July 14, 2014
Teaching Ancient Greek with modern technology
First-year students learn Ancient Greek using online tool created by award-winning Waterloo classical studies professor
Learning an ancient language has never been easy but a Waterloo professor hopes the online tool she created helps bridge the divide between modern life and Ancient Greece.
Christina Vester, a professor in Waterloo’s Department of Classical Studies, says Ketos, a tool for first-year students of Ancient Greek, was designed to accompany the course textbook and focus on building competencies such as vocabulary, morphology, syntax and translation. The exercises have been used almost 30,000 times.
Distinguished teaching honour
Vester, who recently received one of four University of Waterloo Distinguished Teacher Awards was also honoured last year with a Faculty of Arts Teaching Award. Ketos took four years to develop and went live in 2010: “It turns out that creating a marriage between modern technology and an ancient language with a complex and changing system of accentuation for every word is really, really hard.”
When describing her teaching style, Vester explains that beyond offering a good mix of lectures and discussion, she tries not to prepare for every minute of the class. “My best classes are ones where the questions from students determine what will be focused on.” She cites the students themselves as the source of her teaching fulfillment. “They are worth the investment in time, thought, and energy on account of their accomplishments.”
Helps students prepare for life beyond university
As the undergraduate advisor for the department, Vester is also able to shape the curriculum and learning in the Faculty of Arts. “Being undergraduate advisor allows me to help students move towards meaningful and rewarding pathways. I get the chance to contribute to possibilities - academic, personal, and professional - that stretch well beyond university.
“Classical Studies is a discipline of diversity,” says Vester, “One which supports a variety of teaching and learning styles. Although it focuses upon the Greeks and Romans, it does so in a contextualized way that requires knowledge of other cultures - and that includes our own. The Greeks and Romans offer a lens by which to examine and evaluate the values, norms, and accomplishments of our multicultural heritage and culture.”
