Online Course Tips

Online Learning Management System

MAFLT online courses are managed through Michigan State University’s current learning management system, D2L. Log in at d2l.msu.edu using your MSU NetID and password. In a fully online course, our D2L page is essentially our classroom. This page is used for sharing materials, linking to external sites and tools, submitting assignments, communicating via email and discussion board, completing quizzes in some courses, reporting grades, and more. D2L runs well in most browsers and works on mobile devices. Note that you can set up various alerts in D2L (click your name in the top right corner and choose Notifications) that will send a message to your email and/or phone when you have new items, upcoming due dates, and so on.

D2L 24/7 Help Desk: Click “Help” in D2L or go to help.d2l.msu.edu or call (517-432-6200)

Troubleshooting: If you should have technical trouble while attempting to complete a task or submit an assignment in D2L, you can contact the D2L Help Desk 24/7 by submitting a request online or by phone. Note that the Help Desk staff will send me updates on the issue upon request. If you are having trouble accessing materials through the MSU Library, click Ask a Librarian at www.lib.msu.edu. Other troubleshooting advice is provided in the D2L course page under FAQ.

Technology for Courses

In order to participate in these courses, you will need the following technology, all of which you may already have at your disposal.

• Reliable computer and stable, relatively fast internet connection (at least 10mbps).
• Web camera, microphone, and headphones for office hours, virtual meetings, etc.
• MSU NetID and email account, set up and checked daily: spartanmail.msu.edu.
• Microsoft Office or compatible software. Download free from spartan365.msu.edu.
• Adobe Acrobat or other PDF reader. Download free from get.adobe.com/reader.
• Software for video recording presentations (links and tutorials in D2L).
• Video camera, audio recorder, or smartphone if you decide to record your own teaching.

MSU provides many other sites and tools that will be useful to you, including: 

• Distance Learning Services – https://lib.msu.edu/dls/ – links to resources and contact info for the DLS Help Desk, which is available 24/7.
• MSU Library – http://lib.msu.edu – Extensive materials available at a distance, both electronically and by mail. To access your library account, log in here: https://lib.msu.edu/general/account/.
  • MAFLT Library Guide – http://libguides.lib.msu.edu/maflt/ – designed specifically for our program.
  • Guide to Ebooks – http://libguides.lib.msu.edu/ebooks/ – explore books you can access from anywhere and find out how to read them online or offline.
• SpartanMail – http://spartanmail.msu.edu – This email account is the most important way that MAFLT instructors communicate with students. Please check it every day. You can set it up with Outlook on your desktop and mobile devices or create an “Inbox Rule” to forward it to another email account.
• Spartan365 – https://tech.msu.edu/technology/collaborative-tools/spartan365/ – An array of tools included in Office365, including free download of Microsoft Office Pro.
• Google Apps for Education – http://googleapps.msu.edu/. Access to Drive, Calendar, Sites, Classroom, etc. with MSU NetID. Using your MSU access provides for greater security.
• Kaltura MediaSpace – http://mediaspace.msu.edu – Allows faculty and students to create, upload, and share videos. MediaSpace also provides tools for recording presentations.
• Zoom – http://msu.zoom.us – Video conferencing software, similar to Skype or Google Hangouts.

Recommended Resources

From our online course page on Desire2Learn (http://d2l.msu.edu), you can access links to a number of important resources for completing coursework and expanding your knowledge and tools for language teaching. Here are some of the key websites that may be useful to you during this course and beyond. Please let me know if you have questions about any of these sites. You will also be welcome to recommend other resources via D2L.

• Professional Resources:
  • ACTFL – American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages: http://www.actfl.org
  • TESOL – Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages: http://www.tesol.org
  • NFLRC – National Foreign Language Resource Centers – see listings, links, and resources for all of them at http://www.nflrc.org. See especially COERLL, CASLS, NHLRC, CULTR.
  • TELL Project – Teaching Excellence for Language Learning – http://www.tellproject.org.
  • LinguistList: http://linguistlist.org/
  • MLA Language Map: http://www.mla.org/map_main

• Writing and Research:
  • MSU Library Guide for MAFLT Program: http://libguides.lib.msu.edu/maflt 
  • Google Scholar: http://scholar.google.com/  – Modify the settings to tell Scholar to connect to the MSU library and offer options for downloading citation information. Look for further instructions in the MAFLT Library Guide.
  • Library links to citation style guides, citation management software, tutorials, and related resources: https://www.lib.msu.edu/research/cite-resources/.
  • Citation management software such as EndNote or Mendeley. Use this guide to choose: https://lib.msu.edu/citationmanagementsw/.
  • Online Writing Lab at Purdue (the well-known and widely-used OWL):
    • APA Style Guide: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/.
    • ESL Academic Writing Support – https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/5/25/.

The MAFLT Program has a specifically designed Library Research Guide that our liaison librarian, Stephanie Perentesis, created for us and continues to update regularly: http://libguides.lib.msu.edu/maflt. This useful guide will help you to locate articles and books, identify other scholarly sources relevant to your MAFLT coursework, and research topics for assignments. The guide also includes instructions for using Google Scholar, guidance on APA format and using citation software such as Mendeley, and links to useful reference texts. You are welcome to contact Stephanie Perentesis for assistance at perente1@msu.edu. She will be glad to guide your exploration of library resources, but she is not a writing tutor and cannot comment on content. As a courtesy to her, attach the Assignment Guidelines when you ask for help. 

The following academic journals, among many others, are reliable sources of high-quality research on second and foreign language acquisition and instruction in regard to various languages.

• The Modern Language Journal
• Foreign Language Annals
• TESOL Quarterly
• Language Teaching Research
• System
• Language Learning & Technology
• Studies in Second Language Acquisition
• Language Teaching
• International Journal of Corpus Linguistics

Literature Reviews & Bibliographies

General Research & Writing Tips

(Copied from the widget that appears on my D2L course home pages)

• MAFLT Library Guide
• Email the MAFLT Librarian: Stephanie Perentesis (perente1@msu.edu)
• Reading Electronic Texts: E-books and E-readers from MSU Library
• MSU Writing Center now offers online tutoring: writing.msu.edu
• Anatomy of a Citation(tutorial) – see also Academic Writing Skills under Resources
• Google Scholar(see MAFLT Library Guide for important tips)
• Search for an article by subject: LLBA Advanced Search
• Search for a journal title or book: Go to Main Library then “Library Catalog” tab
• Browse multimedia resources: Media Resource Guide
• Or just click Help: 24/7 help line works for D2L and MSU Library

Tips for Accessing Sources:

• If the MSU library has it as ebook: you’re golden. Usually there are page limits to downloading per day, but reading online is usually unlimited.
• If you try to access a library resource and you are prompted to log in or to pay extra money, back up and make sure you are logged in. Try starting from the Account page: https://lib.msu.edu/general/account/. Also, look for “.msu.” and/or “proxy” somewhere in the URL address.
• If the MSU Library has it in print or doesn’t have it: You can request a chapter sent to you and in some cases have the whole book sent to you. Use Illiad (Interlibrary Loan): https://interlib.lib.msu.edu/

Tips for Keeping Track of Sources:

Citation managers – as you work on your bibliography, it makes a lot of sense to use a citation manager. There are separate MSU Library Guides for EndNote, Mendeley, Zotero, etc.:

https://lib.msu.edu/citationmanagementsw/

Lately I’m a fan of Mendeley: https://libguides.lib.msu.edu/mendeley