Born into a farmer's family in Luocheng, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Liang
Yanfang, 16, a Mulao ethnic minority girl, had no idea what a
computer looked like two years ago.
With her parents working away from their village in the
Guangzhou, she lived with her grandma, often feeling disconnected
from the outside world.
But her life took a turn when she entered the four-story Deshan
Middle School, probably the most luxurious building in Longan
township, where dilapidated brick or thatched houses are
common.
"For the first time in my life I saw a real computer," Liang
told China Daily.
Every week, Liang goes to the computer classroom twice, to learn
how to use software like Word and Excel, and Internet search
engines like Baidu.
"Computers have opened my eyes and helped my study. And now I
have a dream to go to college in a large city," said Liang with a
timid smile.
Liang is just one of millions of beneficiaries of the
educational program called "Partners in Learning," (PiL) launched
by Microsoft China in cooperation with China's Ministry of
Education on November 20, 2003.
PiL Program
Under the agreement, which began in 2003 and ends in 2008,
Microsoft will contribute over US$10 million in investment,
donations and other forms of support to help furnish computer
education and computer-aided teaching programs in primary, junior
middle and teachers' schools, especially those in rural and remote
areas.
Building 100 computer classrooms and developing a training
system for IT teachers are two main components of the program, Zuo
Jingyun, director of education in charge of PiL in Microsoft China,
told China Daily.
"We believe the combination of IT and education is a crucial
factor in eliminating the digital gap between urban and rural
areas, and promoting educational development as a whole," Zuo
said.
Those children who come from the poor mountainous regions like
Liang have the opportunity to learn IT courses and boost their
academic study based on the same advanced facilities as urban
children.
"For our children from the mountainous regions, computers bring
the outside world closer," said Wei Wenxin, principal of Deshan
Middle School.
Microsoft China invested over 200,000 yuan (US$24,660) in
opening the school's computer classroom in 2004. It includes 30
desktop computers, with the latest version of Microsoft Windows
software, alongside a server, a projector, a laptop and a video
camera.
Computer-aided Chinese Teaching
Two years earlier, the school had one classroom with some
outdated computers.
"Computer classrooms have really changed my teaching style,"
said Zhang Shoujian, Liang's Chinese language teacher. He is only
one of some 10 teachers in Deshan who engage themselves in
combining computers with their teaching.
Zhang is the pioneer. He was the first to try out Chinese
language instruction with the aid of a computer and one of the
first teachers to receive IT training under the program.
Zhang now uses PowerPoint to design his Chinese writing course,
and moves the class whenever possible from the regular classroom to
the computer room so that he can teach them with PowerPoint slides.
He also demonstrates to them how to do research on the Internet for
their essays.
The new-style teaching is mesmerizing students. Liang said she
is eager to attend a Chinese writing course in a computer room.
"We are glad to have a class in the computer room and unhappy if
we can not," said Liang.
In the past, Zhang had to push students to finish written
compositions.
But now they enjoy Chinese writing courses in the computer room,
especially when they cross-evaluate each other's compositions
voluntarily on the blog they set up on MSN Spaces named "Internet
Garden," said Zhang.
"Teaching becomes enriched and flexible, and thus arouses
students' interest, especially in courses like Chinese writing,
biology and maths," Wei Wenxin said.
Problems
Despite the successes, the school still finds it difficult to
apply the computer-aided teaching in all important courses at the
school.
The reason is simple: There are not enough computers in a school
with some 1,400 students and 80 teachers.
Teachers often compete with each other to use the computer
classroom with access to the Internet. They have to book it several
days early, but sometimes even booking cannot guarantee the
room.
Most students are not as lucky as Liang. She was recruited last
August into the school's only IT training group that has 27
students. These students were recruited because of excellent
academic records.
"My classmates envy me because I can use a computer twice a week
as a member of the IT training group," said Liang, adding that
other students may use it only once every two weeks.
Wei said the school needed some more computer classrooms to
satisfy the needs of students and teachers.
Zuo Jingyun admits the program cannot meet the needs of all
children in rural and remote areas.
"We would like to work together with other concerned
organizations to address this problem, so that more students and
teachers are able to realize their potential," Zuo said.
With two years left before the deadline of the joint program,
Zuo said that more needs to be done.
"We should strengthen and expand the program so that it can
become sustainable in the future.
"We believe that the successful methods and experience harvested
in this program can be widely used as a long term reference in
China's educational field, even when the PiL program ends in 2008,"
Zuo said.
(China Daily April 11, 2006)