PBL In A Language Immersion Program

In the article PBL In A Language Immersion Program written by Bernard Mambo and Diane McGrath they focus their attention on a Language Camp in Minnesota. It is a fully accredited summer camp where students can get a years worth of credit for attending and completing. The camp has 14 different languages to choose and they are all separated by villages. In the article it focuses on the French aspect of the program. The villages are separate from one another to divide culture, currency, food, and architecture. They have class 50 minutes a day and have collaborative projects that they work on. This is a way of immersing yourself into another culture without leaving the country to a certain extent and I think it is a very cool idea and it is for kids ages 7-18. The schools collaborative projects which are primarily digital projects has the students engaged in conversations, obtaining information , and presenting information among a plethora of other things. The main idea is to try and incorporate this in language learning amongst regular schools. They suggest putting the students in the point of view of the country at hand. When doing projects use yahoo France and other portals to aid the experience. Use basic computer software to create news broadcasts using applications like imovie or quicktime. The engaging in conversation and collaboration is seen to be the main aspects of learning as it is seen as active learning. They also talk about project called Creative Connections Projects that allows students to collaborate with other students in a national setting. They can collaberate with students from South America, Europe and many other places around the world.

Food for Thought Questions

1. What are the cons to the Creative Connections Projects if they have even run into any?

2. How do you implement technology for these kinds of activities if your school is in an lower socio-economic demographic?

3. How do you expect to replicate a culture when you study here in a America?

I don't think you can. Culture is learned I believe by first hand interaction and how you live your life abroad. You learn culture I think by living the culture in a day to day sense. You can discuss it but to truly learn it you have to interact with it.