Learning and Leading

in Action

Members Explore, Collaborate in China

For more about the trip, visit our travel exchange blogs and view our photo sites at http://tinyurl.com/45hllv9.

In December, 39 ISTE members visited the People’s Republic of China to talk about learning, teaching, and technology with their Chinese counterparts. Organized by the People to People Citizen Ambassador Program, the delegation included a broad spectrum of educators from the United States and Bermuda. During the 12-day trip, visits to schools and universities in Beijing, Xi’an, and Shanghai provided authentic learning and insight into Chinese educational priorities as well as a chance to share our best practices. It also enabled the group to build a professional learning community.

Our first stop was the Beijing Normal University and its affiliated high school. Guides introduced our delegation to a model for English language instruction piloted in Chinese elementary schools, with learning supported by one-to-one laptop access. We also visited BISS International School, where ISTE member Julie Lindsay is the e-learning coordinator. While there, we met with school leadership and observed students working on e-portfolios using Wikispaces. In the middle and high school programs, students bring their own laptops for seamless technology integration across the curriculum.

The highlight of our trip was a visit
to Dongtun Primary School near Xi’an.

We observed students in classrooms without doors or heat, seated in rows of wooden desks. Back in Xi’an, we began to understand China’s growing need to offer both undergraduate and vocational programs during a visit to Eurasia University, where discussion focused on bringing new pedagogy to the university, shifting learning to student-centered models and away from China’s traditional teacher-centered learning.

While in Shanghai, we learned that the Shanghai Distance Education Group (SDEG) is developing educational resources that take advantage of mobile devices in a range of formats. SDEG has a vision to deliver interactive learning resources to local schools, families, and the community for lifelong learning.

We also enjoyed exploring China’s rich culture and long history. While touring two of the world’s wonders— the Great Wall of China and the famed terra-cotta warriors—we witnessed stark differences between rural life and the ever-growing, sprawling cities.

China’s passion for learning and
swift implementation of change is
strikingly visible. As our delegation
arrived in China, the Organization
for Economic Co-operation and De-
velopment released the Program for
International Student Assessment
report ( http://tinyurl.com/5wwa2hu),
which showed that Shanghai students
had the highest international read-
ing and math scores. China has truly
made education a local and national
priority, and its government is in-
creasing funding for education.

We learned much from the institutions our delegation visited but perhaps even more from the professional community formed among our participants and the guides who shared personal stories about life in China. Our group returned home with a fresh, global outlook on education and culture in China that brings to mind the dimensional sheen of a silk rug we watched emerging from knots carefully tied by a Shanghai craftswoman. Our global learning experience, formed by row upon row of new connections, has created a tapestry of cultural and professional understanding. We may not see the grand design just yet, but we will be adding to this tapestry.