As I go round trying to extend the palette of tools teachers use with ICT I am often met by objections such as 'It's alright for you with your extended network but we don't know who to ask to collaborate with us.' So I was very interested to read in my local paper about a teacher exchange which started with a bottle of wine. The story I heard was that one of the teachers asked a local wine importer if he knew anybody in Chile. The truth was rather more complicated and involved a holiday trip to Chile, a meeting with a wine seller who knew someone, who knew someone who worked in a school. I still like the story because it shows that where there's a will there's a way. I talked with Vibeke Stenberg from Ryomgaard Realskole about how the exchange went and her enthusiasm to continue the relationship shone through.
So the major part of the new Absolutely Intercultural show is devoted to my conversation with Vibeke. It also includes a short conversation with Michael Coghlan in Australia about traditional symbolism and the extent to which it is or is not adapted to suit local conditions. It turns out that snow-covered scenes for Christmas are intact but that there is a campaign to adopt the indigenous bilby instead of the bunny as an Easter symbol.
As it is Yuletide there is also a competition. Name the third instrument played by Rivus, the Czech band, after violin and double bass and you have the chance to win the band's latest CD. There is also a plug for another podcast, Budacast, hosted by Drew Leitheif one of our faithful listeners. And finally there is a recommendation to visit the new website Palabea which promotes language learning using the tandem method by using social networking software and video chat software.
Keywords: absolutely intercultural, bilby, Chile, Palabea, Rivus, Ryomgard Realskole, tandem learning
