Last summer, I obtained an FLTC Mini-Grant to develop online course materials for French 2720, Contemporary Quebec Culture. This course is built around films that portray Quebec society from the early 20th century to the present day. The course was divided into five time periods, and students watched two films per time period. They also studied authentic documents relating to those time periods that were archived in Blackboard for that purpose.

The materials included streaming audio and video clips from CBC, Canada’s national news and entertainment corporation, as well as images from the National Archives, statistical graphs from Statistics Canada, and various articles from sources such as the CBC and the Canadian Encyclopedia. French major Aaron Tomchuck worked 130 hours to gather materials and post them into Blackboard after instructor review, and reported, “It’s the best student job I’ve ever had!”
 
In addition to my using these multimedia materials in the lectures, students also integrated them into two separate PowerPoint presentations. The first was done in a group and presented to the class to give background and to explain in more detail events that took place in the films. The second presentation was completed individually, and involved either studying the evolution of a particular theme (women’s lives, the economy, the role of religion in Quebec, etc.) throughout the 20th century; or alternatively, creating a multimedia fictional biography based on film characters. Students also participated in an online discussion after each film, as well as taking a midterm and final exams in Blackboard.
 
The advantages to this “Virtual Textbook” are many. Students hear authentic media such as the radio play-by-play of a 1948 hockey game involving Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard, original footage of the Canadian Army occupying Montreal during the 1970 October Crisis, or samples of political cartoons lampooning provincial politicians. Such authentic media bring the study of foreign culture to life in a way that no textbook can. In addition, students become more active learners as they search the Blackboard materials and edit them into individual presentations, often following embedded links to external Web sites lampooning provincial politicians. Such authentic media bring the study of foreign culture to life in a way that no textbook can. In addition, students become more active learners as they search the Blackboard materials and edit them into individual presentations, often following embedded links to external Web sites and extending the classroom into the world; students interact meaningfully in the group presentations and online discussions. Students also develop important computer literacy skills as they use PowerPoint to integrate various media into oral and written presentations.