A small school in country Australia might seem an unusual place to find students learning to speak Chinese, but not for Jess McCulloch’s students. Jess is an extremely enthusiastic Chinese language teacher who is turning to technology to help engage and excite her students about the language. In this episode Jess talks about some of the cool tools she is using, and planning to use, in her classroom.

Jess is also looking to set up her website as a place for language teachers to be able to network and connect, so if you are a language teacher (or know one) take a look over at www.technolote.com.

Some links from this episode…

• Technolote.com - Jess’s main website
• TechnoChinese - The class blogs for Jess’s classes
• So Damn Hard! - Great article about learning Chinese
• ChinesePod - Learn how to say all sorts of useful things!
• Skype - Free communication tool for connecting classrooms
• Langwitches - Silvia Tolisano’s site for language teaching
• Voicethread - Digital storytelling for Web 2.0
• Rudd at APEC - Kevin Rudd’s address to the Chinese delegates at APEC

Comments welcome, in any language, in the comment box below.

Technorati Tags: lote, technolote, virtualstaffroom

 Episode 17: I Like Chinese: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The K12 Online Conference is a unique and innovative approach to professional development for educators. Started in 2006, the conference offers an amazing array of downloadable presentations on a wide range of topics. In this episode we talk with some of the conveners of the K12 Online Conference, Darren Kuropatwa, Lani Ritter-Hall and Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach. Along with Wes Fryer who unfortunately couldn’t join us for this recording, we discuss the history and philosophy of the event and the incredible opportunity it presents to educators for the 2007 conference.

At the time of recording, the pre-conference keynote by David Warlick has been released, and the official launch of the main conference is only days away… hopefully this podcast will encourage you to go check it out a little more and to take part. (Of course, the presentations will be archived for future access so you can visit them at any time, but it will be great to take part in as it unfolds.)

Thanks also go to Simon O’Carroll, Kim Cofino, Graham Wegner and Carolyn Foote for their insights into what they got out of last year’s event.

Some links for this episode…

• www.k12onlineconference.org - The main conference blog
• The Schedule of Events - See what’s coming up
• Where do I start? - A guide for first time attendees
• Preconference Keynote - from David Warlick

Blogs of contributors to this episode…

• Darren Kuropatwa
• Lani Ritter-Hall
• Sheryl Nussbaum Beach
• Wes Fryer
• David Warlick
• Simon O’Carroll
• Kim Cofino
• Graham Wegner
• Carolyn Foote

I really hope you get inspired to take part in the conference after hearing this!

PS: Virtual Staffroom just turned 1 year old! Happy Birthday VSR!

Technorati Tags: k12online07, k12onlinevsr, virtualstaffroom, k12online

 Episode 16: Global Conversations: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download