EDILINGUA
23 Aprile 2016, 09:30 am–12:00 p.m., University of Maryland
La piattaforma didattica i-d-e-e per giovani adulti e adolescenti
by Viviana Altieri, Edizioni Edilingua
In the age of “digital natives” it is imperative to use new web 2.0 tools and to offer more lessons to engage our digital learners. A presentation of i-d-e-e.it, a digital platform developed by Edilingua for teachers and students of Italian, will be give. The demonstration will explain the features and functions of this new service, including: Interactive Notebooks, glossaries, interactive grammar, tests, games and blogs . Participants are invited to bring along their own electronic device ( tablet or laptop ) to experience firsthand the platform. The session will include a brief activity based on an Edilingua textbook to show how to integrate various materials among them.
Viviana Altieri is the Executive Director of Istituto Mondo Italiano in Pittsburgh. Graduated from the University of Rome with a BA in Italian language and Literature, Mrs. Altieri went on to pursue her Master Degree in Translation and Interpretation for the language combination Italian/English/Russian at the University IULM.
Shortly after completing her studies at the University of Moscow, she moved to Pittsburgh where she carried out a dual professional career both in the business world as well in academia by holding a variety of different positions that would see her travel and teach both in several universities in the US as well as overseas.
In 2009, Mrs. Altieri decided to focus her career solely on the teaching of the Italian language and culture thus founding Istituto Mondo Italiano where she devotes most of her energy and time in developing new curricula targeted to a more natural and more productive L2 acquisition in children (Native Italian children as well as English speakers), high-schoolers and adults.
In addition, she maintains classes and collaborations with the Italian and French Department of the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellor University, Community College of Allegheny County and the Middle East Technical University in Turkey.
Her teaching experience in Turkey, greatly impacted her teaching style and thus allowed her to bring back to her institution a fresh new approach and more ongoing collaborations with other Italian cultural centers overseas.
Since then, Dott. Altieri has introduced after-school programs, Italian clubs and Italian language courses in seven other partner institutions such as the Fox Chapel High School, Upper Saint Clair High School, the Sewickley Academy, the Ellis School and the Children at Chadwick and libraries throughout the city of Pittsburgh.
When looking for new, more suitable materials to introduce in her curricula, Mrs. Altieri “discovered” Edilingua and since then, thanks for a true compatibility of teaching philosophy from “teacher to teacher”, she has been collaborating with them as their point of contact for the US teaching community by presenting at conferences such as ACTFL and NECTFL and providing teaching support with the acquisition of new textbooks, the adoption of the online platform i-d-e-e.it as well as ad hoc workshops and lesson planning.
Dott. Altieri also greatly enjoys the theater as a means of L2 acquisition and created the program Lingua Drama who sees her and her students work on productions as end of year project.
She recently participated in the dramatic reading of “Lampedusa Beach” by Lina Prosa, perhaps one of Italy’s most prominent playwright of the 21st century.
Wellesley College
23 Aprile 2016, 1:00 p.m.–3:30 p.m., University of Maryland
The First MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) in the Italian Language and Culture
by Daniela Bartalesi-Graf
The presentation will focus on the structure and content of ItalianOnline, an online course in the Italian language and culture developed at Wellesley College, equivalent to the first four semesters of Italian. ItalianOnline has been widely tested, with very positive results, both at Wellesley College and at MIT as a “blended” course. Currently, this online course is open as a MOOC on the edX platform, and thousands of students all over the world have enrolled. I will discuss how it can be used in any traditional face-to-face and/or in the blended courses. The second part of this session will focus on a theoretical model for the use of technology in teaching, and on some helpful technological tools to plan, design and teach blended modules for any foreign language course.
Daniela Bartalesi-Graf is Lecturer in the Department of Italian Studies. She holds an MA in Classical Studies from Tufts University. Before joining Wellesley College in Fall 2011, Daniela taught courses in the Italian language and culture at all levels at Tufts University for about 20 years. Her research interests are in 20th century Italian cultural studies, Italian language pedagogy and Second language acquisition. She has published articles on visual literacy in second language acquisition.
Her major morks include books on Italian writers Carlo Levi and Margaret Mazzantini. She is also the sole author of two textbooks and co-author of a third.
Publications:
L’Italia dal fascismo ad oggi: percorsi paralleli nella storia, nella letteratura, e nel cinema.
Daniela Bartalesi-Graf
Voci dal Sud: A Journey to Southern Italy with Carlo Levi and his “Christ Stopped at Eboli”.
Daniela Bartalesi-Graf
Caleidoscopio.
Daniela Bartalesi-Graf, Colleen Ryan