379 University Life
http://www.ellio.org/enqiish/0351/379-Miki-Uni.htm
Miki talks about her university. Pre-listentng, discuss with your neighbour.
a) Name some famous American universities.
b) What is multiculturalism? How can universities be multicultural?
c) Who is a Nobel laureate?
d) What is scientific engineering?
e) Do you think that students at universities in this country or Slovakia are generally interested in politics?
Listen and answer the Qs.
1. Which university did Miki attend?...............
2. Why is the university famous?...................
3. Which natural beauties did she mention?.....
4. What happened there during World War II? ,
5. Where was she living in the first year?........
6. What are co-ops?.............................................
7. Where was she working during her studies?
Listen again and fill in the missing words.
Todd: Miki, you went to UC Berkeley, a very famous university in the U.S. What is your university like? Why is it famous?
Miki: Why is it famous? Well, I suppose historically it's kind of famous, recent history,
because it was a center for the freedom of 1...........movement in the 1960's and
the civil rights movement, and it's pretty much where multi-culturalism, feminist studies and those sorts of so called liberal political movements were born and they're still quite strong today on campus and so students kind of get drawn to that, the
political aspect of it I suppose, also the, it's a research university and it 2.........
nobel laureates, very famous professors, at the top of their field, it's also quite a beautiful campus, I love the campus, it's not, it's not, how do you say?
Todd: It's not like maybe a college town, or?
Miki: Ah, no, it's not really a college town, of course, because it's right smack in the middle of a metropolitan area which is the Bay Area, and just right across the bay
from San Francisco. The 3.................is quite beautiful. There's the ocean to the
west. There are mountains to the east and just beautiful 4...........sunsets going
down into the Golden Gate. The natural scenery is just beautiful, and the architecture of the campus is quite beautiful too, and apparently during the war, World War II, a
number of tests were done on campus in terms of 5..................floral species with
each other, and so you have firs next to 6.......which is a strange combination. The
idea was would they kill each other.
Todd: Oh, Wow! That's awful!
Miki: Yeah, no, so there's some scientific engineering going on on campus. Todd: But the trees survived?
Miki: Yes, as a 7...................
Todd: Well, that's good. You can't fool nature.
Miki: No. no, but it is a beautiful campus, and I went there for four years as an undergrad. I lived in the dormitory for the first year and I lived in the co-ops from the second through the fourth year and the co-ops are kind of a housing community that's owned by students, it's run by students and is there for quite cheap so it attracts poor students who work, while they go to school at the same time, and that's who I was. I worked at a restaurant, I worked at a sandwich shop, I worked at a toy
store, I worked as a secretary to 8.................school and lived quite cheaply in
these co-ops which 9................also had marvelous parties and almost every
weekend there was some party somewhere that one of these co-ops was putting on, and it was really wonderful.
Todd: Wow! 10.............like a good time.
Miki: Yeah!
Online learning
What is online learning?
What makes studying online different from face-to-face study is that it uses the internet as the primary means of communication. Learning is often organised through a virtual learning environment (VLE)1. This provides discussion areas and links to readings and other resources as well as letting students submit assignments2 electronically and take quizzes online. Online courses are often collaborative3 with students posting messages4 for each other to read and working together to construct knowledge5. As a result students in virtual6 classrooms develop a sense of being part of an online community and feel much less isolated than they might in traditional distance courses7. The teacher's role is to set appropriate tasks, to moderate8 discussions and to provide feedback9. Teachers may also conduct online tutorials10.
1 software that allows staff and students to interact {e.g. WebCT or Blackboard) 2 hand in essays or other work 3 involve students working together 4 making a contribution to an online discussion 5 build up understanding of the topic 6 online 7 courses where the student studies at home using materials sent by the academic institution 8 gently control, by asking questions and encouraging learners to make connections 9 comment on students' work 10 teaching sessions for individuals or small groups of students
Key terms
term	meaning	word combinations
hybrid/blended course	a course that combines both online and face-to-face (f2f) teaching and learning	enrol on a hybrid/blended course take/do a hybrid/blended course
a (mailing) list	online discussion group managed through a software program - each message or contribution is sent to a common email, then forwarded to all members	post a message to a list subscribe to a list1 unsubscribe from a list2
discussion forum	area of website or VLE where you can post a message for other participants to read and reply to	participate / take part in a discussion forum
username	form of your name the software recognises and so lets you go further - it can be case-sensitive3	enter your username
a thread	an ordered row of comments in a discussion forum on a specific topic	start a new thread contribute to a thread follow a thread
1 join a list 2 leave a list 3 the use of upper and lower case letters must exactly match what was entered as the username when setting up the account [upper case - capital letters]
Netiquette [rules for effective online communication]
• Reread your message before hitting send.
• Use an appropriate subject header.
• In a mailing list 'lurk before you leap', i.e. observe the conventions others use before joining a discussion yourself.
• Obey the KISS principle (Keep it Short and Simple).
• Don't flame other posters, [be very rude to other members of an online group]
1
Could you do well as an online student? Read the profile of a virtual student at www.virtualstudent.com/html/profile.html. Note any useful vocabulary there.
52   Academic English in Use
Exercises
22.1    Look at A and fill in the gaps in this email from a student on an online course. 868
! Hi Jean,
! My online course is brilliant. We use Moodle which isVLE software - that means (1)......................................
! learning environment. You get to know the other students well even though the web's our only
| (2].....................................of communication. I really feel I'm part of an online (3)....................................... It's also
! great as you don't have to go to the library - all the readings and other (4]......................................are online
: and there are (5).....................................to them in Moodle-just click and you've got them. We work in
| groups - the teacher sets various collaborative (6).....................................and then provides
| [7).................................... on our work. We have to take a (8]......................................every week but it's just a set
| of easy multiple-choice questions. At the end of the course we have to (9)......................................a big
| assignment. Anyway, it's really fun.
I Ellen
s
22.2    Match the first part of the expression from the left-hand box with the second part on the right.
construct enrol enter hit
moderate
post start subscribe take part unsubscribe
from a mailing list in a discussion group the send button to a mailing list discussions
a new thread knowledge messages your username on a hybrid course
22.3
22.4
Now choose word combinations from 22.2 to complete these sentences. Change the verb form where necessary.
1 When you log on you will be asked to........................................................and password.
2 A long time ago I.........................................................for marine engineers. I don't want to receive
messages from it any more but now I can't remember how to..........................................................
3 I really enjoy.........................................................for language teachers and yesterday 1......................................................
about teaching grammar online.
4 I decided to......................................................... as I thought it would be good to experience a course
with both online and face-to-face elements.
5 You will save yourself a lot of embarrassment if you get into the habit of always rereading what you've written before........................................................and..........................................................
6 Online instructors must be good at.........................................................so students can work together to
Answer these questions.
1 How would you feel if someone flamed you? Why would you feel like that?
2 Are your computer usernames and passwords case-sensitive?
3 Why do you think the KISS principle is important for online posts?
4 Is lurking online a good or a bad thing? Why?
5 Why is it important to choose subject headers carefully?
6 Have you any experience of being in a virtual classroom? What was it like?
Use an online search engine (such as Google or Yahoo!) to do a search on online courses + the subject you are interested in. Click on one of the links it finds. Note any interesting vocabulary relating to online study that you find on that site.
Academic Vocabulary in Use 53