Out of the Basement’s first year drew visits from around the world. On March 13, 2009, our ClustrMap was restarted, but we’re proud to post the record of our first year’s visits here.
The Multimedia Language Laboratory has become the Global Studio, where members of the University of Richmond community encounter and interact with resources from around the world. The Studio’s resources allow learners to travel out of the Puryear basement to any culture that interests them. For example, the image in the header is a snapshot of the Edunation island in Second Life.
Why the change? Because everything is changing. New versions of our operating systems and of essential tools, e.g., Office, are arriving. The University has changed its web and its blogging system, and Blackboard will be upgraded soon. Communication on line has gone from e-mail to IM to Twitter. Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and myriad other tools supplement more traditional books and online research databases. Most importantly, in the last twenty years, the evolution of technology has enabled students of language and culture to learn not just in the confines of a dedicated technology space, often in the basement, but anywhere in the world. Here in Richmond, the inhabitants of Puryear Hall are looking forward to August 2010, when we move into the new Carole Weinstein International Center. At that time, the Global Studio that has emerged from the Multimedia Language Laboratory will move physically out of the basement, making concrete the changes already brought about by new technology.
Why read this blog? Because it’s a step in the Studio’s move from the basement. It will bring news of emerging technologies for the learning of languages and cultures and of related events on campus and beyond. We’ll also update you on plans for the new Global Studio in the CWIC. Please add your own news and resources in the comments.
