Kalani's first videoconference Konnichi wa!
*Archived June 2006 article

Osaka Gakuin University students and Kalani's Japanese Level I students participated in their first videoconference on April 24. For Kalani's students, it was the culminating experience of their first year of Japanese. One student commented, "I liked how we got to see the other speakers all the way from Japan. How we got to speak in Japanese of what we learned from this year."

Librarian Anne Torige met Kalani alumna Mary Kimura at the E-School Conference and proceeded to coordinate the videoconference session. Ryan Kusuda, technology coordinator and Teleschool Branch resource teacher Gail Button used their training to man the equipment and ensured a successful transmission. Japanese teacher Melanie Lung gladly jumped on this new learning opportunity and prepped her students with practice questions. She emailed Mary Kimura in Osaka to ensure a smooth session.

Judging from student comments, the first 30-minute conference was a success. "It was quite an experience rather than just having a conference with another student in your class."

Another freshman said, "Honestly, I didn't know what to expect, and maybe the anticipation is more frightening than actually being involved in the interview. It was good, and I do believe it supports our lesson and helped very much. It should be done again. There was a little lag in our transmission, but overall, everything was great."

Besides speaking in Japanese with native speakers, students were introduced to new technology. "The equipment was really high tech and good," commented one student. "I think the videoconference was cool because I never knew it was possible to do it. It was a lot of fun and I would enjoy doing this again!"

Students are volunteering for their second conference on May 22. J pop, manga, school uniforms, and places to visit in Hawaii and Japan will be covered in English and Japanese.