Ivy Livingston and Bill Barthelmy will present Hedera. Hedera is an online language learning environment inspired by research on how people acquire language, particularly the role of extensive reading in linguistic development. Hedera gauges the readability of texts based on the words a learner knows in order to identify material that is comprehensible enough to gain the benefits of reading large quantities of level-appropriate material. Once a text is chosen, Hedera provides a reading environment with support personalized for each learner.
About the Presenters
Ivy J. Livingston studied Classics at Brown University (BA 1991) and Cornell University (PhD 1996). Focusing on early Latin literature and linguistics, she served as an assistant professor at Harvard for six years (including three as Director of Undergraduate Studies) before branching out into publishing and technology. Now as Preceptor in Ancient Greek and Classical Latin, she oversees introductory and intermediate classes.
Some people have a harder time than others deciding what they want to do when they grow up, and with an early love for programming, Bill Barthelmy naturally studied Germanic philology and second language acquisition. This could only lead one place, really, and that was academic technology. Bill also enjoys being a freshman advisor. In his spare time, Bill loves music, parenting and does his best to keep up his German and Latin.
About the Harvard Discovery Series
Formerly known as The Digital Futures Discovery Series, the Harvard Discovery Series is a collaboration between Cabot Science Library and the Harvard University Digital Scholarship Group (DSSG). This event series brings scholars on the frontiers of digital knowledge-making to a Harvard audience in an intimate and interactive setting.