Seminar on ICT in Education for China

In recent years, China has embarked on a massive effort to provide computers and access to technology to tens of thousands of primary and secondary schools across the country.  As they roll out these technologies, the Ministry of Education and the National and Provincial Centers for Education Technology (NCET and PCET, the institutions responsible for implementing technology-related innovations in schools) have enthusiastically embraced World Links’ Teacher Professional Development program.  Through this program, World Links is helping teachers effectively use technology while supporting the introduction of new teaching methods consistent with the Ministry of Education’s policies to promote participatory, project-based, active, student-centered learning.

World Links and NCET held a two-day workshop in September to translate the enthusiasm and lessons learned from its programs and those of similar efforts into meaningful input into the national consultation the following month.  World Links and NCET are hopeful that the result of the workshop will be a practical, concrete scaffolding that will help guide the development of national as well as provincial policies and regulations in such a way as to foster the scaling up of World Links methodology in order to affect millions of Chinese students.

The two-day workshop was held in Beijing, from September 14-15, 2006.  It was co-organized by the Ministry of Education’s National Center for Education Technology (NCET) and World Links.  Participants, in addition to high ranking officials of the Ministry of Education and provincial educational authorities, included other stakeholders in the ICT integration in education in China such as teacher training institutions, educational research departments, IT-companies, and international donor organizations.