Bringing a 1:1 iPad Program to China
I am in Wuhan China… Don’t know off the top of your head where that is? Take a look at the map below. It is on the same latitude as Jacksonville, Florida where I live…just on the other side of the globe…
I have traveled with Michael Fisher, a fellow Curriculum21 faculty member, to visit Stephen Wilmarth, contributing author to Heidi Hayes Jacobs‘ book Curriculum21 and Program Director of the International Experimental Class of the Number 1 Middle School attached to Central China Normal University in Wuhan, China.
Wuhan, China
Other side of the Globe
Number 1 Middle School in Wuhan, China
The school’s name is misleading for us in the USA, since it is a High School serving 3 grade levels (Grades 10, 11 & 12). It serves over 5000 students. The International Experimental class is similar to an academy within the school. About 50 students, all focused on learning English, American history and culture in order to prepare for the TOEFL (Test Of English as a Foreign Language) and the SAT, in order to get accepted to top Universities in the USA. These students do not take the Gao Kao, the Chinese College entry exam.
Take a read of the NY Times article titled “China’s College Entry Test- Gao Kao is a National Obsession” to gain a better understanding of the motivation, perseverance, determination, fear, stress, and pressure for Chinese students to be admitted into universities.
The past week, we have spent in Wuhan, observing and talking to students and faculty, the pressure described well in the above mentioned NY Times article is obvious and can be felt even by us foreigners. The pressure to perform well on these everything-determining exams is what drives ALL decision making.
Chinese students study over 14 hours a day in an educational system that is known for rote memorization, lectures, test taking and conformity. In a system that seems to value “training” above “education”, Stephen Wilmarth has taken on the challenge to start defying this perception that most Westerners hold of Chinese students. A perception which paints a picture of students being only good test takers, but not for being creative nor possessing critical thinking and problem solving skills.
He wants to break his students out of the mold and allow them to reach beyond this perception and prepare them to be admitted and study in the USA. Steve has chosen iPads as the vehicle to help him accomplish just that.
You HAVE to take the Chinese cultural background (history as well as current realities…think Great (Fire) Wall of China) into consideration to be able to realize the immense undertaking of this program of bringing a 1:1 iPad program into a Chinese Public school.
This background includes teacher-student respect in addition to the immense pressure of passing (with top scores) their exams in order to not loose face nor bring dishonor to their families . Teachers stand in front of the class, often on a physical stage and lecture. Students take notes, memorize and are expected to stand up to answer questions and/or recite in unison. Classes have mostly over 50 students in small physical space. The one-child policy in China also plays a pivotal role in the education equation. Parents are heavily involved and want and expect top quality educational opportunities for their children.
Typical Student Desk
More room for books, papers and copies
Steve is creating a model for other Chinese schools to bring technology into the classroom and into the hands of students that for the first time in Chinese history is re-aligning where information comes from.
- from rote-memorization to critical thinking…
- from reciting disconnected facts to connecting and remixing content…
- from individual test scores to a collaborative and a participatory culture …
- from consumption to production…
- from transmitting information to transforming information…
- from handed- in written communication to presentations in multiple media forms…
- from multiple choice to multiple modalities…
- from a paper-based classroom to paper-less learning community…
- from ethnocentrism to global awareness
The goal of the program is to give students the skills to take control of their own learning.
Having the iPad at their fingertips to store, organize and retrieve information anytime and anywhere IS a game changer…
Using the iPads to encourage collaborative work…IS a game changer…
Using the iPads to negotiate meaning that support critical thinking and problem solving skills IS a game changer.
Using iPads to support communication and presentation skills IS a game changer…
Using the iPads to replace expensive printed content and text books IS a game changer…
New Forms of Teaching & Learning
Take a listen to an interview, Mike and I recorded, with Lara Zhang, co-teacher in the International Experimental Class.
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This is absolutely amazing. I am so happy to the see the small baby steps being taken by Chinese schools. There is a desire for this but changing generations of teaching practice here in China is even more difficult that trying to change teaching practice back home in North America. We haven’t been all that successful there and continue to fight the battle.
On Monday night I am going to hear Yong Zhao speak. He has written the book Catching Up or Leading the Way. He is a Chinese American who came up through the Chinese education system and is now at the University of Oregon. A book well worth reading.
Heather Davis recently posted..Let Freedom Ring
@Heather This trip to China has been an amazing eye opener. It was a completely different experience than my previous trip 5 years ago. I am currently reading the book by Yong Zhao you recommend. Steve Wilmarth asked me to let you know that he will also be going to hear Zhao speak in Beijing. Maybe the two of you can catch up.
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Thanks for this informational article. I was privileged to work in the country. Imagine once, while talking to students and an ambulance went wailing by us, and they commented, “Test scores just came out–wonder who it was this time?”
@Brian After experiencing the “national obsession” about the test scores in Cina, I am not surprised by that comment. Thank you for sharing.