Substituting classrooms with cyberspace
Print Edition
ALTHOUGH the beginning of this year’s new semester has been postponed due to safety concerns about the novel coronavirus, students in China have not stopped going to class.
During the extended holiday, students have access to various classes online and on television. In addition to their regular studies, students are required to learn about the coronavirus, how to prevent it, and psychological health, said officials at the Ministry of Education.
The following are snapshots of educators’ and students’ experiences with online learning.
Facing a camera instead of children in a classroom, Chen Hui, an English teacher at the Lushan International Experimental Primary School in Changsha, capital of central China’s Hunan Province, shows pictures of a family tree on the blackboard.
Wu Xingchun, an English teacher at a middle school in Ningshan County in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, considers online teaching challenging, especially given the size of her classes — more than 500 ninth graders from the mountainous county.
Because she cannot interact with her students face to face, Wu must carefully prepare Powerpoint presentations, summarize major points from textbooks and find other useful information for them.
“The normally 45-minute-long class is compressed to 25 minutes, so we have to use highly concise teaching language and offer concentrated teaching points to students,” Wu said.
To improve her online performance, Wu initially had to practice by filming herself and watching her performance several times before an actual class.
Wang Lufeng, an associate professor at Huazhong Agricultural University’s College of Food Science and Technology, hasn’t stepped outside his front door since returning to his hometown in Jinxiang County in east China’s Shandong Province from Wuhan during the Spring Festival.
At the end of January, the university instructed Wang to prepare for online classes scheduled to begin in mid-February.
Preparing for classes was not difficult for Wang, however, his rural hometown’s poor network signal was an issue. Consequently, he set up a classroom on the roof of his building where the signal is better.
His students were shocked to see the rooftop classroom but were moved and encouraged by Wang’s efforts.
“The environment around my teacher is very quiet, accompanied by birds tweeting. He tries his best to deliver class on time,” said one of Wang’s students. By the end of each class, Wang’s hands are red from the bitter cold. Nevertheless, he patiently answers every question students have.
“Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. I hope the epidemic will end as soon as possible and everyone can return to school in good health,” Wang said as he ended class one day.
Tang Mingying, a high school graduate from southwest China’s Guizhou Province, watches online classes broadcast by the provincial education department on TV every morning.
“There are only four months to go before this year’s college entrance examinations,” Tang said.
He was very anxious when told the semester at Qianxi No. 1 Middle School would be delayed, but when online classes began at the beginning of February he started feeling more confident.
Around 8,000 students in his county, many from poor mountainous areas, will take the college-entrance examinations this year.
Song Hongxiang, a teacher at the middle school, has more than 30 students in his class, nearly half from rural villages who hope to escape the region’s poverty by attending a good university.
Chen Zining, a primary student at Changsha Experimental Primary School in central China’s Hunan Province, learns about coronavirus prevention from a class he watches on TV every morning.
Teachers say children are fascinated by the TV classes, which are broadcast in a variety of formats, such as cartoons and songs.
“At first, I was worried my child would be bored at home, but now I find many online courses very useful and interesting,” said Peng Jia, a parent from Changsha. “In fact, children are freer taking online classes as they can stand up to have a break any time they want.”
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