January 3, 2011
SFL Staff Member Visits China

Candace Hackett Shively, Director of K-12 Initiatives at The Source for Learning, spent eleven days in early December visiting schools and universities in the People's Republic of China. She was part of a group of 35 leaders in the use of educational technology, all of whom were members of ISTE, the International Society for Technology in Education. Coordinated by the People to People Citizen Ambassador Program, the trip included visits to Beijing, Xi'an, and Shanghai.

While in China, the delegation visited the Beijing International School--an independent, proprietary, coeducational English language K-12 day school that serves Beijing's expatriate community--and the School of Educational Technology at Beijing Normal University, an elite school similar to Columbia Teachers College in the U.S., that conducts research in instructional systems design and curriculum development. The group also visited Beijing's high school No. 3, a public school for grades 7-12.

Stops in the Xi'an region included primary school in the farming village of Dongtun, and Xi'an Eurasia University, which offers degrees in more than 40 disciplines to 20,000 students.

While in Shanghai, the ISTE China delegation visited the Shanghai Distance Education Group, which is pioneering distance education services for children and adults from primary years through the elderly. They also visited the YK Pao School, a grade 1-12 school that offers a bi-lingual and bi-cultural education rooted in Chinese culture and integrated with an international approach. This school serves Chinese nationals as well as expatriate children.

Commenting on her experiences during the trip, Ms. Shively said, "This trip provided not only a chance to see China's education in practice at all levels, but also an opportunity for dialog with China's leaders in educational technology. We shared problems, asked questions, highlighted best practices from both China and the U.S., and explored areas for deeper investigation, forging new relationships for further exchange. TeachersFirst is looking forward to sharing cross-cultural experiences with our teacher audience in the U.S. and other countries so students everywhere can benefit from a global view of learning."

Ms. Shively's primary responsibility at SFL is directing TeachersFirst, its web site for K-12 teachers. One outgrowth of her trip will be a new TeachersFirst feature to promote cross-cultural understanding among students around the world. More extensive impressions of the trip and its activities are available on Ms. Shively's blog:http://blog.teachersfirst.com/thinkteach/category/china/