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AATG Summer Workshop 1995

Mt. Holyoke College, Smith College

German Teaching and Technology

Andreas Lixl-Purcell

U of N Carolina at Greensboro
http://www.uncg.edu:80/~lixlpurc/ lixlpurc@fagan.uncg.edu

German Studies on the Internet

Enhancing Foreign Language Acquisition through Multimedia

I. Introduction

A. Teaching German with Multimedia Technologies

The advent of digital applications such as CD-ROMs, laserdiscs, multi-media software , and the World Wide Web (www) has provided instructors with a cornucopia of exciting new opportunities to individualize the learning process, and involve students in challenging communicative scenarios. Foremost among these technological tools, and one of the most promising new applications to emerge, is the Internet with its vast resources ranging from the Humanities to Business and Technology. This presentation focuses on the scope, format, and structure of the "German Studies Web" on the net, on locating multimedia research, teaching and learning resources, on combining e-mail and web oriented activities, and on sample Internet exercises for elementary, intermediate, and advanced German students.

The Internet's linkage of images, sounds, texts, and up-to-date archive materials creates entirely new educational domains because they are multimedia by design and interactive by nature. Hypertext browsers function as the gateways to this interdisciplinary universe by immersing language students in multi-sensory learning environments which extend far beyond the walls of traditional classrooms. The net's almost unlimited educational tools and resources [news groups, MOOs, e-mail exchanges, listserv discussion groups, on-line conference forums, electronic articles and books, virtual encyclopaedias, museums, galleries, newspapers, etc] provide a fascinating spectrum of interdisciplinary study sites, including up-to-date links to authentic realia which teachers have long known to foster students' motivations for mastering second languages. Unlike textbooks and tapes, the interactive exhibits awaiting students on the Internet expose them to a holistic experience, since multimedia applications involves all four skills of language learning. In this intertwining of reading, writing, listening and research activities lies the great potential for helping students overcome language and literacy problems. Linking the Internet to the language laboratory has proven particularly effective for tutorials and long distance education projects.

Students are becoming increasingly less sceptical and screen shy about the benefits of Internet generated learning activities, yet there is great need for a deeper understanding about its implications for current educational practices. Our field has come a long way vis-a-vis the digital technologies, and more departments than ever before are exploiting the Internet as a new laboratory tool. To be sure, initiatives like this AATG Workshop are indicative of the growing interest in introducing more multimedia tools into our classrooms. In this methodological shift, the modern language profession is projecting an encouraging new attitude, I believe, which is somewhere in between casual concern and cautious curiosity. Concerning the integration of digital technologies, we have moved from the "so what?" and "yes, but..." attitude of the eighties to the "show me howÉ? stage of the nineties. This promising trend is one that our students have certainly come to appreciate.

The term "digital" itself dramatizes how radically different the new educational approaches really are. The methodology is highly interactive, and therein lies the interest for foreign language educators. It engages students in challenging learning activities, and helps instructors guide students toward primary sources in text, sound, symbol or image form. Teachers can function as guides to repositories of knowledge, and as navigators to new educational domains on the information network. Interactive methods can also combine holistic and analytic techniques to safeguard against the uses of informational media for propaganda purposes or commercial exploitation of the learner.

B. Incorporating Digital Teaching Tools

The field of foreign language instruction is situated in the foreground of this curricular shift. Language studies are encyclopaedic by nature which make them prime disciplines for combining traditional teaching techniques with multimedia instruction. Our laboratories and learning centers are already the direct beneficiaries of this shift towards informational media.

An thorough analysis of the impact of multimedia based teaching methodologies is a taxing task, as the bulky research bibliographies on foreign language education and technology indicate. Hence, the brief overview of "German Studies on the Internet" which follows is simply intended to provide practical guidelines and ideas on enhancing foreign language acquisition through multimedia. The various teaching resources, methods, and activities involving the World Wide Web are outlined according to their usefulness in the classroom.

It goes without saying that these new digital media are used best when they complement traditional forms of instruction such as lectures, group activities, textual analysis, and taped exercises. Their big advantage, however, lies in the fact that they integrate the learning process by transporting students from the linear mode of learning to the relational and the creative mode. This integration greatly enhances and expands the realm of educational possibilities available to teachers and students alike.

C. Collaboration as the Guiding Principle

The introduction of computers and network connections have led to new physical configurations on most campuses: the electronic labs, the foreign language resource centers, the humanities center, or the international center to name just a few of the new buzzwords. At UNCG, one facility is tied to the library, and is located in the space where the old card catalog once stood. It is now part of the libraries domain over information technology to serve a broader audience than foreign language students. This reconfiguration points to an important lesson which applies across the board. The development of computer-based learning activities cannot, and indeed should not be left to individuals or even departments who act as lone rangers. Technology initiatives in the foreign languages or any other field require the association and cooperation of individuals in different parts of our institutional hierarchy. The cyber-buffs and heat seekers can not do it alone. Cooperation and collaboration are imperative for launching new technology initiatives.

D. Student Participation

The use of new technologies in the classroom promotes not only to an immersion into the target culture, but also to a restructuring of teaching techniques and approaches. With the electronic extension of the classroom walls, it becomes evident that the traditional roles of teacher and student are likely to change as well. The foreign language teacher is likely to become more of a motivator, mediator, and designer of tasks rather than the transmitter of information. Instead of lecturing, he or she will be more involved in conducting and directing student activities to foster an environment of expectation, possibility, and performance. As the primary performers in this learning process, students face new roles and responsibilities as well. They are more responsible for what they learn, how they learn, and how they internalize and systemize this knowledge. This responsibility entails the willingness and duty of students to assume more control of their own learning. It requires them to respond more to their own intellectual needs as well as to the interests of their classmates. In short, the integration of multimedia teaching tools allows for multiple approaches, and for the disengagement from methodological dogma and dogmatic methodologies.

The enhancement of language instruction through technology creates less need for what I call the "frontal attack" style of teaching which rests on the delivery of information, and studious note taking by students. Computer-based reference materials assist in this shift away from teacher monologues by providing learners with rapid access to lecture related information. Technology can provide the basis for a more student oriented pedagogy which emphasizes synthetic learning over the linear transfer of knowledge. Meaningful learning requires that information be contextualized and that students discover relationships with other areas of the curriculum. Digital domains such as the world wide web, CD-ROMs and multimedia applications do exactly that. They immerse students in a virtual universe where the study of languages and literatures becomes an interdisciplinary and learner oriented enterprise. The computer, operating in such modes, permits rich possibilities for applied explorations and task oriented training driven by student query instead of teacher directive. This expansion of language and literature studies corresponds to current trends in the humanities which stress critical inquiries across the curriculum.

Experimenting with digital teaching technologies should be directly tied to one's own classroom work to be personally meaningful, and ought to benefit your students before it is to get recognition and support by the administration. And while retooling teaching styles and techniques to accommodate the multimedia applications, it is wise to avoid the temptation to reinvent the blackboard through electronic means. And most importantly, instructors must find ways to assure the screen shy members of their classes that the new technologies are designed to help them in their quests for knowledge without intimidating them. In my own teaching, I have found it most useful to introduce classes as groups to the new hypermedia labs on campus, and to pair the reluctant students with the more computer literate. This partnership arrangement proves not only productive for the mastery of the electronic medium but also provides for a better group dynamic in the classroom. The class begins to function as a team, in which we learn from each other what works and what doesn't.

In this student-teacher partnerships and discoveries lie the primary rewards for our efforts to appropriate new classroom technologies. Students enjoy the exploratory nature of the electronic frontier, and most of them are quite eager to tap into these exciting new resources. This awakens their curiosity, challenges their notions of literacy, and offers yet another reason for the mastery of foreign languages.

II. Multimedia Information Networks

The Internet is the catch-all word used to describe the massive world-wide network of computers. The word "internet" literally means "network of networks". In itself, the Internet is comprised of thousands of smaller regional networks scattered throughout the globe. On any given day it connects roughly 30 million users in over 50 countries. The World-Wide Web is mostly used on the Internet; however, they do not mean the same thing. The Web refers to a body of information - an abstract space of knowledge, while the Internet refers to the physical side of the global network, a giant mass of cables and computers. [For more information, see Kevin Hughes. http://www.eit.com/web/www.guide/]

A. The World Wide Web

The World Wide Web (WWW) is a system that enables users to find and retrieve information by navigating through linked hypertext documents. In a hypertext document, selecting a highlighted word, phrase, or image causes a new document or image or sound to be retrieved and displayed. WWW documents lead the user to skip from one document to another, retrieving information from servers scattered around the world.

WWW Browsers function as easy gateways to the web. Viewing a WWW document with an Internet browser such as Mosaic, or Netscape is much like reading a magazine. Textual information is displayed with typographic fonts. Color graphics can be supplemented by sound that can be played by clicking an icon embedded in the document. Web documents can be interactive. User can click selected buttons on webdocuments to submit information to the Web server or to send e-mail to a programmed address. Among the most popular browsers in use today are Mosaic, Netscape and Lynx, all of which provide simple and efficient tools for surfing the net. Below are sample screens from two applications:

1. Hypertext Documents

The operation of the Web relies mainly on hypertext as its means of interacting with users. Hypertext is basically the same as regular text - it can be stored, read, searched, or edited - with an important exception: hypertext contains connections within the text to other documents. For more information, see Harry M Kriz.

2. Hypermedia Format

Hypermedia is hypertext with a difference - hypermedia documents contain links not only to other pieces of text, but also to other forms of media - sounds, images, and movies. Images themselves can be selected to link to sounds or documents. Hypermedia simply combines hypertext and multimedia.
Hypermedia Page: Berlin Wall

3. Bookmarks

Bookmarks are useful tools provided by most Internet browsers in the menu bar to mark interseting sites and addresses on the Internet. Pulling down the Bookmark menue item and selecting "add this item to the list" will prompt the application to remember the address for the selected site.

4. Search Engines

In order to find information on the Internet, most browers contain convenient links to so-called search engines which work like digital address collectors. Once a keyword has been entered into a search engine, the program screens the web, and prints a bibliography of links matching the search. Below is a sampler opening screens for several search engines on the web.
Search Engine Page

B. Information Retrieval Systems

The World Wide Web on the Internet is an electronic domain that can understand many different information-retrieval protocols such as FTP, Telnet, NNTP, WAIS, gopher, and many others in use on the net today as well as the data formats of those protocols called ASCII, GIF, Postscript, etc. Best of all, it can provide a single consistent user-interface to them all - a new protocol called HTTP and a new data format HTML both geared toward hypermedia browsing.

1. Gopher

gopher is a similar system to the Web, but not as powerful since it is not hypermedia driven. Gopherspace, as the information accessable through gopher is called, consists of menus which can contain text files, binary files, images, keyword-search items, or more menus. The principle limitation of gopher is that it can't exploit hypertext.
Gopher Search Page Sample
Gopher Menu Page Sample

2. FTP Archives

FTP is the standard Internet protocol for copying files between computers. A very large amount of information is available via anonymous FTP, a variant of FTP where a set of files is made available for public access.
FTP Page Sample

3. Telnet

Several computers on the Internet have public-access World Wide Web clients accessable by telnet.

4. Newsgroups

Usenet News. This is like the bulletin-board of the Internet (although plenty of non-Internet users also contribute), with articles being contributed on a wide variety of subjects. The articles are grouped into newsgroups depending on their content --- the author of an article specifies which newsgroup(s) it is to go in. The easiest method of reading and posting items on such bulletin boards involves world wide web browsers such as Netscape.
Newsgroup List Sample
German Newsgroup Sample

III. Internet Resources for Teachers and Students

Among the bounty of "German Studies" resources available on the Internet, several stand out as primary tools for research, teaching, and educational purpsoes. Listed below are a few World Wide Web links, organized according to their usefulness for teachers and students. Detailed information on the scope and contents of these sites can be obtained from within the document folders:

A. Teaching Tools

Within the last year, the German Web witnessed an unusually rapid expansion with the introduction of hundreds of new academic servers, library collections, museums, and newspapers. This ever expanding scope of information is available around the clock, and free of charge for the user. [Note: The university's computing centers, however, must spend considerable amounts of money for providing faculty and studenst with Internet access.] Listed below are some sample sites pertaining to German literature and culture:

1. German Education and Research Web Page Sample

2. DAAD Syllabi Collection Sample

3. Foreign Languages Teaching Listserv + Archives Sample

4. Electronic Classroom Connections Sample

5. AATG Web Page Sample

6. Literature Sites Sample

B. Study Tools

Given the user friendly interface of most WWW browsers, it is fairly easy for students on all level of instruction to navigate through the net, and to locate study sites which match their individual interests and skills. To provide an overview of learning resources currently available on the web, the following list is grouped according to students' mastery of the language.

1. Elementary level

a. WWW Geopgraphy, Internet-Sightseeing, Tourism Sample

b. German Campus Life Sample

c. Popular Culture Sample

d. Photo Journals Sample

e. Museum Exhibits Sample

f. E-mail correspondence

RIBO-L subscription address: LISTSERV@URIACC.URI.EDU

2. Intermediate Level

a. Film Announcements Sample

b. Current Events (Summer Festivals) Sample

c. Newspapers Sample

d. Minority Issues Sample

e. Gender Issues Sample

f. European Affairs [EU] Sample

g. Interdisciplinary Excursions: Vatican Exhibit Sample

h. MOOs Sample

3. Advanced Level

a. Research Aids Sample

b. Literature Collections Sample

c. Theater Magazines Sample

d. Newspaper Articles Sample

e. Media Pages Sample

f. Germanistik Papers Sample

g. Book Reviews Sample

IV. The "Germanistik" Web: Selected Sites

1. AATG Web Sample

2. Germanistik Web Page

For easy access to the "Germanistik" resources on the web, I have assembled a collection of interesting sites pertaining to German literature, culture and philology. To visit the list of "Germanistik" resources, point your Internet browser to this http address: Germanistik

3. USAFA Web Sample

4. Kassandra Web Sample

5. Goethe Institut Sample

6. Carleton Web Sample

V. Possible Classroom Activities

The Internet lends itself to organizing a variety of exciting classroom activities which can easily be adapted to the interests and needs of individual instructors. Foremost among them are activities which combine the use of different Internet media to engage students in research, writing, and oral assignments.

A. E-Mail Exchanges: Written and Oral Reports

A useful way to involve students in reading, writing and speaking activities centers around e-mail exchanges with German native spaekers abroad. Through special listservs such as RIBO-L, American students can link up with interested German counterparts or "keypals", and engage in correspondance about personal and/or academic subject matters. The concurrent classroom assignments can focus on written reports about these exchanges, or better yet, invite students to present oral reports about their keypals and their topics of conversation.
Sample Student Assignment: Subscribe to RIBO-L, find a keypal in Germany, write two e-mail letters per week, and report on your correspondence once a month [journal/oral reports]

B. Posting Student Papers and Commentaries on Class Listservs

To jump-start seminar style discussions on reading assignments, articles, and literature selections, class listservs provide excellent tools to disseminate students' papers and critical commentaries. Such assignments are simple to organize, generate interesting exchanges among class members, and expand the academic discourse beyond the classroom. To provide the forum for such exchanges, a class listserv needs to be set up through the campus computing center, and all students enrolled in the class need to be subscribers.
Sample Student Assignment: Compose and post an essay [on an assigned curricular topic] on the class listserv before the next class meeting. Read the posted essays of other class members, and respond to at least two essays of your choice by writing and posting short commentaries on the listserv prior to class. Then prepare to summarize your paper and your commentaries during oral discussions in class.

C. MOO Chats: Oral Reports

One of the most unique learning tools for foreign language students to emerge on the net involves online chat groups, MOOs and MUDs. This conversational forums function like digital meeting rooms where participants engage in written exchanges which can be monitored on screen by everyone present in the room. German MOOs offer language students excellent opportunities to meet German native speakers, participate in their conversations, practice the informal use of the target language, and find out about current topics and affairs abroad. After mastering simple rules for online talk, American students can participate in the conversations according to their own interests and skills.
Sample Student Assignment: Enter a German MOO as a "Gast", follow the conversations online, and participate as much as possible. Prepare an oral or written report about your MOO encounters, and present it during small group discussions in class.

D. Web Research: Oral Reports

The World Wide Web with its hypertext links to German archives, research sites, and museums offers the most elaborate and open-ended forum for course related multimedia assignments. The scope of activities is almost unlimited, ranging from newspaper reading assignments to collecting information for research papers.
Sample Student Assignment: Enter the World Wide Web through browsers like Mosaic or Netscape, and visit the Berlin based "Kulturbox" [http://www.kulturbox.de/hindex_d.htm]. Click on the project link to Christo's "Verhllter Reichstag", and download interesting information about this topic, including at least two images. Bring your printouts to class and prepare to present and discuss them in an oral report.

E. Collecting Web Site Bibliographies on Special Topics

Utilizing the web as a research tool requires students to become scholarly scavengers and collectors. However, numerous search engines provide students with well-marked tracks for information hunting and gathering, all of which are very simple to use.
Sample Student Assignment: Chose a special project related to the course curriculum [Brecht, Frauenrechtsbewegung, Weimar Culture, etc.). Create your own Home Page on a Unix server on campus. Surf the world wide web in search of topic related archives or research sites, collect their URL addresses, and post them on your home page in the form of http links and anchors [http://www.etc.]. Prepare to write your research paper with references to at least two such Internet archives, and talk about your findings in class.

F. Composing Internet Journals

For students involved in writing course journals or seminar papers, the web offers unique opportunities to publish their works. In order to do so, students need to obtain their own home pages on the web [usually generated by a Unix server on campus], and format their papers within as an html document. Instructors can provide links to their students' home pages on a special class page which allows course members to read and comment on each others works. This interactive format motivates students to engage in quality research and writing, react to critical commentaries and counter arguments from class members, and revise and edit their papers for online publications.
Sample Student Assignment: Chose a paper topic, create your own web page, and start your Internet publication by collecting entries for a "Selected Bibliography" on your topic. The Bibliography should contain references to printed books, journals, and articles, but also entries refering to Internet addresses and web sites pertaining to your paper. As you work on your article, post preliminary abstracts, outlines, and draft on your home page under the project's title. The complete paper should be ready for publication online during the last week of the semester.

VI. Three Examples of German Internet Exercises

Example 1: Elementary Geography
Example 2: Germany and the New Europe
Example 3: Popular Culture Studies on the Net

Example 1. Elementary Level: German Geography on the Internet

Level: Elementary German (first year), up to 35 students

Goal: Students research the Internet to obtain a geographical profile of a city in a German speaking country of their choice. They download the document, write a short German report describing the contents, and bring the document and their report to class for an oral presentation.

Application: Students use Internet browser "Mosaic" or "Netscape" to travel to one of the listed URL addresses on the World Wide Web.

Exercise Description: The Internet provides a wealth of information on almost every topic of inquiry. With browsers like "Mosaic" or "Netscape" students can surf the Internet and its world wide web of resources to reach selected archives in the U.S. and abroad, where they can study documents, texts, and images. There are numerous archives in the German speaking countries which provide information on a wide range of subjects, including language, literature, culture, history, politics, business, sports, popular culture, art, music, geography and many other disciplines. The various sites in the www are accessible through so-called "Uniform Resource Locators" (URLs) which direct the browsers to the selected study sites. Listed below are four URLs which students can use to start this exercise. It usually takes less than 10 and 12 URL jumps in the web to find what one is looking for. It can happen, however, that individual connections may be slow to open due to heavy traffic on the net, in which case students should turn to alternate URL addresses to pursue their inquiries. This exercise is designed to take approximately 35 minutes to complete.

Exercise Instructions: There are three parts to this exercise.

Part I consists of a research assignment on the world wide web: Students go to a computer laboratory on campus, and open the Internet browser "Mosaic" or "Netscape" to enter the web. There they explore the geography of a city of their choice in Austria, Germany or Switzerland. Students are asked to bring an empty disk to download and print their document from the web, or else, send the document via browser e-mail to their own mail boxes for later print out. They begin their search for information by entering one of the following URL/http addresses listed under (1), (2) or (3):

(1) Information on German cities:

German Geography, People, Current Affairs, etc.

City Net, German Online Cities

(2) Information on Austrian cities:

City Net, Austrian Cities

Austrian Information, Directory Systems

Austria, Tourist Information

(3) Information on Swiss cities:

Switzerland, Home Page

City Net, Swiss Cities

Part II consists of a written homework assignment: Each students is asked to compose a short German essay describing the contents of his or her www document. The essay should focus on interesting geographical, architectural and cultural aspects of the selected city. It should contain answers to the following questions, and be written in short but correct sentences (less than 100 words).

Questions for Students / Fragen

1. Which city did you visit? Welche Stadt besuchten Sie im Internet?

2. What is the location of this city? Wo liegt die Stadt?

3. How many people live in this city? Wie groß ist die Stadt?

4. What geographical and cultural sights does the document describe? Welche Sehenswürdigkeiten beschreibt das Dokument?

5. What information (geograohical, historical, cultural, social) did you find most/least interesting?Welche Informationen über diese Stadt fanden Sie interessant oder langweilig?

Part III of this exercise involves the preparation of an oral report for class: After printing their www documents, and composing descriptive essays in German, students prepare short oral reports by addressing the same questions as listed above. The setting for these oral reports are group presentation and discussion sessions in class. For the class meeting, students are asked to bring both their www documents and their essays to class as support for their talks. The group presentations should be delivered in German, and should not take longer than two minutes each.

Evaluation: This assignment counts as a regular quiz or homework assignment. Part I (www printout) and II (essay) each counts for one half of the grade. Part III (oral report) is ungraded, and counts for practice only. The Internet advantage: Students have access to an almost unlimited pool of geographical and cultural resource materials which they can explore at their own pace. The availability of multi-lingual instructions and user guides on the net allows even reluctant learners to find their way through the exhibits, and pursue those topics which are closest to their own interests (popular culture, architecture, people, sports, tourist sites, media, etc.). The interdisciplinary scope and open-ended hypertext structure of these city archives is far superior to anything a regular textbook can offer.

Example 2. Intermediate Level: German Area Studies on the Net

Level: Intermediate German (second year), up to 25 students

Goal: Students research the Internet to obtain facts, figures, dates, and information pertaining to Germany and the European Union (EU). They visit selected archives on the EUnet, and complete an attached questionnaire. Each student is asked to write a short essay commenting on his or her research, post it via e-mail to the course's listserv, and bring a printout of the essay to class for a presentation and discussion session.

Application: Students use Internet browsers like "Mosaic" or "Netscape" to travel to selected URL addresses on the World Wide Web (www), and follow-up their www activities by using an e-mail server to post a message on the course's listserv.

Exercise Description: There are numerous archives on the web which provide information pertaining to the political, social and economic developments in Germany and Europe after the end of the Cold War (1948-1990). This exercise requires students to (1) visit selected Internet archives dealing with the history of the European Union. Upon entering the archives, they are asked to find correct facts, figures, dates, and references to fill out a questionnaire. (2) After their search, students write German commentaries describing their findings, and (3) post their commentaries on the course's listserv. Listed below are several URLs which should be used to start this exercise.

Before engaging students in this activity, however, it is useful to review the following socio-political background: The post-war trend towards European integration began in 1957 with the formation of the first European Economic Community. It included the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Italy, and the Benelux states (Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxemburg). Between 1972 and 1989, six more nations joined the European Community (EC), including Denmark, Great Britain, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain. The demise of Eastern Europe's communist camp following the revolutions of 1989 created an entirely new framework for inter-European collaboration and integration. However, the political shifts not only led to new alliances but also brought new frictions and divisions. The Czech and Slovak division, the Yugoslavian civil wars, the break-up of the former Soviet Union were all fuelled by new nationalist movements violently opposed to the notion of ethnic pluralism within a united Europe. Despite these setbacks, however, a new milestone for the creation of an "European Union" (EU) was reached in the early nineties with the signing of the Treaty of Maastricht. The EU accord prepared the way for an integrated market based on the free exchange of goods and services. Final political and monetary unity is planned for the end of this century. Among the members of the EU, Germany has taken a leading role in support of these measures. Austria recently joined the EU, while Switzerland opted to remain neutral and outside.

Exercise Instructions: There are four parts to this exercise.

Part I consists of filling out a student questionnaire based on information found in the world wide web: Students are asked to go to a computer laboratory on campus, and open the Internet browser "Mosaic" or "Netscape" to enter the web. There they explore appropriate archives to find answers to the questions listed below. In oder to find the correct answers, students begin their search by entering one of the cited URL/http addresses. The inquiries on the net should be completed within 35 minutes.

URL/http Addresses (Internet Resources):: EU Basics; EU and other organisations; Information Market Europe Home Page; Information about the EU; European Parliament Fact Sheets; European Link Collection

Questionnaire / Fragebogen
1. _______ When did the European Union get founded? Wann wurde die "Europäische Union" gegründet?

2. _______ How many states are currently members of the EU? Wieviele Mitgliedsstaaten hat heute die "Europäische Union"?

3. _______ When were Germany's five new states (former GDR) integrated into the EU? Wann wurden die fünf neuen BRD-Bundesländer (ex-DDR) in die EU integriert?

4. _______ When did Austria become a member state of the EU? Wann wurde Österreich Mitglied der EU?

5. _______ Which city houses the "European Parliament"? In welcher Stadt tagt das "Europäische Parlament"?

6. _______ Where (which country) does the current president of the "European Parliament" come from? Aus welchem Land stammt der derzeitige Präsident des "Europäischen Parlaments"?

7. (a) ____ How many representatives of the "European Parliament" come from

(b) ____ (a) Germany, (b) France, (c) Spain? Wieviele Mitglieder des "Europäischen (c) ____ Parlaments" kommen aus der BRD, aus Frankreich, aus Spanien?

8. _______ Which city is the home for the "European Commission", the administrative center of the European Union (former European Community)? In welcher Stadt arbeitet die Europäische Kommission - die Verwaltungszentrale und "Regierung" der Europäischen Union (früher Europäische Gemeinschaft?

9. _______ When was the "Treaty of Maastricht" signed? Wann wurde der "Vertrag von Maastricht" unterschrieben?

10. _______ In which country does Maastricht lie? In welchem Land liegt Maastricht?

After filling out this questionnaire, students prepare a printout, and bring it to class.

Part II consists of a written homework assignment: Students write an essay commenting on interesting EU facts and figures they found on the Internet, and describe their thoughts and reactions pertaining to this subject matter. The essays should bear a descriptive title, be composed in German, and cover approximately one page in length. Suggested generic title: "Thoughts on the European Union".
Students print out their essays, and bring copies of them to class for the next meeting.

Part III of this exercise requires students to post their essays on a course's listserv. This provides everyone in class with the chance to read each other's essays, and send reader response messages. Each class member is responsible for reading three posted essays (their choice), and sending three short reader response commentaries to the authors. The e-mail commentaries can be written in German or English.

Evaluation: This assignment counts as a regular composition assignment. Part I (www questionnaire) and II (essay) each counts for one half of the grade. Part III (listserv activities) is ungraded, and counts for practice only. Internet advantage: Engaging in active research on the world wide web to study current topics prompts students to scan documents from many archives, compare and contrast political perspectives, and pursue critical inquiries at the click of a button. The ease and speed of establishing these virtual connections together with the wealth of resources available on screen provides an ideal setting for self-paced learning activities. Moreover, writing and posting their research reports on the listserv creates an interactive communicative scenario, and motivates students to write for an audience of peers rather than the grade book of the instructor. Reading and evaluating each other's compositions establishes a supportive group dynamic among students, and leads to more animated and informed discussions during class.

Example 3. Advanced Level: Popular Culture Studies on the Net

Level: Advanced German (third & fourth year), up to 15 students

Goal: Research on the Internet to find archives and discussion lists focusing on specific issues in the field of German popular culture. Special topic for this exercise: Minority affairs in post-unification Germany: Students focus on selected issues, write analyses of their research findings, post essays via e-mail on a class listserv, and write commentaries on posted essays of other class members.

Application: Use of Internet browsers to travel to selected URL addresses on the World Wide Web (www). Use of e-mail messages to post essays on a listserv, and critique someone else's essay on the listserv.

Exercise Description: This exercise deals with the study of minority affairs in Germany after the fall of the Wall. The activity involves the world wide web to research this subject matter, collect selected texts, realia, and bibliographical references from German archives, and write an analytical essay to be posted on the listserv of the class. Before students gather information on the net, they are asked to read listserv lecture notes (entitled, for example, "Foreigners in Germany: Cultural and Historical Notes") which have been posted throughout the course of the semester, and contain references to www resource archives and materials.

Exercise Instructions: There are four parts to this exercise.

Part I consists of collecting information and composing an analytical essay on minority affairs in today's Germany: Students go to a computer laboratory on campus, and open an Internet browser to enter the web. They visit appropriate archives, and collect data and quotes for use in their analytical essays. They are asked to download, print, and attach two www documents to their papers which they found most useful or interesting. The exercise begins by visiting one of the selected www archives:

Study Resources on the WWW:: Archiv gegen Ausländerfeindlichkeit, archive against xenophobia; Modern Neo-Nazi Groups; Current News Clippings on Foreigner Debates in Germany; Internet news service of the "Deutsche Welle"; German News since 1993; German student newspapers

While surfing the net, students collect three text quotes to integrate into their papers, and prepare printouts of two of the most useful documents to present to class for the next meeting.

Part II consists of a written homework assignment: Each class member writes an analytical essay commenting on the subject matter of "Minorities and Minority Affairs in Post-Unification Germany". The papers should bear descriptive titles, be composed in German, cover approximately two typed pages, and contain at least three text quotes from archive documents obtained from the net. Printing the paper, and bringing a copy of it to class concludes this part of the exercise.

Part III of requires the posting of two www research documents together with student essays on the class listserv. The two documents and the paper should be mailed under separate covers with descriptive subject headings. This provides everyone in class with the chance to evaluate each other's work, and to send reader response messages. Each class member is responsible for reading two posted essays (their choice), and writing two commentaries. The first commentary pertains to a posted paper, and the other on a posted research document (their choice). The e-mail commentaries must be written in German, and clearly identify the selected documents in the subject headings. Students are asked to present an oral summary of their listserv activities at the next class meeting. The talks focus on the following questions: Which documents and papers did you read and respond to on the listserv? Which posted materials and arguments pertaining to the topic of "Minorities and Minority Affairs in Post-Unification Germany"did you find most interesting or convincing? Which open ended questions or counter-arguments do you submit to the discussion?

Evaluation: This exercise is graded as three assignments. Part I (www research documents) and III (listserv activities) count as one homework assignment each. Part II (paper) counts as a regular essay assignment. Internet advantage: The wealth of information posted on the web is far more inclusive than the printed resources available at most campuses. Beside current newspaper articles, journal essays, and archive commentaries, the discussion groups on the web provide exceptionally good resources for popular culture studies. The up-to-date contents matter, the diverse and the media oriented presentation format of these archives provide students with authentic insights into the cultural, social, and political context informing the debates. By posting their findings through e-mail on the listserv, and evaluating their works within a publicized forum, students get motivated to engage in scholarly debates.

This can be particularly useful in larger courses where discussion in the classroom is hard to begin and sustain. Of particular value for jump-starting discussions is the instructor's encouragement to respond to other students' writings through e-mail. In this way, the act of writing is geared toward a larger audience, and becomes a meaningful exercise in communicating with one's peers. If a respondent misreads a particular argument, the author of the paper often finds new motivation for improving his or her work. The teacher in this situation becomes more of a mediator and collaborator, and less of a critic and judge.

VII. Laboratory Activities

A. Bookmarks, Downloading Texts and Images

1. ALP German Studies Page Bookmarks

2. DAAD Syllabi Bookmarks, Downloading Texts

3. Spiegel Media Pages Download Texts and Images

4. Kulturbox Berlin Christo's "Verhüllter Reichstag"Downloading Images

5. Archiv gegen Auslnderfeindlichkeit Copying, E-mailing Files

6. Germanistik Page Literatur, Kultur, Philologie

B. Search Engine Projects

Keyword search: Collect Bookmarks. URL Bibliographies, HTML tags

VIII. Conclusion

The utilization of the Internet as a virtual mediateor between native and foreign cultures, and the expansion of classroom communications into electronic forums holds many rewards for teachers and students alike. As we cast our Germanistik nets ever wider, searching for contacts resources across the globe, the spectrum of encounters with otherwise remote individuals helps us learn tolerance for differences as well as for similarities. What better place to continue the dialog about multimedia learning tools, virtual classrooms, and the benefit of instant inter-cultural connections.

The German Internet Project

UNCG German Studies

A. Lixl-Purcell's Home Page