A Study In Travel And Virtual Exchange
Kelli Repphun
8th Grade Spanish Teacher, Jackson Local Schools
This past year, I participated in a Fulbright-Hays Group Project where myself, along with other area teachers and aspiring Spanish teachers, completed pre- and post-departure seminars surrounding a four-week trip abroad to Cali, Colombia. The purpose of this project was to foster our Spanish language proficiency, increase cultural awareness and knowledge of Colombian culture and intercultural competence, while examining social justice issues through virtual exchange sessions with Colombian teachers before traveling abroad. Once we returned, we continued to meet virtually with our coordinating Colombian teachers, completed follow-up assessments, and created a dissemination plan. In all, we embarked on this project to foster relationships to facilitate virtual exchange sessions for our Spanish students,which allows me to share this experience with you.
As world language teachers know, traveling abroad can open a student’s eyes to a world they never knew existed while immersed in the language and culture. But what if traveling abroad is not a feasible option? Not only does travel abroad promote authentic language learning, but travel provides opportunities for educators to enhance teaching practices by providing first-hand accounts of what it is like to experience another’s culture as well as creating space to look inward and reflect on one’s own culture. Unfortunately, traveling is expensive and not always feasible for our students. Knowing this, my colleagues and I focused our time in Colombia combating these barriers by forming relationships with educators in both public and private institutions residing in the city of Cali, Colombia during our four-week experience. During each school visit, we met with administrators, educators, and students teaching and studying the English language at different skill levels and grades. It turns out, they, too, are interested in providing real-world opportunities for students to interact in the target language with native speakers. Thus virtual exchanges were born.
So what do these virtual exchanges look like?
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