Cross Cultural Technology

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Cross Cultural Technology

• A proposal submitted by the Linguaphiles of City
  High School

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Defining the Need

• Language is not just words and grammar
• Effective teaching must include culture
• This is true of both native and foreign languages
• True cultural learning requires experience
• Teaching about, but not interacting with
• Classrooms are isolated
• This limits the experiences available to classes

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Overcoming the Limitations

• Technology brings classes together
• Immediacy of communication
• Email
• Chat Clients
• Webcams
• Irrelevance of distance
• Immediacy of communication nullifies the
  effective distance between classrooms

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1 Determine Relative Advantage

• Allows interaction with other cultures
• Enhances learning of the language
• Increased understanding of the target culture
• Broadens students cultural awareness
• Forges international communities

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2 Objectives and Assessments

• Objectives
• Increase Fluency
• Enhance Cultural Awareness

• Assessments
• Monitoring
• Ensure frequency of communication
• Observe quality of communication
• Paper
• Wide range of topics
• Demonstrate developing language skills

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3 Design Integration Strategies

• Instructional strategies
• Both directed and constructivist
• Students receive guidance, but learning comes
  from their own experiences
• Interdisciplinary instruction
• Students must display mastery both of the
  language and of the technology

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Lesson Plan

• Part 1 Objectives and Review
• Teacher explains objectives to the students
• Ensure proper understanding of expectations
• Class reviews previous lessons
• Activate relevant schema
• Enable students to more readily engage in
  dialogue
• Part 2 Initiate Communication

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Email for use with 2 or more hours difference in
time zones
Chat programs (AIM, ICQ, etc.) for classes in a
time zone that is the same, or /- 1, maybe 2
hours
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Lesson Plan

• Part 2 (continued)
• Students communicate with e-pals
• Print the conversations to turn in
• Students may communicate outside of class
• Part 3 Review and Assessment
• Teacher reviews students conversations
• Teacher looks for grammatical errors
• Teacher looks for common topical issues

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Final Lesson and Assessment

• Paper
• Due at the end of the semester
• Describes learned cultural awareness
• May contain common interests or other personal
  information
• Evaluated for cultural insight as well as fluency

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4 Prepare the Environment

• Required resources
• Computer lab with thirty computers
• High speed internet
• Email program
• AOL Instant Messenger
• Three printers
• Five webcams
• Network monitor

• Available resources
• Computer lab with thirty-five computers
• Dial-up internet access
• Mozilla (email)
• One printer

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Required Acquisitions

• Needed Items
• AOL Instant Messenger
• High speed internet
• Two more printers
• Five webcams
• Network monitor program
• Faculty training workshop

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Expected Expenses

• Free items
• AOL Instant Messenger
• High Speed Internet

• Required Expenditures
• Two more printers
• HP Business Inkjet 1200dtn (299 x2)
• Five Webcams
• Labtech (19 x 5)
• Network Monitor
• Spytech Netvizor (295)
• Training Workshop
• 3 hours at 50/hr (150)
• Total Cost 1138

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Further Expected Expenses

• Maintenance of computer lab
• Computers
• Printers
• Printing supplies
• Paper
• Ink
• Absorbed by current technology upkeep budget

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Rationale for these purchases

• Extra printers
• Relieves pressure on existing items
• Webcams
• Allow real-time verbal communication
• Network monitor
• Allows teacher to ensure student security
• Training Workshop
• Enables all staff to use equipment

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5 Evaluate and revise

• Honest and thorough assessment
• Evaluate students learning
• Evaluate expected benefits
• Teacher reflection and student feedback
• Suggest modification
• Ensure equal benefit from technology
• Ethnicity ? Socio-economic status
• Gender

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Potential benefit to other teachers

• This program was designed for language classes
• There is possible benefit to other subjects
• Science classes
• Social studies classes
• Political science classes
• Etc.
• Pilot Program

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Thank you for your attention!

• We are the Linguaphiles.

Eileen Sullivan Gladys Sands
Ashlie Taylor J Lang