Johnathon Beals

Mr. Johnathon Beals uses his educational background, his travel abroad, and knowledge of foreign languages, to help others learn new languages.  In turn, he helps to bridge the gap between cultures.  By facilitating the use of technology, he is bringing the world closer together, one program at a time.

In the Beginning

Mark Twain once wrote: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”

Mr. Beals traveled to China while in College, it was on this trip that he learned of the rich culture of the area.  On his trip he saw  the hustle and bustle of the larger Chinese cities, and also saw the more quiet life of the Tibetan farming community.  He studied Daoism, Buddhism and philosophy, which opened his mind to new cultures.  He has an undergraduate degree in Anthropology, he has a minor in East Asian Studies, and a graduate degree in Educational Technology.  He now works at the University of Michigan, in the Language Resource Center.  There he helps to facilitate the learning of new languages and understanding various cultures.

Working Together to Become Better

Mr. Beals has spent a lot of time developing programs and applications that help students learn new languages.  But he realized that he enjoyed being a project manager as opposed to a programmer.  This allow him to get out from behind the keyboard, and interact with peers, many of whom have rich backgrounds and come from other countries.  He learned that “collaboration breaks down the silos”.   And by meeting with his peers, and understanding how the rest of the team operated and what their goals were, he could be more productive at his job.

Bridging the Gap between Human and Machine

The website for the University of Michigan Language Resource Center states that the department is there to help “serve, support, and promote the study and instruction of foreign languages, cultures, and literatures…”.  Mr. Beals spends much of his time helping the teachers and students work with technology that helps aid language learning.  For the teachers, he is there to help them with such things as: offer consulting services such as video conferencing, helping with a plan of action, and technical setup.  For the students, he helps them to understand the technology that the teachers use.  The teachers themselves are not experts on the technology.

Mr. Beals has run workshops on intercultural communication tools such as Canvas, used for online courses, and BlueJeans, used for online meetings.  His department also offers tools such as help with the text based web game mission Laogai.  This game helps the person understand what life was like in a Chinese prison camp.  It asks  the user questions about how they would handle the issues that were necessary for survival in such a dangerous place.

Many of his co-workers have different backgrounds.  Some co-workers have informational technology backgrounds.  Other co-workers have theater backgrounds.  He says  that instructional design is not so much based upon educational background, but based upon experience.  He states that you have to be a “jack-of-all-trades” in his position, and that you have to keep learning.  Since no one person can have all of the answers, collaboration with your peers is a must.

Thoughts on Technology

Mr. Beals has a very pragmatic approach to technology and its usefulness to teaching.  He tells a story about a professor he had in college.  His professor taught Mandarin Chinese, and he did not use a lot of technology tools to teach the language.   Even though in his personal life the professor loved technology.  When teaching, the professor only used a whiteboard and an overhead projector.

When talking about his own thoughts on technology, he has a similar point of view.  He brought up virtual technology as example.  He said he would like to know the benefit of technology in a particular area of teaching before dedicating a lot of resources to it.  He has been working in the this field for 11 years now.  He understands that technology cannot solve all problems, and not all problems need technological solutions.  Some issues are human problems.

There are computer programs that are helpful to people that choose to use them according to Mr. Beals, especially those people that might not have access to formal learning centers such as a university.  People who live in remote areas, or do not have the money to afford college, can benefit from technology programs such as Mango Languages and Duolingo.

Keep the Learning Journey Going

Mr. Beals himself continues on his journey to never stop learning.  He has spent time attending professional workshops.   But he says he has been able to learn just as much by reading professional articles.  And also collaborating with peers, or meeting with coworkers at a coffee shop to exchange ideas.

His journey to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and culture through the acquisition of new language continues on a daily basis.   It could be by reviewing programming in the computer lab, or meeting with a peer in another department to keep the silos at bay.  And sometimes he prefers to go with his co-workers to the nearest coffee shop to buy a cup of coffee, and to have a free exchange of ideas.

Written by: Tanfeng Chu August, 2017