Julio C. Rodríguez
Director
Julio is the director of the Center for Language & Technology and two closely-aligned partner centers: the Hawai‘i National Foreign Language Resource Center and the Language Flagship Technology Innovation Center. As director of these Centers, he has ideated and implemented numerous local, national, and international programs designed to bridge research and practice in language education. Previously, he served as Curriculum Development Director for online courses at Iowa State University, overseeing a portfolio of more than 100 courses.
Julio has published and presented extensively on instructional technology, faculty development, project-based language learning, simulated experiences, and online learning design, and has delivered keynote and plenary talks at national and international conferences. His current work focuses on improving learning environments to enhance the experiences of both learners and educators, fostering autonomy, intellectual curiosity, and innovation, with a growing emphasis on how generative AI can be used in this context.
His academic credentials include a graduate degree in translation and interpretation (English/Spanish) from the National University of Córdoba, Argentina, a B.A. in German language and literature from Whitman College, an M.A. in TESL/Applied Linguistics from Iowa State University, and a Ph.D. specializing in instructional technology in the context of world language teacher education.
My interest in technology and language learning started back in the late 80’s, when I designed a study to understand how video could enhance language acquisition. A couple of years later, I found myself teaching English in a language institute that used a video-intensive approach to language learning. My continued interest in this area motivated me to pursue an M.A. in Applied Linguistics with an emphasis on computer-assisted language learning. After completing an MA in this area, I taught ESL and undergraduate English Composition courses for a couple of years and then decided to pursue a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instructional Technology. Because of my background in applied linguistics and my interest in teacher and faculty development, it seemed natural to focus on technology in language teacher education. I still find this a fascinating and nuanced field with many yet unexplored areas.
Toward the end of my doctoral studies, I became the director of the Language Studies Resource Center (LSRC) in the Department of World Languages at Iowa State University. Some of my accomplishments as director of the LSRC included the restructuring of the Center to better support faculty and students, the development of a successful, award-winning online course in 2006 (Latin 101-102), which lead to the development of many more online language courses, the development of electronic reading materials for Spanish with emphasis on business, engineering, and agriculture, and the adoption of open-source tools.
I have a keen interest in open education initiatives. Within this paradigm, I am interested in open source tools that can support language learning and open educational resources (OER’s). As director of the LSRC, one of the initiatives I supported was the installation of open-source tools on all Center computers in 2007. At a time when securing basic language tools (e.g., spellcheckers for Arabic) through commercial products presented substantial financial challenges, open-source offered a cost-effective alternative.
The potential of open-source software is evident in language teacher education. I believe that language teacher education programs need to be realistic in terms of the tools and resources that teachers can expect their students to have at their disposal once they are in the field. The use of commercial products is problematic, particularly in learner-centered instructional contexts, since it is often difficult for learners to have access to sophisticated or expensive tools. The power of technology is best seen in the hands of the learners. Open source software enables that scenario, so it makes sense to support its use in teacher education contexts.
After a few years directing the LSRC, I took another challenge: leading curriculum development for online courses for Engineering-LAS Online (ELO). I worked in this area for two years, which gave me the opportunity to become acquainted with the challenges and opportunities of online teaching and learning. I lead a team of amazing individuals whose talents included graphic and instructional design, coding, and photography. We were responsible for the maintenance of over 100 online courses and produced over 40 new courses, many of them through a grant incentive program. The design and development of many of these courses was anchored to research on online teaching and learning.
In 2011, I joined the faculty of the College of Languages, Linguistics & Literature at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa as Director of the Center for Language & Technology (CLT), formerly Language Learning Center, and associate director of the National Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC). During my tenure as director, the CLT has refocused its mission to support the integration of technology into the content areas of the college. We are doing so by providing technical support and professional development to instructors across the College and by helping establish and implement procedures that enable the creation of quality online learning experiences for our students.
The CLT is home to two national centers which extend its functions: the National Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC), a Title VI program funded by the U.S. Department of Education, and the Language Flagship Center for Technology Innovation (FCTI), sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense.
Center for Language & Technology
The Center for Language & Technology (CLT) has a long history of service to the college and the university. Established in 1956, the CLT now serves as the primary hub for technology in language education. It's mission is to support the informed use and integration of technology into instruction and research in the curriculum of the College of Languages, Linguistics & Literature.
As director of the CLT, the projects I oversee can be classified into two main categories, namely instructional and operational. Instructional projects include curated collections of resources for language learning and professional development as well as the design, development, and implementation of instructional interventions. Operational projects include the creation of standard operating procedures and policies for the CLT (e.g., facility use policies, equipment loan policies, etc.), the creation of departmental bylaws, and the conceptualization, design, and creation of physical shared spaces that support teaching and research activities in the academic areas of the College, as well as spaces that are necessary to support essential CLT functions.
Instructional Projects
Current Instructional Projects »
Sample Operational Projects
National Foreign Language Resource Center
The Hawaii NFLRC is the only center remaining since the inception of the Title VI LRC Program in 1990. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, the mission of the LRC program is to increase the national capacity for teaching and learning foreign languages. In its 25 years of operation, the NFLRC has produced an exemplary record of resources and activities that have gained its national recognition in the profession.
The LRC program focuses on four main areas: professional development, research, materials development, and dissemination. Below are some of the projects I oversee in my capacity as NFLRC director since 2014.
Professional Development
The main professional development projects I oversee in this cycle focus on project-based language learning and on online language pedagogy. The project-based language learning project is a broad initiative that includes different types of components aiming at helping language instructors in the conceptualization, design, and development of projects in language learning contexts. The online language pedagogy project consists of a series of professional development opportunities that exclusively target the needs of online foreign language instructors.
Project-based Language Learning » Online Language Pedagogy »Research
The NFLRC actively participates in the production and dissemination of research. In my capacity as NFLRC director, I act as series editor of its monograph series. Several ongoing NFLRC projects additionally include design-based research components.
Materials Development
Several NFRLC projects result in the creation of materials for professional development. For example, the OLP modules result in materials that are made available as an open educational resource to the profession. Similarly, NFLRC Intensive Summer Institutes (ISI) also produce resource websites with curated resources around particular topics of interest, such as project-based language learning, such as the ISI 2015 or ISI 2016 sites.
Materials whose primary purpose is language learning are also created through several NFLRC projects. For example, a Vietnamese resource website with materials curated or created for language learners was developed as part of a curriculum development project.
Dissemination
Dissemination activities include the dissemination of research through publications and professional conferences. For example, in 2015 the NFLRC had five presentations at ACTFL and in 2016 four presentations at CALICO.
Flagship Technology Innovation Center
The Language Flagship is an initiative from the Department of Defense that combines 27 programs in 22 institutions of higher education. The primary goal of this initiative is to change the way languages are learned in the U.S. through an innovative approach grounded on years of successful experience. Within this initiative, the role of the Technology Innovation Center is to leverage existing efforts and resources and facilitate projects that will improve the use of technology in language education. In order to identify efforts that may result in sustainable projects and improved outcomes, the Technology Innovation Center used a design-thinking approach. Stakeholders in the private and public sectors were invited to engage in discussions in an environment that fostered the emergence of new ideas and promising solutions. Experts from both the public and private sectors, including various areas of academia, businesses at different stages of growth, as well as various government agencies, through a series of symposia, were invited to contribute to this project by participating in one of three symposia:
Symposium I (November 5–6, 2015, Honolulu)
Symposium II (February 26–27, 2016, Pittsburgh)
Symposium III (March 17–18, 2016, San Francisco)
To inform the symposia, we designed and delivered a survey on the status of technology use across Flagship institutions and, through a collaboration with the New Media Consortium, we published a Horizon Brief on innovation in foreign language education.
Besides these strategic planning activities, which were the focus of the first year, the Technology Innovation Center also engaged in the creation of a simulation for learners of Chinese. Since one of the functions of the center is to operate as an incubator for experimental projects, the simulation was used to model how a project might leverage existing resources to create technology enhanced learning opportunities for Flagship students that can be expanded across multiple programs. The simulation project was based on my experience with a similar project created by Prof. David Russel at Iowa State University and consisted in the creation of a fictitious company, Green Ideas, Inc., and tasks that were implemented in three Chinese language classes.
Selected Publications
Chuang, H., Rodríguez, J. C., Suvorov, R., & Tschudi, S. Professional Development for Online Language Educators. In L. Lavolette & E. Simon (Eds.). Language Center Handbook. International Association for Language Learning Technology. Book chapter submitted for publication. [submitted draft]
Rodríguez, J. C. (2016, July 25). What is project-based language learning (PBLL)? CASLS InterCom newsletter. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/jpzp6sz
Rodríguez, J. C. (in press). Design-based research. In C. Chapelle & S. Sauro (Eds.), The Handbook of Technology and Second Language Teaching and Learning. New York: Wiley. [submitted draft]
Editorial Work
Series Editor. NFLRC Monograph Series.
Rodríguez, J. C. & Pardo-Ballester, C., (2013) (Eds.). Design-based Research in CALL. CALICO Monograph Series, Volume 8. San Marcos, TX: CALICO. [PDF]
Technical Reports
Yoshioka, J. & Rodríguez, J. C. (2016). NFLRC 2016 Intensive Summer Institute: Project-Based Language Learning (PBLL) and Interculturality. Honolulu, HI: National Foreign Language Resource Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Brown, J. D., Trace, J., & Rodríguez, J. C. (2016). Stakeholder Views of the Place of Technology in Flagship Programs. Honolulu, HI: Center for Language & Technology, University of Hawaii at Manoa. Available online at: http://lftic.lll.hawaii.edu/?page_id=1618 (click on Flagship Survey Full Report at the bottom).
Yoshioka, J. & Rodríguez, J. C. (2015). NFLRC 2015 Intensive Summer Institute: Project-Based Language Learning (PBLL) in Action. Honolulu, HI: National Foreign Language Resource Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa. http://dx.doi.org/10125/14577
Selected Workshops
Rodríguez, J. C., Chuang, H., Suvorov, R., & Tschudi, S. (2016, May). Technology Tools for Language Teachers and Learners Beyond the Classroom. [Full-day workshop] CALICO Conference, East Lansing, MI. [workshop website]
López, L., Montgomery, C., Scheller, L., Chuang, H., Rodríguez, J. C., Suvorov, R. & Tschudi, St. (2015, July). Project-based Language Learning in Action [One-week Intensive Summer Institute]. National Foreign Language Resource Center, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. [insitute website]
Aloush, A., Godwin-Jones, R., Johnshoy, M., Murphy-Judy, K., Rodríguez, J. C., Tschudi, S., & Youngs, B. (2015, May). Basic Online Language Design and Delivery [full-day workshop] CALICO Conference, Boulder, CO.
Resource Websites
Rodríguez, J. C. & Tchudi, S. (August, 2014). Design Studio.
This website was conceptualized and developed as a support resource for the Faculty Orientation to Online Learning series offered by the Center for Language & Technology. This 5-module series was first taught in the Fall 2014.
Rodríguez, J. C. (June, 2013). Study Abroad in Mendoza.
This website was created as a support resource for students on the Study Abroad Program in Argentina which I directed in 2013.
Selected Presentations
Chuang, H., Rodríguez, J. C., Suvorov, R., & Tschudi, S. (2016, May). Building Immersive Learning Experiences through Simulations. CALICO Conference, East Lansing, MI. [PDF]
Rodríguez, J. C. (2016, January). Realizing the potential of project-based language learning in foreign language education [Webinar]. IFLE Grantee Showcase. Available: https://youtu.be/XdqJrnAo_-o
Rodríguez, J. C., Montgomery, C., Scheller, L., López, L., & Tschudi, S. (2015, November). Project-Based Language Learning Experiences: Inspiring Teachers, Transforming Learning. ACTFL Conference, San Diego, CA. [PDF]
Chuang, H., Rodríguez, J. C., Suvorov, R., &Tschudi, S. (2015, November). Preparing Teachers to Design Project-Based Language Learning Experiences. ACTFL Conference, San Diego, CA. [PDF]
Tschudi, S., & Rodríguez, J. C. (2015, November). Project-based Learning: How to Spot the Real Thing. ACTFL Conference, November 20, San Diego, CA.
Rodríguez, J. C., Chuang, H., Suvorov, R., & Tschudi, S. (2015, May). Badge of Skill: Faculty Training for Online Course Development. CALICO Conference, Boulder, CO.
Rodríguez, J. C., Chuang, H., Suvorov, R., & Tschudi, S. (2015, May). Weaving Technology with Project-based Language Learning (PBLL). CALICO Conference, Boulder, CO.
Rodríguez, J. C., Tschudi, S., & Jiang, S. (2014, November). Make it a Project: Meeting Diverse Challenges with Project-Based Learning. ACTFL Conference, San Antonio, TX.
Rodríguez, J. C., Rosenbusch, M., Langer de Ramirez, L. (2012, November). Meeting a National Need: Collaborative, Online K-8 Teacher Preparation. ACTFL Conference, Philladelphia, PA.