During the past
few months in China while the SARS epidemic raged, a new fashion swept millions
of children and teenagers off their feet. That fashion is to take courses
in the Classroom on the Air.
The announcement of a summer holiday ahead of schedule due to SARS may
have brought the children of China a spell of excitement. But with the
passage of time, the once joyful vacation turned out to be not quite so
exciting. Many young people found it easy to live with the excitement,
but how could they spend all their time just watching TV cartoons, playing
PC games and reporting their body temperature to teachers through over
the phone? Thanks to the modern educational concept and technologies,
they began to study at home in a brand new way.
Without the Classroom On the Air during the SARS semester, the Chinese
students in the prime of reaping new knowledge would have spent a long
vacation with no harvest. Having stayed home for nearly two months with
another two months or more likely to come, most of them nurture in their
hearts a yearning for the familiar campus life. What they long for now
may well be the news of the reopening of their beloved schools. But what
has already imbedded in their minds will be the new Classroom on Air.
In a studio of the Chinese Educational TV, an editor is working on the
latest edition of the courses to be telecast in the Classroom on the Air
program. It is presented as the best gift for the masses of children dealing
with the SARS situation.
Apart from routine programs, the technicians exploit satellite wide band
in achieving distant interaction between the students and teachers.
All the teachers invited to offer the online service are chosen from some
noted schools and have rich teaching experience. Students can take different
courses covering the same range of subjects as those usually set up on
campus. An interactive exchange will help to some extent ensure the efficiency
of the new teaching method.
“On April 24 this year primary and middle schools in Beijing announced
a leave for their students. Three days later, our Happy Classroom from
which the current Classroom on the Air grew out was established. Starting
the preparations for this program on Friday, we presented it on the following
Monday, and it ran three hours per day plus some additional live programs.
This was the first stage. As the SARS situation deteriorated after the
May 1st Holiday, it was announced that the primary and middle schools
in Beijing prolonged the leave for their students on May 6th. Then we
spent another three days in planning and presenting the Classroom on the
Air. As the programs were extended to five-hour telecasts per day with
different curricula plus additional live contents, we couldn't afford
a break during the May 1st holiday. We made programs together with colleagues
from other departments in Beijing,” said Chen Li, vice president
of CETV.
The industrious preparations and careful planning helped ensure a successful
telecast of the Classroom on the Air program. All the people involved
in the work were trying to make a practical contribution to the primary
and middle school students who constitute the majority of the target audience
during this special period. Furthermore, the curricula in the Classroom
on the Air continue increasing. The aim is to cater to the learning appetites
of different students. Efforts have also been made to transmit the program
beyond Beijing for more students who suffer an absence from schools due
to the SARS epidemic.
“Right after the May 1st holiday, many primary and middle schools
across China announced closures one after another. But they lacked the
resources despite a strong demand for such programs as the Classroom on
the Air, because the educational TV programs were limited in number. Once
we telecast our program on Channel one of CCTV, they appreciated it very
much and asked for more. Since then, we began to prepare for the set-up
of a satellite TV channel. The Chinese Ministry of Education was deeply
involved in the preparatory work. And the National Broadcasting and Telecasting
Bureau also offered its full support. It took less than ten days for a
new channel to begin operations,” Chen Li also said.
The Classroom on the Air turns out to be an attractive place where most
students staying away from school can keep their studies going forward.
It works far more than a classroom. It is considered a super school open
to all.
Shanshan is a 10-year old girl living in Beijing. Despite the outbreak
of SARS and the start of the ahead-of-schedule holiday, she still takes
courses everyday. It is the Classroom on the Air that she enters each
morning with her mother as companion. She learns a lot from this new way
of studying. Thanks to the teaching program, Shanshan even started writing
her first letter to her teacher Liu through the computer. Besides the
major curricula, she often carefully arranges the map of China as her
geography course. It seems that in her mind, this summer holiday means
much more than summers past.
During her spare time, Shanshan enjoys opening the album in which she
can see many pictures taken for her and her classmates. She misses her
classmates and teachers very much and hopes to go back to school as soon
as possible.
Given the improvement of the SARS situation in Beijing, students preparing
for the college entrance examinations resumed study back at school. Necessary
checking and protective measures were carried out to ensure a safe study
environment.
In addition to these students facing important examinations, more were
still left at home. Excluding physical education, they could take any
course in the Classroom On the Air, which runs as comparably to the classes
at school. This new learning model set up to deal with a special circumstance
has become a favorite of many students.
“I think the setup of the Classroom On the Air under the SARS circumstances
first meets the demand of those students who stay at home during the school
holiday. Secondly, it is of far-reaching significance. It promotes modern
long distance education and the overall modernization of educational technology.
Actually, it is making changes in terms of both teaching and studying.
As an educational TV channel, we should emphasize two things. One is to
meet current demands of the students during the SARS outbreak. The other
is to seek a new way of imparting and gaining knowledge throughout China
once the SARS situation comes to an end. We’ll try a new program
like the current one after that,” said Chen Li.
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