NILI Staff Profile - Robert Elliott An ESL language teacher and language teacher trainer for over 15 years, Robert specializes in Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and online education. He has been developing class websites since 1997, teaching online classes for many years and has developed two online courses for inservice teachers: Project Based Learning (PBL) and Webskills. You may recognize our newest member of the NILI team, Robert Elliott. Robert has been working with NILI Summer Institute since arriving at the University of Oregon in 2007 from California. Now he is able to bring his skills and interests to NILI year round.
Robert enjoys using and sharing freely available technology tools and applications, such as Google tools, and repurposing technology applications made for business or general users, turning them into language tools. Another area of interest is digital video. For example,
Robert has been using digital filming for teachers in training since 2000, and has also worked on several film projects to complement online learning classes, such as the PBL course mentioned above. His latest endeavor in social learning has been in helping language groups develop a Facebook overlay so as to have a complete Facebook experience in a native language. Robert would be happy to talk about this or other project ideas with you.
NILI Student Profile- Cassy George Cassy George, Suquamish tribal member, is a student and teacher of Lushootseed. She has been involved with the Northwest Indian Language Institute (NILI) since 2009 when she first attended NILI’s Summer Institute. Before attending NILI she learned Lushootseed in community classes that included family members of all ages. She started teaching and planning lessons at the age of 17, teaching beginning classes and moving on to teach advanced classes. As part of her growth as a learner and teacher, she decided to attend NILI’s Summer Institute, where she came to realize that she could work on Lushootseed full time. She then
decided to change her goal of becoming a lawyer and came to UO to study linguistics. This gave her the opportunity to work on her Lushootseed fluency with Zalmai Zahir who is also attending UO. She recently graduated with her bachelor’s degree in Linguistics and currently she is taking prerequisite classes to enter into the Sapsik’walá Masters in Education program for American Indians. Along with attending classes she is teaching a Lushootseed language class. Her goal is to complete the
Sapsik’walá program, return home and create a non-profit that will allow her to create an immersion school for Lushootseed. The immersion school would follow students from kindergarten through six grade.
UO The University of Oregon 3