A Virtual Trip to China Allows Middle Schoolers to Study Chinese

The future has officially arrived and Kings Park students are fully immersed. Last year a select group of middle school students from the gifted and talented program participated in a virtual learning program called MyChinese360. Piloted and paid for by Eastern Suffolk B.O.C.E.S., the program taught Kings Park children the fundamentals of Mandarin.    

“It was an interactive program with an instructor who was fluent in Mandarin and was located in China,” said Dr. Ralph Cartisano, Assistant Superintendant for Curriculum, Instruction and Personnel.

Cartisano said when the district heard about the pilot, they couldn’t pass up the opportunity.  

“This opens up a new horizon, it’s a new world – it was an outstanding program, between the teachers and the students, they enjoyed it,” he added.

In addition to learning communication skills, MyChinese360 allows students to visit different places of interest in China like the renowned Great Wall of China.   

The name MyChinese 360 stems from the concept that virtual learning is a 360 degree approach to learning.The program boasts employing highly qualified teachers with advance degrees in teaching Chinese as a second language and many are recruited from prestigious educational institutions like Peking University and the Beiging Language and Culture University.   In order to grasp the manner in which American children learn, the instructors spend thirty hours observing at an American expatriate school in China.

“All kids have different learning styles. In a language as challenging as Mandarin Chinese, it is vital we hold a student’s attention in ways that a traditional classroom environment alone simply cannot,” said a MyChinese360 spokesman.

Cartisano said he trusted the quality of this program because it had been vetted by B.O.C.E.S.  “We’d like to explore more opportunities in this area as they come, be selective and see who would benefit,” he said.

MyChinese 360 is taught in the same manner as other traditional foreign language classe. It’s given at a specific time on specific days.  According to the staff at MyChinese360, many students choose to continue their studies after school hours by accessing the program at home or in an after-school study hall. 

At a recent B.O.E. meeting, Kings Park School Superintendent Dr. Susan Agruso said she hopes they can expand upon distance learning program in years to come.

“We are becoming a truly worldwide school - we do virtual field trips every day – our kids have been all over the world,” said Agruso.