Farewell to teacher's old friends: chalk and ferule

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, December 06, 2003

Farewell to teacher's old friends: chalk and ferule

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An IT and subject integration teaching forum of Beijing's elementary & high schools dropped a hint that next year, more than 100,000 full-time teachers will have computers in the classroom. This means that teaching informatization in Beijing's elementary & high schools will be achieved one year earlier than planned.

It's really a big stride forward for "digital education" as Chinese tutors have more and more computers in the classroom; on this basis 1,400 Beijing schools will have CWISs (Campus-Wide Information Systems) and IT classes.

There will be no surprise that changes will occur in the classroom once teachers have computers. Experts from the teaching and research center for basic education at the Beijing Academy of Education said that change would take place in eight areas: teaching environment, information resources, career training, professional quality, communication tools, vocational positions, teaching methods and managing methods.

Teaching environment: former teaching buildings, libraries, museums, and factories will be transformed into software for teaching involving info-routes, digital systems of satellite communications and educational websites.

Information resources: new digital, multi-media educational Internet information systems and course resources integrating IT knowledge will replace old media.

Career training: information ability, practical ability for information theory teaching, besides three basic qualities for cultural attainments, majoring knowledge and pedagogic knowledge, are necessary.

Communication tools: new teaching assistant tools will benefit teachers and students including word processor, electric whiteboards, educational applets, email, BBS, groupware and video conferencing.

Vocational positions: teachers will be guides, coaches, experts, resource initiators, researchers and advisors, never simply the initiators of taught knowledge.

Teaching methods: turning traditional teaching methods for example lectures, role, practice, collective conduction and library literature searching into network teaching, individual guiding, cooperative resources research, and paperless working.

Managing methods: replacing manual work with automatic and Internet electronic files.

To help teachers adapt to the changes of informatization as soon as possible, 2,705 teachers have been trained in advance, and 5,949 teachers attended lectures on integrating IT and subject teaching. Furthermore, trials for four subject teaching methods were set, ranging from teachers demonstrations, student learning from Internet applications and Internet sources, and studying in a dummy environment. One after the other, all full-time teachers of Beijing's elementary & high schools will receive IT training.

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