Labs, where she assisted Professor Kathy Duarte in the development of Spanish computer exercises using the Authoring package Dasher.

Summer 1997

A new sign-in procedure for individual lab work was implemented in the Audio Lab to replace the former system of attendance at a pre-specified time. Students were no longer required to register for a set time during the week, but instead could come to do their labs when it was convenient for them.

Dec. 1996

The Multimedia Language Centre was connected to the Internet and WWW via MUNet, the university-wide network system. This access provided tremendous opportunity for students to gather information about the languages and cultures they studied. They could also opt to find an e-pal with whom to communicate in the target language. Many websites with videoclips and audiofiles were suddenly available at the click of a mouse to provide students with a taste of authentic speech in a language they were studying.

Mar. 1996

Official opening ceremony of the MLC.

Oct. 1995

The MLC opened for use by students enrolled in language courses.

Sept. 1995

Ms Jennifer Bates joined the staff of the language labs as programmer consultant in the MLC. She worked in consultation with faculty members in the language departments to create exercises geared toward individual language courses.

Aug. 1995

The Multimedia Language Centre (MLC) was installed in the old "French" lab in S-4022. This new lab included a development area designed for language professors to create their own language software.

1995

The Multimedia Language Centre Committee was struck. Its mandate was to plan a new computer facility that would begin Memorial's foray into computer-assisted language learning and teaching.

1993

Dr. Cynthia Grover, director of the labs from 1991-93, began planning renovations to the aging German lab, which were completed in the summer of 1994 under the directorship of Karin Thomeier.

1986

A "German" lab was installed in S-4030 consisting of 38 stations identical to the "French" lab (Sony LLC-3000 model).

1985

The lab in the G.A. Hickman Building was dismantled and some equipment relocated to the Science Building. A Language Lab Directorate (consisting of the heads of the language departments) was established to aid in governing the usage of the Junior Division Lab by each department.

1984

Dr. Sandra Clarke took over from Dr. Hewson as the person overseeing the operation of the lab.

1983

A new Sony audio cassette lab (known initially as the "French Junior Division" lab) was installed on the fourth floor of the Science Building, consisting of 47 student booths. The facility in the G.A. Hickman (Education) Building was then known as the "Senior Division" lab and housed materials for German, Russian, Spanish and a host of other foreign languages.

1969 - 1982

The lost years !

1968

The lab in the Arts building was relocated to the Education building. The resulting available space in the Arts building was utilised by the Department of Folklore for their archives. Some components of the lab equipment were shipped to St. Pierre and SWGC in Corner Brook.

1966

A second foreign language lab opened in the Education building. It was equipped with 68 reel-to-reel players for students to use for language practice.

Josette Kielley, instructional assistant, overlooked the day to day operations, a position she held until 1983. In the early years, monitoring of students' command of the French language (German, Spanish, Russian and other languages followed later) was done by faculty members on a voluntary basis. Later on, student monitors were hired to assist learners with the then cutting- edge equipment (!!) and language-related queries.

1965

Victor DuPree was appointed lab technician for the Dept. of Modern Languages.

1961

A new (French) language lab (located in the Arts and Administration Building) was founded and directed by Dr. John Hewson.