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Home » Opinion » Chinese Views
Free US college videos inspire young Chinese students
By Zhao Ying and Zheng Qian |
January 24, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
WATCHING online open classes of US top universities has become indispensable for many young Chinese who find it a shortcut to make their life more meaningful.
Guo Lei, a native of Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, has become addicted to various open courses after she watched the online video of "Justice: What's the Right Thing To Do?"
The video clip was taken during an open class taught by Michael Sandel, professor of philosophy at Harvard University. Sandel set up a scenario in which a high-speed train with a technical problem is hurtling towards five people who are working on the track, while there is only one worker on the adjacent track.
He inspired students to discuss what the driver should do - to change the direction for five lives - which would kill the other person - or to do nothing and allow five people to die.
Guo said she was immediately attracted by the topic and the discussion of the Harvard students about morality and justice. She even introduced the case to her colleagues for discussion, since Sandel did not give a "correct" answer - unlike most Chinese teachers she knew before.
Guo and her colleagues found more interesting curriculums online, such as lectures about the death given by Shelly Kargan, the jeans and sneakers-clad professor at Yale University who sat cross-legged on his desk during the class.
The inspiring and lively teaching style of American professors made Guo think again about the traditional score-oriented Chinese educational system and prompted more Chinese to frequently watch open classes of top American colleges, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and University of California Berkeley.
Study groups
On China's social networking websites, such as renren.com, kaixin001.com and sina.com, netizens have spontaneously formed many study groups to share these video resources and exchange opinions. About 700 sina micro bloggers have posted different links to the videos. The Chinese portal 163.com has launched a special channel for open programs, providing more than 1,200 class hours of free videos.
Many Chinese have adjusted their daily timetable and some office workers have quit taking naps so they can watch videos at noon.
Others download free online resources to their cell phones to watch while taking buses or just watching whenever and wherever possible.
On the popular portal Douban.com, a netizen named "an independent cat" urged others to get up an hour earlier in the morning to watch the videos before leaving for work. This call mobilized a great number of followers.
Online open classes became popular after MIT published the first OpenCourseWare site in 2002, containing 50 courses. By 2010, MIT had posted some 2,000 courses, attracting 100 million visits.
Many other elite universities quickly joined MIT to produce and share classes online, known as the Open Educational Resources (OER) campaign that provides teaching and learning materials without charge.
Continuous funding from the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and many other investors supported the program, since the cost of producing video for just one class can be more than US$30,000 at Yale University.
Also, volunteers have added English or Chinese subtitles to help more Chinese enjoy the videos.
Zhang Yinan, a sophomore at the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade, is one of the 150 members of a translation team - most of them are college students and white-collar workers. The translation, proofreading and post-production process are time consuming. A lecture of 45 to 70 minutes in length usually takes more than 10 volunteers about 70 hours to complete, said Zhang.
Spirit of sharing
"The prevalence of American open classes reflects the spirit of sharing," said Yu Xinke, vice chancellor with the Continuous Education School of South China University of Technology.
"The open classes of American colleges sets a good example of how to change and improve our teaching methods," said Wang Zhuli, vice director of the Modern Education Technology Research Center of Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangdong.
American professors inspire students to think about profound issues such as justice, morality, death, love and happiness and guide them to open discussions - and this differs greatly from some rigid teaching styles in China that always follows textbooks, he said.
Guo Lei, a native of Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, has become addicted to various open courses after she watched the online video of "Justice: What's the Right Thing To Do?"
The video clip was taken during an open class taught by Michael Sandel, professor of philosophy at Harvard University. Sandel set up a scenario in which a high-speed train with a technical problem is hurtling towards five people who are working on the track, while there is only one worker on the adjacent track.
He inspired students to discuss what the driver should do - to change the direction for five lives - which would kill the other person - or to do nothing and allow five people to die.
Guo said she was immediately attracted by the topic and the discussion of the Harvard students about morality and justice. She even introduced the case to her colleagues for discussion, since Sandel did not give a "correct" answer - unlike most Chinese teachers she knew before.
Guo and her colleagues found more interesting curriculums online, such as lectures about the death given by Shelly Kargan, the jeans and sneakers-clad professor at Yale University who sat cross-legged on his desk during the class.
The inspiring and lively teaching style of American professors made Guo think again about the traditional score-oriented Chinese educational system and prompted more Chinese to frequently watch open classes of top American colleges, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and University of California Berkeley.
Study groups
On China's social networking websites, such as renren.com, kaixin001.com and sina.com, netizens have spontaneously formed many study groups to share these video resources and exchange opinions. About 700 sina micro bloggers have posted different links to the videos. The Chinese portal 163.com has launched a special channel for open programs, providing more than 1,200 class hours of free videos.
Many Chinese have adjusted their daily timetable and some office workers have quit taking naps so they can watch videos at noon.
Others download free online resources to their cell phones to watch while taking buses or just watching whenever and wherever possible.
On the popular portal Douban.com, a netizen named "an independent cat" urged others to get up an hour earlier in the morning to watch the videos before leaving for work. This call mobilized a great number of followers.
Online open classes became popular after MIT published the first OpenCourseWare site in 2002, containing 50 courses. By 2010, MIT had posted some 2,000 courses, attracting 100 million visits.
Many other elite universities quickly joined MIT to produce and share classes online, known as the Open Educational Resources (OER) campaign that provides teaching and learning materials without charge.
Continuous funding from the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and many other investors supported the program, since the cost of producing video for just one class can be more than US$30,000 at Yale University.
Also, volunteers have added English or Chinese subtitles to help more Chinese enjoy the videos.
Zhang Yinan, a sophomore at the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade, is one of the 150 members of a translation team - most of them are college students and white-collar workers. The translation, proofreading and post-production process are time consuming. A lecture of 45 to 70 minutes in length usually takes more than 10 volunteers about 70 hours to complete, said Zhang.
Spirit of sharing
"The prevalence of American open classes reflects the spirit of sharing," said Yu Xinke, vice chancellor with the Continuous Education School of South China University of Technology.
"The open classes of American colleges sets a good example of how to change and improve our teaching methods," said Wang Zhuli, vice director of the Modern Education Technology Research Center of Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangdong.
American professors inspire students to think about profound issues such as justice, morality, death, love and happiness and guide them to open discussions - and this differs greatly from some rigid teaching styles in China that always follows textbooks, he said.
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