2001 Annual Grant Issue
Lee Burnett: Barra Technology Grant Report 2001
Technology Projects Supporting Middle and Upper School Latin

Over the summer I worked on three technology projects in support of the Middle and Upper School Latin programs. In conjunction with Brian Burke, I aided in the editing and restructuring of several lessons in the text. Brian Burke did the bulk of this work. We met weekly to discuss new exercises, readings, and additional lessons.

In addition to the editing of the text, I worked on completely overhauling the illustrations. Each lesson begins with an inductive approach to new material through an illustrated reading. Since the reading contains first-time exposure to new grammatical concepts and to new vocabulary, the illustrations accompanying the reading are particularly important. Over the years of photocopying photocopies of photocopies of originals, many of these illustrations had deteriorated to the point that they were no longer recognizable. Going back to the originals where possible, and finding new illustrations where necessary, I worked on digitizing every image that appears in the text. These digitized images were used in the new browser-based version of the text and will also be incorporated into the printed version next year now that they have been used to create text pages in PageMaker. The quality of these images is vastly improved, and the text, in addition to being more accessible, also appears a good deal more professional.

The lion's share of my time this summer was devoted to producing a browser-based version of the entire Latin text. This project grew out of several ideas and problems which I had already had concerning a digital version of the Latin text. I had already produced a HyperStudio-based version of the Latin A text. This text is highly interactive and appealing to students, but also involves problems:

• There are difficulties working in dual platforms, necessitating a complete overhaul for the PC version;
• HyperStudio is difficult to edit, so the changes made this summer and future changes in the text would necessitate an extremely labor-intensive reworking;
• HyperStudio does not adapt well to the Web, so the digital version can only be used by loading it on the hard drive of a computer or by burning CD ROMs.

My original solution for this problem was to create a Word-based version of the text with Hyperlinks to the web and various enhancements. I soon found that Word was not going to do everything that I wanted. Also, compatibility across platforms, applications, and upgrades was a great concern to me. I wanted work that would last. Finally, I decided upon recreating and enhancing each page of the text as a web page, produced in DreamWeaver. The PC/Mac conflict was resolved, upgrades in browsers would be unlikely to effect viewing of the pages, and I was and will continue to be able to expand and enhance pages without limit.

The project developed as I continued, necessitating frequent revisions of work already completed. Each page is equipped with a button that downloads a text-only version of the page in rich text format. This allows students to print replacement pages for their text, compile vocab lists and study charts, and retranslate exercises for review and practice. Each page with translation exercises is hyperlinked to Internet websites containing Latin-English or English-Latin dictionaries, as appropriate (e.g. see Lesson 1, page 1 on the CD). Work may be done directly on the page in text fields, then printed. Ultimately, it will be possible to submit work over the Internet, though this is not currently a feature of the pages.

Many pages are enhanced with links to pertinent websites (e.g. see Lesson 4, page 25 on the CD), with sounds (e.g. see Lesson 47, page 300 on the CD), and with movies (e.g. see Lesson 17, page 130 on the CD). Image quality is also generally superior to the print text (e.g. see Lesson 40, page 252 on the CD).

I shall continue to add enhancements to the text each year. Having worked a bit with iMovie on this project, for instance, I shall begin to tape and edit myself and hopefully my colleagues introducing lessons, giving helpful suggestions on a difficult translation, etc. Ultimately, I hope to enhance the readings on Rome, the forum, etc. with on-site video taped mini lectures. Another avenue I began exploring this summer was working with Microsoft Agent. This software would allow me to integrate an animated character into the web pages that could aid in the use of online dictionaries, provide hints, answer questions, etc. The technology is based on the Office Assistant seen in the Microsoft applications, but is scriptable to work within the browser environment. I have secured the rights to an animated character (Caesar!), and have begun to try to work with programming. I hope to find a course online that will aid me in this.

The text has already been distributed to the Latin students of the Middle School on CD-ROM. I recommend next year that the CD be bundled with each textbook so that students will have it automatically. Another possibility is that the text be put up on the Web. This work paves the way for a Distance Education course in Elementary Latin as well.

I also worked this summer to organize a new Distance Education Component to my eighth grade Roman History website "I, Caesar". I have secured the participation of five (so far!) Classics professors and one Classics grad student in the Historical Fiction component of the project. Using NiceNet, students will present their works in-progress online and receive feedback and suggestions from these professors. My hope is to eventually develop a sort of online Classics community with GA and Classics departments at colleges around the country. If this project goes well, I will look for other ways to involve students with Scholars in the field.

The work this summer was productive. It yielded fruits that can be immediately utilized by students, first and foremost. I learned a great deal about DreamWeaver and working with images, and have begun to dabble in programming with Microsoft Agent. I think that the browser-based version of the text offers almost limitless potential for continuing to enhance the text and for finding a wider audience for our Latin program. I am also optimistic that the collaboration between myself, my students, and University-level classicists will be a valued experience to my eight graders.