1 A Digital Space for the Haskell Library at New York’s French Institute: Alliance Francaise

A Digital Space for French Students & their Teachers at FIAF New York’s Haskell Library

Current State of Affairs & Future Goals: The French Institute: Alliance Française (FIAF) is a worldwide cultural institute. The branch in New York’s main draw (and revenue source) is, of course, its French classes. Still, as an organization that makes a point of distinguishing itself from other strictly language schools with their cultural component, the library plays a central role. Obtaining foreign language materials in the U.S. is often difficult, rarely current, and sometimes financially prohibitive. The Haskell Library at the New York’s FIAF houses the largest collection of French language materials in the city, including current newspapers and magazine subscriptions. However, there seem to me a few things signaling that this space could provide more and that the FIAF could seriously benefit from a digital space. First and foremost is that there is no integration of library materials in any of the teachers’ courses. A space with the largest collection of French language materials should automatically cater to this group within its institution. By creating a more digital, creative, and social space, the digital component of this library could become hub for sharing curriculum ideas and collaborating on more engaging work. Beyond reaching out to teachers at the institute, this digital space could also serve to attract a younger patron group that is currently lacking at the FIAF. Furthermore, the current digital offering, le “Culturthèque”, which is essentially a digital library of French language cultural materials curated by FIAF headquarters, needs to be repositioned within the library’s composition. As it stands now this potentially useful resource is too cumbersome, resulting in its being largely forgotten or all together avoided by librarians and patrons alike. The Digital Space at FIAF’s Haskell Library aims to:

Promote the integration of library materials into the curriculum

Encourage the social element inherent in language learning

Close the age gap in the FI:AF community

Extend language learning on and off-site This space will accomplish these goals by:

Developing a comfortable, socially inclined, and dynamic space

Offering a variety of technological portals to language learning

Emphasizing engaging creative opportunities in language acquisition process

2 A Digital Space for the Haskell Library at New York’s French Institute: Alliance Francaise

The Physical Space The digital center’s physical layout will facilitate a lot of what follows. It is important that the space caters to a variety of activities and users, including workshops, small groups, or independent study individuals. This adaptability is especially important given that we want to create a space where socialization and collaboration feel natural and welcome. Most importantly, the space requires some lounge atmosphere, including a couch and group table. Learning a foreign language is inherently social and this construction of space will encourage that activity. Another crucial component is moveable components for easy grouping, or individualization like other modern collaborative work spaces such as at 22 Squared Space. To execute this idea of movable space, the FIAF will create easy to rearrange, wireless “media clusters” based off the style at George Washington University’s Language Center. Technological Components For more individual sessions, the space will offer access to a skype phone booth like the one in the central Estonian airport. This would provide separated space and the additional opportunity for one-on-one communication. The Skype-booth offers a great way to utilize the worldwide FIAF Community, but also works as a sort of centerpiece or draw to the space. A conference hosted by the ALA in 2012 featured the Media Surfer IPad Dispenser. Hosting this dispenser would allow patrons of the library additional online access tools, aside from the computer clusters, but would also be available for teaching staff’s class reservations. Again, the portability of these I-pads are ideal for the space’s goals. I-pads also offer a great opportunity to serve as guides for patrons by offering pre-loaded apps relevant to French language acquisition.

Useful French language apps for dispensed I-pads include, but are not limited to:

7Jours: ($2.99) Watch three news reports each week. It highlights the specific vocabulary used in televised news reports and provides their transcript to discover how these words are used in context. Word games are included with each news story.

Other news sources – Le Monde (subscription based)

Story Creation apps

I-message

Audio Messages

E-Books bookshelf

Quizzlet: flashcard style studying

Socrative: classroom interactive tools with data review reports for teachers

3 A Digital Space for the Haskell Library at New York’s French Institute: Alliance Francaise

All laptops in the Media Clusters with wireless access to a hub like at the Language Center of George Washington University. At the San Francisco State University’s J. Paul Leonard Library, there is a similarly minded multimedia space on the 1st floor. Like at the J. Paul Leonard Library, media clusters will be configured for quick access to Haskell Library’s digital media collections and equipped with headphone jacks. Other potential activities featured on the Media Clusters laptops:

GS Speech (works in French – robotic flavor, accurate accent.

VideoWhisper: members are allowed to create rooms, list active rooms, video conference, archive video sessions, and import videos.

Cd player: books on ‘tape’

Comic book design software

With a lot of these activities, incorporation of the library’s more concrete materials, either as an activity component or just as inspiration, would be useful and easy to maneuver. For instance, the library already places its books on tape collection alongside their print components. The comic book and graphic novel section would also make a good fit for this space and be easily incorporated into comic design software activities.

One other luxury item ideal for this space is a media cluster dedicated to poster printing. Like at the University of Louisiana, the digital space’s walls could showcase student project exhibits and lend to the idea of a creative, dynamic, patron minded environment.

Reconsidering the Culturthèque The Culturthèque is an essential component designed by FIAF headquarters. The materials within the database are very useful, but the design of the program needs re-contextualizing to make it less clumsy. FIAF’s library needs to consider the practical application of a separate online presence, through its own portal like one built out through BuddyPress. This portal could then, in turn, offer guidelines and highlights regarding the Culturthèque. BuddyPress allows for easy set up and light learning curve for library staff in charge of its maintenance. As portal to the digital space, it will serve as part Digital Commons (like at PACE’s Media Patch) part reflection of all the programs available at the Digital Space.

Library blogs

Digital exhibits (e.g. DPLA or the digital publishing platform at MIT’s D-Space)

Highlight “Hidden Gems” of the Culturthèque

Scheduler plug-in for the Skype booth

WP Live Chat with library staff

Book reviews with voter, rating plug-ins

4 A Digital Space for the Haskell Library at New York’s French Institute: Alliance Francaise

Institut Tech for teachers The language centers at both George Washington University and the University of Louisiana - Lafayette offer faculty training in the use of technology and its incorporation into their courses. The digital space at the Haskell library will provide similar instruction specified to French language instruction. Workshops will include:

WordPress for classes: creation and outlining various useful plugins

Workshops on using library and Culturthèque content in digital galleries or other work

Workshops for use, editing, & uploading video or audio content Potential Community Extension As a membership library, limiting access to the physical space is required. However, in building out the library’s portal and making it accessible via the internet, the FIAF could reach a wider audience and help generate a sense of a bigger New York wide Francophone community. In becoming a useful and dynamic resource, the library’s portal could connect the FIAF community with other Francophones and Francophiles, generating relationships with organizations like the French Books Department, Clementine Book Store, the Lycée Français de New York, and other schools or organizations. Overall Philosophy Part of the FIAF’s vision in building out this digital space is to act as a kind of scaffolding for innovative collaboration and community development. FIAF New York can make learning French more like living French – more accessible, immersive, and engaging.

1 Inspiration Sources for the Digital Space at the Haskell Library, FIAF

1. The Hypermedia Language Centre of the Faculty of Applied Languages, Commerce &

Communication at Université Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand

Acted as original model for new type of digitized language lab in French university systems

Now interacts with other partner universities in sharing ideas and promoting a larger community

2. The Language Center at George Washington University

Features tables that can be rearranged for partner and group interaction, or collapsed and put aside to host more dynamic activities

Hosts foreign language poetry slams, foreign language game night, and aerobics in Spanish

Stocked with PC laptops that have wireless access to a hub in an adjacent media room

Offer use of digital still and video cameras, as well as iRiver personal audio recorders to be incorporated into assignments or for personal creative use

Created and hosts hands-on workshops for instructors in audio and video editing programs

3. University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Language Resource Center Physical Space

This center features the clusters, though not as moveable, of computer tables as well as a lounge area.

Their lounge has simply recycled material from other university areas, including a couch, coffee table, and a few larger tables.

The wall space showcases language club murals and other student project exhibits.

Curriculum Assistance

Teaching assistants enthusiastically incorporate the technology offered into class work, most notably the ceiling-mounted projector with accompanying wall screen and audio system.

Workshops & orientations offer an important promotion of the center, but there are also weekly meetings of instructors of each level of French that offer further idea sharing and instruction.

2 Inspiration Sources for the Digital Space at the Haskell Library, FIAF

4. The Foreign Language Media Center of Florida Atlantic University

Student-centered philosophy where technology acts as a tool rather than the sole focus of activity.

Emphasis on collaborative interaction

Serves as a meeting place where students from all levels interact, work on projects, and participate in the culture of being a language major.

Space enabled the formation of a sense of community among teaching assistants and acts as a meeting point where they discuss pedagogy and class management.

Provides areas for students’ work exhibition

5. Tallinn Airport, Estonia

Featured the first Skype phone booth, available to all passengers

6. ALA Midwinter 2012

Tech highlights from this conference featured the MediaSurfer I-Pad Dispenser

7. San Francisco State University’s J. Paul Leonard Library multimedia space

Features media clusters on the first floor equipped with headphone jack, video players, cd players, basic voice recording, and internet

8. Pace University’s Media Patch Project

Allows media to be shares between campuses

Allows students access to the library’s resources remotely

Serves as a Digital Commons, featuring library blogs and a podcasting system

1 User Profile: Mlle. Simone Francoeur, FIAF teacher

Mlle. Simone Francoeur

It is Simone Francoeur’s first year teaching at

the FIAF-NY. She recently finished graduate

studies in French Language Education at

Université Bordeaux III where she also

worked as a lectrice (similar to being a

graduate teaching assistant). Since her

teaching experience is largely with university

age students, her classes are intended to

draw in younger students. She teaches

Contemporary French Graphic Novels, as

well as weekly grammar courses.

Simone hopes her classes will draw in an enthusiastic group of students and wants to offer

creative exercises rather than lecture only work during her graphic novels class. She has visited

the library to reserve I-pads for her students and to discover what other resources might be

available.

Arriving at the Digital Space, she signs up for a faculty orientation tech tour, and both a

WordPress workshop and an audio-visual recording workshop.

Later, her class includes:

The screening of a film version of a novel on her syllabus

Audio recording based evaluations and feedback

Video recorded plays that students created based on work and posted to the library’s

BuddyPress portal site.

In class quizzes on the digital space’s I-pads with automatically generated results and

response statistics

Comic building workshop for her students at the digital space, using the library’s comic

collection as inspiration material

Poster printing at the digital space of students’ final project story boards, displayed on

the walls of the digital space.