Candace Pauchnick of San Diego’s Patrick Henry High School uses an internet chat and eMail program called ePALS to connect her students with a group of college students studying in China.
“It has opened up their eyes tremendously,” said Pauchnick of the program she first introduced to students in 2002.
Senators Joe Lieberman and Lamar Alexander offer a Senate Bill 1117 titled United States-People’s Republic of China Cultural Engagement Act to increase Chinese language instruction in American elementary and other schools, as well as support American commercial activity in China, and provide for exchanges between citizens in both countries.
“Providing our children with the opportunity to understand the Chinese language and culture will help ensure they have a better chance of succeeding in the global economy,” Lieberman said in a May 2005 press release about the bill.
Corey Murray offers a thoughtful reporting about this topic.
I wonder how much ink-enabled electronic features increase the rate of rapid interaction among students as well as diplomats and business people. That might be a worthy master’s thesis research project for an enterprising student.