OLRC Events

Holiday Cheer-A-Bration
(November 28, 2023)

Get yourself in the mood for the holidays. Enjoy painting, giveaways, festive food, a Christmas tree, and music. Hosted by Global Partners, GAP, International Support Services, and Open Language Resource Center to bring together domestic and international students to celebrate the holidays.

KSWLA Conference
(November 3-4, 2023)

The Open Language Resource Center sponsored the annual conference of the Kansas World Language Association on the KU Lawrence campus.  For more information, see the KSWLA website.

Skele-bration Party
(October 31, 2023)

May you not lack scares or candies on this very special night. Pumpkin Bowling, Witches Hat Ring Toss, Halloween Candy Corn Tower Challenge, Candy Corn Spoon Race and more! Hosted by Global Partners, GAP, International Support Services, and Open Language Resource Center to bring together domestic and international students to celebrate Halloween.

Global Health Through Literature
(July 7, 2023)

The KU Area Studies Centers will host a free workshop for K-12 teachers and K-12 education students in the Bangs Active Learning Classroom.  This one-day event will challenge educators to internationalize their curricula by incorporating a book on the theme of global health. For more information see the CREES website.

Integrating Skills and Modes for Curriculum Design
(June 6, 2023)

This ACTFL workshop focused on how to build a curriculum that is designed to keep students making steady progress in terms of overall proficiency.

OPI Familiarization Workshop
(April 29, 2023)

This workshop familiarized participants with the ACTFL Rating Scale and the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI), a widely recognized tool to asses a speaker's ability to use language effectively and appropriately in real-life situations.

Language OER Conference (March 11, 2023)

The Open Language Resource Center and the Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning (University of Texas at Austin) hosted the third annual Language OER Conference via Zoom. The conference featured 15-minute lightning presentations showcasing large-scale language OER projects and 30-minute explorations of issues related to OER production and adoption. For more information see the Language OER Conference webpage.

Journée d'immersion en français (March 4, 2023)

Full-day immersion experience in French, co-sponsored by the Kansas chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French and the KU Department of French, Francophone & Italian Studies.

AATSEEL 2023 Conference (February 17, 2023)

Stephen Dickey, Kamila Saifeeva and Anna Karpusheva presented on Russian Aspect in Conversation at the annual conference of the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages. For more information, see the AATSEEL website.

Kansas Board of Regents Language OER Roundtable (February 16, 2023)

Kathleen Antonioli (Kansas State University), Amanda Hadley (Butler Community College) and Jonathan Perkins (KU OLRC) shared their OER journeys and participated in a roundtable discussion with questions from attendees.  Additional information can be found on the KBOR website.

MWALLT Conference (Feb 11, 2023)

The Midwest Association for Language Learning Technology (MWALLT) 2023 virtual conference was held on Saturday, February 11th.  Presentations were delivered via Zoom from one of five hosting institutions (University of Kansas, University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, University of Minnesota, University of Chicago).  For more information see the MWALLT Conference webpage.

Tech Tools for the Language Classroom (January 26, 2023)

Shannon Quinn (Michigan State University) showcased free online tools to improve your teaching, engage your students, and just make your life a little bit easier.  Co-sponsored by the College Now program at Johnson County Community College.

World Languages Fair (October 29, 2022)

This free event on the KU Lawrence campus provided an opportunity for regional high-school students to attend presentations in 19 languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Haitian Creole, Italian, Japanese, Kaqchikel Maya, Kazakh, Kiswahili, Korean, Latin, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Ukrainian).  Presenters included faculty from KU, Fort Hays State University, Johnson County Community College, Kansas State University, Missouri State University, and Pittsburg State University.

AAPPL Familiarization Workshops (August 5-6 2022)

Two workshops were offered on the ACTFL Assessment of Performance towards Proficiency in Languages, widely used for the Kansas Seal of Biliteracy and the Missouri Seal of Biliteracy. The events were co-sponsored by the Kansas World Language Association and the Foreign Language Association of Missouri.

Language OER Conference (March 5, 2022)

The OLRC and the Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning held the second annual joint conference as part of Open Education Week. This online event showcased existing OER projects and presentations/discussions on broader issues effecting the OER movement. The conference program and conference recordings are available on the Language OER Conference webpage.

AATSEEL 2022 Conference (February 19, 2022)

Oleksandra Wallo presented on Добра форма at the annual conference of the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages. For more information, see the AATSEEL website.

MWALLT 2022 Conference (February 5, 2022)

Online conference of the Midwest Association of Language Learning Technology with presentations shared by teleconference between Kansas State University, University of Iowa, University of Minnesota, University of Michigan and Northwestern University. Recordings of all the presentations are available to members on the MWALLT website.

CHAUKIDU International Conference (December 15, 2021)

Brenda Wawire and John Muchira presented on Hujambo! at the annual conference of CHAUKIDU, the Global Association for the Promotion of Swahili held at Pwani University in Kenya.For more information, see the CHAUKIDU website.

ACTFL 2021 Convention (November 19-21, 2021)

The OLRC shared a virtual booth the other National Foreign Language Resource Centers at the World Languages Expo at the online convention for the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Nina Vyatkina also presented on Incorporating Corpora as part of a presentation entitled "Corpus-based Approaches to Teaching German and Creating Open Resources" with Adam Oberlin (Princeton), Julie Larson-Guenette (Wisconsin) and Stephen Van Orden (Timpview High School). For more information, see the ACTFL Convention Program.

OER Office Hours - Accessibility and Universal Design for Learning (November 11, 2021)

Staff from the OLRC and COERLL along with other OER experts were available to answer questions and talk about your open education projects and teaching. Our guests were Jessica Miller, who has experience implementing Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in her classroom materials at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and Brayden Milam, who has coordinated accessibility compliance across disciplines at Kennesaw State University.

FLAM 2021 Conference (October 23, 2021)

The Foreign Language Association of Missouri held its annual conference online this year. The OLRC was a program sponsor and OLRC Director Perkins delivered a 50-minute synchronous presentation on OER. Members of FLAM can access a recording at flamnet.org.

OER Office Hours - Copyright, Fair Use & Licenses (October 4, 2021)

Staff from the OLRC and COERLL along with other OER experts were available to answer questions and talk about open education projects and teaching. Our guest was Colleen Lyon, Scholarly Communications Librarian at UT Austin and an expert on Creative Commons licenses, copyright, and fair use.

German Studies Association 2021 Conference (September 30 - October 3, 2021)

Nina Vyatkina presented on Incorporating Corpora as part of a three day virtual seminar entitled " Corpus-Based and Data-Driven Approaches to Teaching German Across the Curriculum" with Adam Oberlin (Princeton), Anat Benzvi (Princeton), Joe Cunningham (Georgetown), Gemini Fox (Purdue), Julie Larson-Guenette (Wisconsin), Sophia Strietholt (Wisconsin), and Marianna Ryshina-Pankova (Georgetown).

Online OER Workshops (September 28, 2021)

Three online workshops on Open Educational Resources were held in collaboration with Johnson County Community College. One highlighted the Acceso Spanish curriculum, one highlighted the Incorporating Corpora German resources, and one provided an overview of creating (and sharing) your own OER.

KSWLA 2021 Conference (September 24-25, 2021)

The Kansas World Language Association held its annual conference online this year. The OLRC sponsored a pre-conference workshop on social justice for language teachers led by Dr. Netta Avineri (Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey), Dr. Rachel Showstack (Wichita State University) and Dr. Andie Faber (Kansas State University). OLRC Director Perkins and Education Program Coordinator Ashley also gave a 50-minute synchronous presentation on OER.

OER Office Hours - Getting Started with OER (September 22, 2021)

Staff from the OLRC and COERLL along with other OER experts were available to answer questions and talk about open education projects and teaching. Our guest was Ashley Morrison, the Tocker Open Education Librarian at the University of Texas at Austin, who is an expert on how to get started on an OER project (either teaching with or creating OER).

FLAM Conference Presentation Release (April 15, 2021)

The Foreign Language Association of Missouri held the synchronous portion of its annual conference on October 24, 2020 and released a series of recorded conference presentations through the spring of 2021. Among these was a joint presentation by OLRC Director Jonathan Perkins and project leaders Amy Rossomondo, Nina Vyatkina and Gillian Weatherley. Video recordings are available to members on the FLAM website.

World Languages Fair (April 10, 2021)

Working in collaboration with KU's Area Studies Centers and the KU Office of International Programs, and in partnership with the Foreign Language Association of Missouri, the Kansas World Language Association and the Kansas Department of Education, the OLRC hosted the second World Languages Fair on Saturday, April 10th. This free, online event provided an opportunity for regional high-school students to explore a wide range of world languages and cultures.

Language OER Conference (March 6, 2021)

The OLRC, the KU Libraries, and the Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning hosted a joint conference as part of Open Education Week. This one-day, online event included showcases of existing OER projects and presentations/discussions on broader issues effecting the OER movement. For more information, see the Language OER Conference webpage.

AATSEEL 2021 Conference (February 25-28, 2021)

At the upcoming virtual conference of the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages, Oleksandra Wallo gave a presentation entitled “Добра Форма: An Open-Access Web-Based Resource for Learning Ukrainian Grammar,” For more information, see the AATSEEL website.

MWALLT 2021 Conference (February 13, 2021)

Online conference of the Midwest Association of Language Learning Technology with presentations shared by teleconference between the University of Kansas, the University of Iowa, Michigan State University and the University of Minnesota. Recordings of all the presentations are available to members on the MWALLT website.

OER Workshops (January 28, 2021)

Three free online workshops on Open Educational Resources, including one highlighting the Acceso Spanish curriculum, one highlighting the Incorporating Corpora German resources, and one providing an overview of creating (and sharing) your own OER.

ACTFL 2020 Convention (November 20-22, 2020)

The OLRC shared a virtual booth the other National Foreign Language Resource Centers at the World Languages Expo and co-sponsored a 45-minute workshop entitled "Free Standards-based Resources from the Language Resource Centers" at the online convention for the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. For more information, see the ACTFL website

KSWLA 2020 Conference (October 24, 2020)

The Kansas World Language Association held its annual conference online, featuring a joint presentation by OLRC Director Jonathan Perkins and project leaders, Amy Rossomondo, Nina Vyatkina and Gillian Weatherley. Video recordings of the entire event are available to members on the KSWLA website.

KATG Deutsches Wochenende (September 11-12, 2020)

The annual immersion event for the Kansas chapter of the American Association of Teachers of German moved online this year and featured a workshop on Incorporating Corpora led by Nina Vyatkina and Schirin Korehpaz.

AAPPL Workshop (March 7th, 2020)

Working in collaboration with Pittsburg State University, the OLRC co-hosted an ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages workshop at Pittsburg State University. This one-day workshop, free to participants, focused on the AAPPL web-based assessment that has been approved by both Kansas and Missouri for the Seal of Biliteracy.

Le Mardi gras: Une journée d'immersion en français (February 29, 2020)

Full-day immersion experience co-sponsored by the Kansas chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French and the KU Department of French, Francophone & Italian Studies and hosted by the OLRC.

MWALLT 2020 Conference (February 8, 2020)

A multi-site conference of the Midwest Association of Language Learning Technology with presentations shared by teleceonference between the University of Kansas, the University of Iowa, Michigan State University and the University of Minnesota. Presenters included Amy Rossomondo speaking about the new edition of Acceso and Nina Vyatkina and Schirin Kourehpaz speaking about Incorporating Corpora.

AATSEEL 2020 Conference (February 6-9, 2020)

The American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages hosted is annual conference in San Diego, CA. Oleksandra Wallo, project director for Dobra forma, debuted this new resource for learners of Ukrainian.

MLA 2020 Convention (January 9-12, 2020)

The Modern Language Association hosted its annual convention in Seattle. Nina Vyatkina, project director of Incorporating Corpora, spoke about the new resource in a session entitled "Corpora as Open Educational Resources for Language Teaching".

ACTFL 2019 Convention (November 22-24, 2019)

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages held its annual convention and world languages expo at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington DC. OLRC co-Director Jonathan Perkins presented on the #GoOpen Launch Packet with Carl Blyth, Director of the Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning at the University of Texas. The OLRC also joined the other National Foreign Language Resource Centers at the LRC pavilion in the World Languages Expo.

KSWLA 2019 Conference (November 1-2, 2019)

The Kansas World Language Association held its annual conference on the campus of Wichita State University. The program included a presention on Open Educational Resources by OLRC Co-Director Jonathan Perkins.

World Languages Fair (October 19, 2019)

Working in collaboration with KU's Area Studies Centers and the KU Office of International Programs, and in partnership with the Foreign Language Association of Missouri, the Kansas World Language Association and the Kansas Department of Education, the OLRC hosted its first annual World Languages Fair on October 19th. The event brought middle- and high-school students to campus for a day focused on exploring world languages and cultures. Sessions included mini-lessons in a range of languages, presentations on target cultures, and discussions of how intercultural competence can enhance different fields of study.

AAPPL Workshop (August 10, 2019)

Working in collaboration with Missouri State University and the Foreign Language Association of MIssouri, the Open Language Resource Center at the University of Kansas co-hosted an ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages workshop at MIssouri State University in Springfield, Missouri on Saturday August 10th. This one-day workshop, free to participants, focused on the AAPPL web-based assessment that has been approved by both Kansas and Missouri for the Seal of Biliteracy.

IALLT Webinar Series (March 2019)

Nina Vyatkina presented "Incorporating corpora into language teaching" for the webinar series of the International Association for Language Learning Technology. A video recording is available to members on the IALLT website.

MWALLT 2018 Conference (October 13, 2018)

MidWest Association for Language Learning Technology hosted its annual conference on work at the intersection of language and technology at three sites: the University of Kansas, the University of Minnesota and Michigan State. Presentations from all three sites were shared on two simultaneous online streams with the ability for individuals and small groups to participate through teleconference.

ACTFL 2018 Conference (November 16-18, 2018)

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages held its annual convention and world languages expo In New Orleans, LA. Nina Vyaltkina presented "Language corpora for L2 vocabulary learning: Data-driven learning across the curriculum" and the OLRC also joined the other National Foreign Language Resource Centers at the LRC pavilion in the World Languages Expo.