eastern connecticut state university a comparative education study in educational technology china...

Eastern Connecticut State University

A COMPARATIVE EDUCATION STUDY IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

China vs. United States

04/21/23Scott Pierson



China vs. United States

Two country comparison from an educational technology perspective

Growing number of Chinese students in the United States

HistoryDemographicsEducation systemComparisons vs. United States



History

Any country that forgets it’s past is more apt to repeat it.

For centuries China was a leading civilization

In 19th and early 20th centuries they experienced civil upheaval

After WWII, Chairman Mao Zedong established autocratic socialist system

After 1978, Deng Xioping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development

Since early 1990s, China increased global outreachSource: The World Factbook: East & Southeast Asia - China



ChinaChina United StatesUnited States

9.596 mil sq. km (4th)1.35 billion (1st)50.6% urban [email protected]% school age

@ 300 mil between 0-18

Population growth 0.46% Increase 6.2 million per year

389 mil internet users (1st) 28.8%

9.827 mil sq km (3rd)316.7 million (4th)82% urban [email protected]% school age

@ 77.8 mil between 0-18

Population growth 0.9% Increase 2.85 million per year

245 mil internet users (2nd) 77.4%

Demographics

Source: The World Factbook: East & Southeast Asia - China Source: The World Factbook: North America – United States




Ethnic 91.5% - Han Chinese 8.5% - Zhuang, Manchu,

Hui, Miao, Uighur, Tujia, Yi, Mongol, Tibetan, Buyi, Dong, Yao, Korean, and other nationalities

Ethnic 79.96% - White 12.85% - Black 4.43% - Asian 0.97% - Native Amer./Alaskan 0.18% - Pacific

Island/Hawaiian 1.61% - 2+ other races

*Note: 15.1% of population considered to be of Hispanic descent.

Diversity





Languages Mandarin Chinese Cantonese Shanghainese Fuzhou Hokkien-Taiwanese Xiang Gan Hakka dialects Minority languages

Languages 82.1% - English 10.7% - Spanish 3.8% - Indo-European 2.7% - Asian & Pacific

Island 0.7% - Other

Diversity





Religions 94-96% - Taoist & Buddhist 3-4% - Christian 1-2% - Muslim

Religion 51.3% - Protestant religions 23.9% - Roman Catholic 1.7% - Mormon 1.6% - Other Christian 1.7% - Jewish 0.7% - Buddhist 0.6% - Muslim 2.5% - Other or unspecified 12.1% - Unaffiliated 4% - None

Diversity




Chinese Education System

Governmental efforts to eliminate illiteracy In 1949:

20% of school age children in school 80% of all adults were illiterate

Today: 98.58% of school age children in school less than 5% of young and middle-aged are illiterate

Ten years ago few institutions offered an MBA program In 2003, 62 schools offered MBAs to 30,000 students EMBA & MPA (Employed Master of Business

Administration & Master of Public Administration) programs are also offered.

Source: Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China



Chinese Education System

Governmental efforts to eliminate illiteracy (cont’d) International cooperation has increased year by year

Since 1979, 582,000 students have studied in 103 countries 106,000 of those returned after they finished their studies In 2003, 86000 students from 170 countries studied in China

China increased investment in Education Since 1998, education funds by Central Gov’t has increased 1%

each year. Government established cost-sharing, scholarships, and

other subsidy programs for non-compulsory education Government Plan: By 2020, 31% to complete high school;

13.5% to complete junior college; less than 3% illiterate

Source: Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China



Educational Technology in China

1920s to 1930s – slide, film, phonograph (Kang, 1998)

1970s – formal educational technology developed Dubbed “Electrifying Education”

1982 – first computing in a secondary school (Liu, 2010)

1986 – State Education Commission decided to integrate computers into school curricula (Liu, 2010)

1995 – Science and Technology courses become more popular than previous favorites: social science and humanities (Wan, 2012)



Educational Technology in China

2012 – Despite growth in support and popularity, technology is limited in some areas due to limited computer resources and unreliable internet access (Wan, 2012)

2014 – Research project to determine English teachers’ awareness of using ICT in primary school of Shenzhen, China (Li, Hoque, Othman, & Razak, 2014)

Data collected from 172 English teachers in primary schools

Over 80% strongly agreed that ICT policies implemented in schools really helped their teaching



Perspectives from U.S. and Chinese Middle Level Teachers

Study focused on middle grade teachers from U.S. and China (#1 and #2 in internet usage) (Spires, Morris, & Jhang, 2012)

Purpose was to get perspectives on integrating new literacies and technologies into their teaching

291 respondent teachers 193 from North Carolina 98 from Shanghai and 5 Chinese provinces



Perspectives from U.S. and Chinese Middle Level Teachers

A 2007 study reported that 93% of American children use internet. (Lenhart & Madden, 2007)

94% who have access at home use the internet for homework

71% use the internet as their primary source for information

24% reporting using standard library materials for same task

2011 Tweet from China’s Business Value Magazine: (Jimmy, 2012)

91.4% of children in China use internet



United StatesUnited States ChinaChina

Critical thinking & problem solving 1Communication & collaboration

2Initiative & self-direction 3Productivity & accountability

4Leadership & responsibility 5Flexibility & adaptability 6Information & communication technology 7Social & cross-cultural 8Information literacy

9Creativity & innovation 10Media literacy 11

Critical thinking & problem solving 1Communication & collaboration T2Initiative & self-direction 5Productivity & accountability T2Leadership & responsibility 7Flexibility & adaptability 6Information & communication technology 10Social & cross-cultural T8Information literacy T8Creativity & innovation 4Media literacy 11

21st Century Skills (Ranking)



Here’s one answer!

ePals has an “award-winning products include: the ePals Global Community®; In2Books®, a common core eMentoring program that builds reading, writing and critical thinking skills…”




PowerPoint Presentations 3.33Digital Cameras 2.46Computerized Gaming 2.22Mobile Devices 1.79Video Editing Software 1.58Blogs 1.46Podcasts 1.40Wikis 1.36Video Conferencing 1.26

PowerPoint Presentations 2.07Digital Cameras 1.36Computerized Gaming 1.54Mobile Devices 2.23Video Editing Software 1.51Blogs 1.34Podcasts 1.76Wikis 1.14Video Conferencing 1.29

Teachers’ Technology Use in Class



If they only knew….

If the teachers only knew the educational fun they could add to their classroom by skyping with another classroom. The site is easy to use and requires very little equipment. Really, just a laptop with a camera.

Students could learn to collaborate and get a little cross-cultural experience!




Lack of Hardware 3.32Lack of access to useful sites 3.20Lack of IT Support 2.81Lack of Prof. Development 2.70Lack of Connectivity 2.59Lack of School Vision & 2.35 Leadership

Lack of Hardware 3.17Lack of access to useful sites 2.49Lack of IT Support 3.19Lack of Prof. Development 3.11Lack of Connectivity 3.20Lack of School Vision & 2.61 Leadership

Teachers’ Hindrance to Technology Integration




Educate and support us.

Listen to us.

We want to engage our students.

Align assessments and standards with 21st Century skills with teaching and learning expectations.

Help us find useful websites.

Improve our teaching conditions.

We want more student-centered education.

We feel tensions between cultural traditions and 21st Century skills.

Themes



References

Central Intelligence Agency. (n.d.). The World Factbook - China. Retrieved from Central Intelligence Agency Website: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html

Central Intelligence Agency. (n.d.). The World Factbook - United States. Retrieved from The Central Intelligence Agency Website: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html

Jimmy. (2012, May 30). A Quarter of Chinese Children Under 7 Already Online. Retrieved from Tea Leaf Nation: http://www.tealeafnation.com/2012/05/a-quarter-of-chinese-children-under-7-already-online/

Kang, L. (1998, June 22). On Characteristics of Educational Technology in China. International Journal of Instructional Media, pp. 295-300.

Lenhart, A., & Madden, M. (2007). Teens, Privacy & Online Social Networks. Washington DC: Pew Internet.

Li, L., Hoque, K., Othman, A., & Razak, A. (2014). English teacher's awareness of using ICT in primary school of Schenzhen city in China. International Journal of Learning & Development, 4(1), 17-27. Retrieved from http://0-eds.b.ebscohost.com.www.consuls.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=5c4d7340-748d-4354-9d76-7952821326cf%40sessionmgr198&vid=4&hid=107

Liu, R.-D. (2010). Psychological research in educational technology in China. British Journal of Educational Technology, 41(4), 593-606. Retrieved from http://0-eds.b.ebscohost.com.www.consuls.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=5c4d7340-748d-4354-9d76-7952821326cf%40sessionmgr198&vid=4&hid=107

Ministry of Education. (2009, July 23). Compulsory Education Law of the People’s Republic of China . Retrieved from Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China: http://www.moe.gov.cn/publicfiles/business/htmlfiles/moe/moe_2803/200907/49979.html

Spires, H., Morris, G., & Zhang, J. (2012). New Literacies and Emerging Technologies: Perspectives from U.S. and Chinese Middle Level Teachers. Research in Middle Level Education, 35(10), 1-11. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?q=educational+technology+in+china+and+us&ft=on&id=EJ974949

Wan, G. (2012, October). The Educational Development in China: Perspectives from the West. New Horizons in Education, 60(2), 1-20. Retrieved from http://0-eds.b.ebscohost.com.www.consuls.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=5c4d7340-748d-4354-9d76-7952821326cf%40sessionmgr198&vid=4&hid=107

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