Resources Portfolio
Cambridge Latin Course: E-Learning Resources
The Cambridge Latin Course E-learning Resources are the outcome of a seven-year,
£5,000,000 government-funded research project and are intended to supplement and
support the Cambridge Latin Course (‘CLC’) textbooks (though currently the e-learning
resources are only available for Books I and II). The project was intended to raise
standards in Latin learning and increase access to the subject. A wide variety of
activities is available on the platform, including: documentaries; dramatisations;
introductions to Stages or stories; audio clips of model sentences; explanations of the
‘About the Language’ sections; interactive activities; printable materials; and web-links
to relevant sites. These resources provide a great deal of variation in the approaches
that a teacher might use when teaching the Cambridge Latin Course. In addition to use
in the classroom, students may be granted access to the multi-user licence, enabling
them to use the resources at home as a homework task or for revision purposes. Indeed,
by using the e-resources in conjunction with the textbooks, it may be that pupils would
be enabled to learn Latin without the help of a specialist teacher. As Story points out,
“…the new electronic resources offers the prospect not only of enhancing the
teaching of existing courses but also of extending the subject to schools where
there is no Latin teacher.”
Therefore, in assessing the effectiveness of the resource, I will first discuss a selection of
uses of the resource in the classroom context and follow this with an overview of
possible home-study activities.
The resource provides a wealth of activities that can be used in the classroom. For every
Stage of the CLC Books I and II there is at least one ‘About the Language’ section, which
is mirrored in the e-learning resources. In the textbook, whatever grammatical point is
introduced is then consolidated by way of a ‘Practising the Language’ exercise. This is
also mirrored and supplemented in the e-learning by way of various activities (gap-fills,
agreement exercises, translations etc…) under the ‘Extension Activities’ tab. Many of
these activities may be undertaken by students on an Interactive Whiteboard in front of
the class, to good effect. Their interactive nature provides a welcome change from
endless model sentence exercises, which is generally what is to be found in the
‘Practising the Language’ section of the textbooks. The e-learning resources, on the
whole, provide a greater variety in the format of the exercises, ensuring that students do
not become bored by the activities. The other category of material that I have found to
be most relevant for use in the classroom is the background cultural and paralinguistic
material. Videos, question activities and scripts provide an excellent structure for any
lesson that is not intended to be language-based. By looking at cultural topics through a
medium other than the text and pictures in the books, the material comes alive for the
class. The videos are short and informative and the activity games are engaging.
One element of the resource that I believe would be most useful for students’
independent learning is the ‘Exploring the Story’ sections. This tool may be used to
consolidate grammatical comprehension and allow sufficient pace of reading to ensure
fluency, and therefore understanding. As Laserson explains,
“…because it is quicker, the ‘click and look up tool’ both makes it easier for students
to read units (word groups, sentences) smoothly and also increases the frequency
of meeting a word in context, thus facilitating language acquisition.”
However, it may be that this is something that the student comes to rely upon too
heavily, resulting in under-confidence in conventional translation tasks. Students might
also wish to use the vocabulary testing activities to help them to prepare for vocabulary
tests at the end of each Stage. I expect that the students would think this preferable to
having a parent or sibling repeatedly test them from the book.
There are, inevitably, drawbacks to this resource. It is arguable that the activities
provide too much instructional scaffolding, in a way that is detrimental to students’
learning (particularly in the ‘Exploring the Story’ section). It may also be that, having
become accustomed to (or even reliant upon) the online method of learning, students
struggle when they move onto Book III as there is no such resource available to help
them. Furthermore it may be that, as Lister suggests, the incorporation of the eresources into lessons will simply take too much time for teachers with already tight
timetables (“…with so many materials available, it could actually take longer to cover
Book I with the DVD than with the textbook alone”). There are also practical issues with
doing activities on the Interactive Whiteboard in class. Most of the activities must be
undertaken by only one person at a time, hence, while one student is engaging with the
task on the board, the rest of the class must passively watch. Further, there may be
logistical problems with using this type of technology: if your school is running an
unconventional operating system, it will be tricky to get the program to work; if you do
not have access to an Interactive Whiteboard, many of the activities will not be possible
in the classroom; if the school network is slow, videos will be slow or stilted; or you may
encounter one of the handful of glitches in the software that are listed on the Cambridge
Schools Classics Project website. As Goodhew states, “Ease and reliability of use are vital
in order to avoid demoralising colleagues and pupils alike…”.
In conclusion, the e-learning resources for the Cambridge Latin Course are an excellent
supplement to the textbooks. They provide variety, colour and interactive activities that
the textbooks alone do not. However, the resource must be adapted to suit the
classroom and class environment within which you are working. Certain activities will
work for some classes and not others. Some resources are better suited to be used by
students independently, and others in class. Each teacher must use their discretion in
selecting when to employ the e-learning resources, whether instead of, or as a
supplement to, the exercises and resources that the textbooks provide.
Bibliography
Story, P (2003) ‘The development of the Cambridge Latin Course, in Morwood, J
(ed.) The Teaching of Classics, Cambridge: CUP
Goodhew, D (2003) ‘Using ICT in classics’, in Morwood, J (ed.) The Teaching of
Classics, Cambridge: CUP
Laserson, T. (2005) consulted on 01/12/2010, “The Cambridge Latin Course
Online – The Learner’s Perspective”, Classicsteaching.com,
http://www.mnlg.com/classicsteaching/research_pdfs/RP6_Laserson_2005_F.p
df
Lister, B (2007) ‘Re-evaluating the role of ICT in classics teaching’, in Changing
Classics in Schools, Cambridge: CUP