The exercise requires students to click on the verbs in the icon boxes on the left and then drag them to a correct space in the sentences on the right. Text feedback informs the students on the appropriateness of their responses. Binary checklists are particularly well suited for soliciting students' understanding of the main ideas in the video clip. In the binary checklist question on Card 4, students are asked to choose between opposing ideas and to select the best adjectives and nouns associated with German re-unification. Upon answering the question correctly, students have a list of keywords that help them to summarize all previously acquired information from earlier questions.
Binary checklists are a good example of questions that can stimulate bi-directional text processing.
My project utilizes Libra's text building tools for not only writing comprehension exercises but also for developing written transcripts and glossaries to the TV broadcasts. The videoscript card provides instantaneous random access to definitions, synonyms, and the video clip. With this card, students can easily learn new words by clicking with the mouse on unfamiliar vocabulary items and quickly read the meanings in the text field directly below the transcript. From this card students can also summon the video selection, which allows them to read the transcript as they simultaneously listen to the spoken text. During one study at Swarthmore College in 1995, I observed students from my beginning German classes interacting with the Deutsche Welle TV broadcasts using the videoscript tool.