BEYOND THE CLASSROOM~

USING TECHNOLOGY TO BRIDGE THE CHINESE LEARNING

CHER LIN,

QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY

As the global community interacts and communicates on the technology platform, it is possible to extend the Chinese learning from the standard ÒclassroomÓ setting to the E-Learning environment without any time and space restrictions. Learning Chinese is challenging, but can be fun and engaging if technologies such as Weebly, Audacity and Camtasia Relay are used to enhance and extend classroom teaching. Teachers can use Blackboard and Galaxy to increase the teaching efficiencies. Students can work at their own pace to absorb the Chinese learning from the basic in- classroom concepts to the beyond-classroom concepts ranging from Pinyin and Hanzi to Culture, Festival, Songs and Tools for learning. Students can also share what they have learned in the on-line environment, including on Youtube, blogs and Facebook, and observe the performances of their peers.  Up-to-date information about using Chinese in the world outside the classroom, such as news, job and internship opportunities, scholarships, study abroad and summer programs, and resources such as books and digital media can also be shared with students to increase studentsÕ interest and exposure to the Chinese learning world. This presentation will share the platform and technologies used in a college-level Chinese course to encourage and enhance Chinese learning, both in and out of the classroom.