Elementary German Language A

Learning Outcomes

As a student in this course you will acquire skills in all four areas of the language-learning curriculum (reading, writing, speaking and listening). By the end of the course the average student will be able to understand interactions in everyday settings; in addition he or she will be able to name common objects of daily life, to express a range of basic wishes, and to use the present and past tenses to narrate simple events. Reading is a component of the course, and by the end of the semester students will be able to read brief texts and understand the fundamentals of German textual structures. Students will also practice writing intensively and will be able to narrate events and communicate basic information about themselves and their environment.
By learning a foreign language students will develop more understanding of global conditions and will become competent in engaging with global and multi-cultural contexts. This will help the language students to develop knowledge and attributes sought by employers that can be used in a range of applications.

Why and how technology will be used in this course
21st century learning leans heavily on material that is available electronically, to be  accessed through computers, notebook computers, netbooks, tablet devices or smartphones. This course assumes that you have sufficient information and technology skills to confidently use a computer or tablet to access material for your course. You will be required to access our learning management system – Learn – and to become familiar with its tools. In this course we will use:

Electronic files:  readings, presentations, images
Audio and video: listening files of the textbook, weekly videos, supplemental listening or viewing
Learn forums and Facebook: writing about concepts addressed in the course, to consider the views and opinions of others, and to respond constructively to these
Choice and Feedback tools: to enable you to complete short learning tasks and give feedback about the course

We want you to become familiar with communicating appropriately online individually and in groups, and generally to prepare yourself to live and work in the information age. Your confidence with using these electronic tools will also further increase your employability in the workplace as more employers expect a level of competence and confidence using computers and expect you to be able to use the Internet to find just-in-time information and resources to help troubleshoot problems and so on.

It is your responsibility to make sure that you computer has the latest free (downloadable) software such as Internet browsers, Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash and Apple QuickTime, as well as a highly recommended word processors such as Microsoft Word or Pages, and a presentation tool such as PowerPoint or Keynote. Your computer should also be capable of playing videos such as YouTube and our Echo 360 video materials and it should have a sound card and speakers or headphones for listening to material presented during the course.

For help using Learn, refer to:
http://learn.canterbury.ac.nz/course/view.php?id=39

A digital trail
Please note that when you work in a course that uses online technologies such as Learn, you leave a trail every time you log in and log out of Learn. This helps us see that you are accessing the material, resources and learning tasks that we provide for you. While some of these tasks are not compulsory, all your activity in Learn leaves a trail. We sometimes use this information, for your good, to contact you and ask you if there are any reasons why you have been unable to access the materials that are provided for your course. Since we have your interests in mind, please accept the care and responsibility that we share, along with your own responsibility to learn and meet assessment deadlines and milestones etc., in order to help you to complete your course successfully.

You may like to know that the Learn technology records which files you open or which activities you access and records how many times you do so. This helps to give us feedback on what resources are of most value to you but also serves as a tool to inform us, that your learning might be at risk, as a result of you being unable to engage with the online resources and activities that we make available for you.

The importance of providing your Feedback to us
Your responsibilities to yourself, and to us, include being able to understand what study and work you will be required to do and what technologies you will be expected to make use of in the online environment. We also have responsibilities to engage with you, to offer help, and to ask for and obtain your feedback so that we can make your learning environment as positive and enjoyable as it can be. Please assist us by giving constructive feedback on the course, when we ask for your views, and let us know if you have any concerns or problems with the course.

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attributes specified below:

	Critically competent in a core academic discipline of their award Students know and can critically evaluate and, where applicable, apply this knowledge to topics/issues within their majoring subject.
	Employable, innovative and enterprising Students will develop key skills and attributes sought by employers that can be used in a range of applications.
	Globally aware Students will comprehend the influence of global conditions on their discipline and will be competent in engaging with global and multi-cultural contexts.

Restrictions

For further information see Language, Social and Political Sciences .