According to Hult:

"The greatest challenge I have seen because of instructional technology was the task of trying to create a 'virtual' classroom in the Norwegian language pilot course. The course was large enough that it was impossible to find time periods for synchronous activities for the whole group. As a result, four separate chat groups were formed and as the instructor, I did not participate in the chat sessions but simply read the logs afterwards. Although feedback from students indicated that most of them enjoyed the course and felt that they had learned a considerable amount of Norwegian, I did not feel that I established the rapport with students that I usually do in the traditional classroom. This situation is one that I will try to remedy in the spring course by participating in the discussions myself. In a sense, this is not a challenge that has been met, but one that will require ongoing effort and innovation [to be successful].

"In my field of Norwegian language instruction, the biggest impact from technology is the ready availability of authentic and current information in the Norwegian language that can be found on the Internet. Students [now can read] Norwegian newspapers online; they can participate in chat groups [with] and [send] e-mail [to] native speakers and . . . use Norwegian search engines to find sites that are relevant to their individual interests. In [courses about] less-commonly-taught [languages] like Norwegian, it has traditionally been a challenge to find authentic and up-to-date instructional materials. This has changed tremendously with the use of the Internet and, as a result, today's students of Norwegian learn much more about the modern country, rather than the stereotypical picture of Norway that is still quite [commonly held by] the general population."

DMC Home : DMC Faculty Fellowship Program : Past Fellows :

Marte Hvam Hult

Marte Hult has been a lecturer in the Department of German, Scandinavian, and Dutch since 1999, and has taught Norwegian at the University since 1989. She participated in the TA Web Certification Program and during the fall of 2001, she designed a pilot online Norwegian language course which she taught in spring semester 2002. She currently is developing new multimedia course materials for the spring 2003 offering of this course. She has used WebCT, TrackStar, and Makers interactive activities in her language courses for several years. She was selected as a DMC faculty fellow for fall 2003 and spring 2004.

Teaching Activities

Interests

Hult is interested in the following teaching topics:

• Norwegian language
• Scandinavian folklore
• nineteenth-century Norwegian literature

University Courses

Hult has taught the following University of Minnesota courses:

• Nor 1001: Beginning Norwegian
• Nor 1002: Beginning Norwegian
• Nor 1010: Basic online Norwegian
• Nor 1003: Intermediate Norwegian
• Nor 1004: Intermediate Norwegian
• Nor 3011: Advanced Norwegian
• Scan 3503: Scandinavian folklore
• Scan 3613: Children's Literature in Scandinavia
• Scan 4001: Scandinavian Languages for Reading

Research Activities

Interests

Hult is interested in conducting research in the following areas:

• folklore
• second language acquisition
• Norwegian literature

TEL Publications and Presentations

Hult's publications and presentations about technology-enhanced learning topics include:

Hult, Marte Hvam. Modern Shape Shifting: From Language Teacher to Computer Geek. Presentation at the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, May 2002.

Hult, Marte Hvam. From Theory to Practice: The Pleasure and Pitfalls of Online Language Learning. Presentation at the Midwest Modern Language Association Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, November 2002.

Hult, Marte Hvam. Norsk på nettet: A Web-based Norwegian Language Course. Presentation proposed for the International Association for Language educational technology Conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan, 17-21 June 2003.

Fellowship Project

Hult plans to develop and implement a new four-semester Norwegian language course which will be delivered in an online environment. She will integrate traditional instructional materials with visual images, video and audio files, and interactive exercises and deliver them on a CD-ROM. She also will use WebCT software to create an online community where students can explore authentic cultural sites, participate in chat and discussion groups, receive assignments, and take quizzes.

According to Hult, since Norwegian language courses are offered at few colleges and universities, "this project has the potential to attract students from across the country who do not have access to a traditional Norwegian language [course]. While educational software can quickly become obsolete, this is less likely to be the case in a language course where the desired outcome is competency, not acquisition of factual material, as in the sciences, and when the course content can be controlled [with] WebCT [software, so] changes can be made quickly and easily. [Students also can use the CD-ROM] independently without the WebCT component, and [it] is deliberately being designed to include nontopical references."

She hopes her project will enable her to evaluate "how effective an online language course can be, given the importance of face-to-face interaction in traditional language learning."

TEL Consultation Areas

Hult can provide other faculty members with an online course development model for other language units and help them use WebCT software.

Contact Information

To schedule a consultation appointment, contact Hult:

• Office: 204 Folwell Hall
• Telephone: (612) 625-6613
• E-mail: hultx002@umn.edu

Contact:
dmc@umn.edu

212 Walter Library
117 Pleasant Street S.E.
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(612) 625-8030