ICN News

The pilot Chinese course offered this semester by Burlington Notre Dame, an Iowa private school, has been a hit with students. The need for the course, offered through ILO, developed over the last few years, as more students have become interested in learning Asian languages. A total of 15 students from three different schools are currently enrolled in this pilot program that uses a Polycom device to reach the different schools.

Hye-Seung Lee, an exchange teacher from Korea who is teaching the course, has focused on tones during this first semester. She has spent a lot of time just getting the students to sound Chinese. As mentioned in the October ICN News blog, Ms. Lee will be moving at the end of the semester. Burlington Notre Dame foreign language instructor Richard Dunshee reports that they have found a replacement for Ms. Lee. She is teaching elementary school now for Mid-Prairie. The plans are that the new instructor will teach next semester and hopefully be able to offer first and second year Chinese in the fall of 2009. Dunshee also has the “hope to add either Arabic or Japanese also, but that is still a hope.”

Student feedback for the course has been very positive. Of the 15 students taking the course, 14 students responded to a feedback questionnaire. The students particularly enjoy learning to write the Chinese characters and learning to use the correct tones when speaking. They feel that the class will benefit them in the future by giving them more job opportunities, particularly in the business world. Most of the students chose to take the course because they have an interest in learning other languages. The majority of the students expressed an interest in continuing to take Chinese.

Student Brooke Byars states, “I would love to take Chinese another year if it is offered, even all four years.” All of the students had positive words concerning the overall course and the instructor.

Attendance for the course, another indicator of its success, has been very good, especially considering its early morning meeting time of 7:15 a.m. One girl, the only student from New London, actually came to class when there was no school at New London for the day. She arranged for the principal to open the doors for her. Some of the students who have had some academic trouble in other classes have been motivated in this class and are all doing very well.

As mentioned in the October blog, Burlington Notre Dame provides a coach, necessary materials and willingness to be flexible with scheduling. As a partner with the school, ILO provides an online registration system and posts the class on the ILO Web site. For school partners using the ICN, ILO would also pay applicable ICN costs that may incur. For questions relating to this Chinese course, contact Richard Dunshee at rdunshee@nd-burl.pvt.k12.ia.us. For questions related to Iowa Learning Online, contact Arlan Thorson at athorson@iowalearningonline.org or at (515) 238-4765. Interested individuals can also visit http://iowalearningonline.org for more information.