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    2023 OLP Series: Chinese Online Language Pedagogy

    • June 26, 28, & 30, 2023
    • Project Lead(s): Naiyi Xie Fincham
    • Facilitator(s): Sarah Boutin

    3-day Chinese Online Language Pedagogy (OLP) summer workshop

    Digital badge & CEU credit available

    Monday, June 26 | Wednesday, June 28 | Friday, June 30

    Live panel discussions in Zoom: 9:00-10:45 am Hawai‘i | 12:00-1:45 pm Pacific | 1:00-2:45 pm Mountain | 2:00-3:45 pm Central | 3:00-4:45 pm Eastern 

    Registration: FREE (deadline: June 23, 2023)

    This NFLRC professional learning opportunity, designed specifically for online Mandarin Chinese language teachers, will focus on three key areas of teaching Chinese online*:

    1. Identifying and evaluating resources (Monday, June 26): Panelists – Ying Jin, Ke Peng, Terry Waltz, Penny Wang
    2. Managing and fostering online interaction (Wednesday, June 28): Panelists – Matt Coss, Ying Jin, Terry Waltz
    3. Assessment and feedback (Friday, June 30): Panelists – Matt Coss, Ke Peng, Penny Wang

    *  Key areas were identified by the NFLRC through a survey distributed to online Chinese language teachers throughout the United States. 

    Format

    Three daily interactive live sessions followed by related asynchronous tasks (discussion posts in Padlet, hands-on activities, reflection pieces), which are to be completed after each live session.

    Panelists

    Our invited panelists include: 

     

    Matt Coss

    Michigan State University

     

    Ying Jin

    Cupertino High School

     

    Ke Peng

    Western Kentucky University

     

    Terry Waltz

    Translator and Conference Interpreter

     

    Penny Wang

    University of Northern Iowa

    TED-Ed Lessons

    We’ve divided the three panel sessions up by interview question, providing you with a quick and easy way to access the particular content you want in the time you have. Resources mentioned in the clips are included in the Dig Deeper sections, and we encourage you to share your own responses to the interview questions in the Discuss sections.

    Chinese OLP Panel 1, Question 1

    What aspects of Mandarin Chinese do you think are most challenging to teach online?
    Panelists: Ying Jin, Ke Peng, Terry Waltz, and Penny Wang
    Facilitator: Sarah Boutin

    Chinese OLP Panel 1, Question 2

    How do you help students learn Chinese characters?
    Panelists: Ying Jin, Ke Peng, Terry Waltz, and Penny Wang
    Facilitator: Sarah Boutin

    Chinese OLP Panel 1, Question 3

    How do you assess student interaction with materials?
    Panelists: Ying Jin, Ke Peng, Terry Waltz, and Penny Wang
    Facilitator: Sarah Boutin

    Chinese OLP Panel 1, Question 4

    How do you weed out the weeds when there is so much noise out there? How do you decide if a resource is good?
    Panelists: Ying Jin, Ke Peng, Terry Waltz, and Penny Wang
    Facilitator: Sarah Boutin

    Chinese OLP Panel 2, Question 1

    How do you start teaching online in general (Pinyin, sound systems, characters…)? What works better for online learning in your experience?
    Panelists: Matt Coss, Ying Jin, and Terry Waltz
    Facilitator: Sarah Boutin

    Chinese OLP Panel 2, Question 2

    How do you help students learn Chinese characters?
    Panelists: Matt Coss, Ying Jin, and Terry Waltz
    Facilitator: Sarah Boutin

    Chinese OLP Panel 2, Question 3

    What do you find students learning Mandarin Chinese struggle the most with when engaging in online interpersonal activities? How do you overcome these challenges?
    Panelists: Matt Coss, Ying Jin, and Terry Waltz
    Facilitator: Sarah Boutin

    Chinese OLP Panel 2, Question 4

    How do you engage students to abide by good digital citizenship practices specifically when learning Mandarin Chinese online?
    Panelists: Matt Coss, Ying Jin, and Terry Waltz
    Facilitator: Sarah Boutin

    Chinese OLP Panel 3, Question 1

    What is it about Mandarin Chinese that makes it extra challenging to assess students, more specifically in an online environment?
    Panelists: Matt Coss, Ke Peng, & Penny Wang
    Facilitator: Sarah Boutin

    Chinese OLP Panel 3, Question 2

    When providing feedback in the online environment, how do you address the needs of your students who may be struggling with Mandarin Chinese?
    Panelists: Matt Coss, Ke Peng, & Penny Wang
    Facilitator: Sarah Boutin

    Chinese OLP Panel 3, Question 3

    What are some of the biggest challenges with providing feedback for students learning Mandarin Chinese? How do you overcome these?
    Panelists: Matt Coss, Ke Peng, & Penny Wang
    Facilitator: Sarah Boutin

    Chinese OLP Panel 3, Question 4

    Why is backward design important for Mandarin Chinese assessments especially?
    Panelists: Matt Coss, Ke Peng, & Penny Wang
    Facilitator: Sarah Boutin

    Chinese OLP Panel 3, Question 5

    If you could implement only 1 thing into making your assessments for Mandarin Chinese more robust, what would you do?
    Panelists: Matt Coss, Ke Peng, & Penny Wang
    Facilitator: Sarah Boutin

    Panel recordings

    And for those who prefer to watch everything all at once, the full video recordings for all 3 panels can be found on our NFLRC YouTube channel

    List of resources mentioned by panelists

    Please note that the listing here does not suggest endorsement by the National Foreign Language Resource Center or the U.S. Department of Education. These are solely recommendations from our panelists.

    Panel 1

    Panel 2

    Panel 3

    Hands-On Activities

    As part of the requirements for the digital badge (see below), three of our badge awardees submitted some wonderful hands-on activities they’ve developed in response to the Chinese OLP panel sessions. We’ve gotten permission to publish them here and share them with you. Enjoy!


    Digital Badge

    Successful completion of this workshop (attendance in all 3 live Zoom panel sessions and completion of all asynchronous tasks by July 15) will be certified with a digital badge conferred by the National Foreign Language Resource Center (University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa). Please see Digital Badge Criteria section below for details. Badge earners may be eligible to earn a Continuing Education Unit (CEU) towards maintaining their professional qualifications.

    Badges are not available to those who are not able to attend the 3-day workshop in person. Session recordings and resources will be made available after the event as OERs.

    Digital Badge Criteria

    The Chinese OLP badge certifies that the badge recipient:

    • Learned about identifying and evaluating resources; managing and fostering online interaction; and assessment and feedback related to teaching Chinese online;
    • Attended all three live Zoom panel sessions;
    • Participated substantively and collegially in asynchronous tasks following each live session, including at least 3 posts per session in Padlet and the creation and submission of three hands-on activities;
    • Completed a 3-2-1 Reflection for each live session;
    • Completed our Exit Survey 

    NOTE: See the Q&A section below for instructions on how to complete your required badge tasks.

    The digital badge or CEU credit can be requested using this Digital Badge Request Form.

    Completion Due Date: July 15, 2023.

    CEU Credit 

    Participants who meet all the criteria listed under “Digital Badge” above can be eligible to earn continuing education unit (CEU) credit. In order to earn the CEU credit, one requirement is to fulfill a minimum of 10 contact hours during the workshop, which means participants have to attend all 3 Zoom panel sessions (6 hrs) and participate in asynchronous tasks and reflections afterwards (4 hours). 

    If you are a teacher with the North Carolina Virtual Public School, you will automatically be considered for CEU credit, provided you meet the criteria and submit the Digital Badge Request Form. If you are from a school OTHER than North Carolina Virtual Public School and you wish to earn CEU credit, please provide the name, title, and contact info (email) of the supervisor who will be responsible for approving/awarding your professional development credit within the Digital Badge Request Form.

    Completion Due Date: July 15, 2023.

    Q&A

    Live Zoom panel sessions
    • How do I access live panel sessions in Zoom? All sessions can be accessed via the link provided to registered attendees via email sent the week prior to the start of the summer workshop. If you registered but have not received your Zoom link, please contact us.
    • What topics will be covered during the live panel sessions? The session schedule, including the list of topics and presenters will be listed in the aforementioned email as well as on this webpage, once available.
    • What should I do if I have a question about Zoom? Visit the Zoom Help Center for more information.
    Asynchronous tasks (following live panels) – UPDATED
    • Where will the asynchronous tasks take place? Interactive discussion posts will take place in our Chinese OLP Padlet. Hands-on activities and 3-2-1 Reflection pieces (see below) will be done using either Google Docs or MS Word on your own time. We recommend completing them following each live panel sessions, while the content is still fresh in mind.
    • How do I participate in the asynchronous tasks? After each live panel session, participants will receive an email with instructions and links for the Padlet discussion posts and any hands-on activity. This may involve discussing an aspect of the day’s content, sharing resources, or applying the panel content toward the creation of a lesson or activity for the classroom. Participants should make at least three posts in the Padlet for each of the three session days. Be sure to include your full name with your posts, so you are appropriately credited for your contributions.
    3-2-1 Reflection
    • What is the 3-2-1 Reflection? The 3-2-1 Reflection is a brief summary report that you need to complete after each live panel session. For each one, you need to provide a summary of three things you learned, two things you plan to implement in your class, and one question that you still have.
    • Where can I find the 3-2-1 Reflection and how do I create my own copy? First, go to the Reflection Template, then follow this tutorial to create your own copy in Google Docs. (If you prefer to use Microsoft Word for your 3-2-1 Reflection, use this MS Word template instead. Just go to the File Menu > Download > Microsoft Word (.docx) ).
    • How do I submit my 3-2-1 Reflection? When you are finished with all your digital badge/CEU requirements, you can submit the required badge documents , including your 3-2-1 Reflection Google Doc URL (or your 3-2-1 Reflection MS Word file), via our Digital Badge request form.
    Exit Survey

    Once you have completed, the summer workshop, please share your feedback and thoughts via our Exit Survey