Ministry of Education of Taiwan, Computer Center

1. Ministry of Education of Taiwan, Computer Center

2. E-Content and Learning Communities in Taiwan Shan-Min Han Ministry of Education, Taiwan Nov.03. 2005

3. Outline ＊Background information ＊Vision ＊E-Content and Learning Communities -- the 6 Major Educational Websites • Life Education • Humanity and Arts • Nature and Ecology • History and Culture • Health and Medicine • Science Education

4. Background information • Nationwide Educational Network established and in use today • 39% population, has used the internet • 71% of total families own computers and 57% of them have visited internet • 159 colleges/universities and 3837 high schools have computer room • 100% of them connected to the Internet

5. Vision • Develop an e-generation of citizens possessing capability in literacy & humanism • Use ICT to bridge the digital divide with remote areas in Taiwan

6. ICT

7. E-Content and Learning Communities --Introduction on the 6 Major Educational Websites (http://learning.edu.tw)

8. 6 Major Educational Website-- Fundamentals • Contents are mostly learning activities, with information technology on the side • Collective effort – teachers, academic experts and private organizations are enlisted to form the management team, content provider team and technology support team. Each team is specialized to do what it does the best, all teams work together towards a common goal. • Contents of the 1st stage implementation are targeted at students, teachers of middle school. It is expected to expand to a life-long learning program.

9. 6 Major Educational Websites – Mission Statement(1) • Promote a positive learning attitude which includes active learning, creative learning, and collective learning • The cyber world and the real world compliment each other to achieve learning objectives • Bring Information technology education back to the essence of education, Develop information technology education based on compassion for humanity

10. 6 Major Educational Websites – Mission Statement(2) • To develop educational contents revolving around the interaction between people and people, people and society, people and natural environment. • To incorporate various learning activities (such as events exploring natural ecosystems, youth camps for studying and discovering the world of Chinese medicine). Integrate specific educational themes and education programs for life.

11. Current State of the 6 Websites • A total of 376 schools have participated in the implementation and promotion efforts • A total of 1,230 elementary and middle schools teachers and academic experts have participated in the designing of learning activities intended for the cyber worlds as well as the real world. • Seminars and conferences have received more than 41,000 participants and visitors.

12. Life EducationWebsite -- Story of Life http://life.edu.tw To share the wonderful experience of growing up with you

13. Life EducationWebsite --A well of treasure A well of treasure for life opens the true meaning of life through heart-felt articles, proverbs, books and movies

14. Life EducationWebsite --Experiencing Life Life is a journey of knowledge and practice. To Praise life. To protect life. To value life. To take advantage of life.

15. Life EducationWebsite - Teachers Community Provides a platform for discussion and sharing resources. It is a community for exchanging ideas and a workshop for exploring knowledge.

16. Humanity and Arts Websitehttp://arts.edu.tw

17. Humanity and Arts Website http://arts.edu.tw • Encompassing disciplines: Literature, Music, Visual arts, Performing arts, Comprehensive courses • Content characteristics: Rich in the spirit of humanity An effort assisting our younger generation to look into the world of writers, artists of past and present time so as to enhance their awareness for humanity and arts by the process.

18. Humanity and Arts Website – Music

19. Humanity and Arts Website – Comprehensive Teaching

20. Health and Medicine Websitehttp://health.edu.tw

21. Health and Medicine -- Design Concept • Brings students to establish correct health and medicine ideologies followed by taking care of their bodies while keeping a balance diet and exercising for a healthy life style that leads stronger body and better immunity system. • Develop supplementary teaching resources for the 9 year mandatory education system

22. Health and Medicine Website • Establish a portal website of health education for the public Combine government and private resources to establish portal website of healthy medicine which would in turns provide comprehensive resource of health issues to the public, reduce frequency of taking medications and lessen wastage of medical resources.

23. Health and Medicine Website – Chinese medication for use in life

24. Science Education Websitehttp://science.edu.tw • Flight Simulation

25. Science Education – Design Concept • Cyber experiments and Abstract concepts presented by animation • Many scientific concepts are rather abstract. Students can not grasp the idea of microphenomenon without visual aid; or sometimes experiments have dangerous elements. Cyber experiment is an effective way to attain objectives. • Users can access relevant animations and cyber experiments in “Cyber Experiments” section of “Science Learning Area”. The same information is also available in “Scientific Knowledge Area”.

26. Science Education – Investigative Research • The biggest difference of Investigative Research from Recipe-style Experiment is it teaches students the skills of “Formulate the problem,” “Make proposal,” and “Design experiment process” that are applicable to all scientific process. • Investigative Research designed by students must incorporate the knowledge they have learned in biology, physics, chemistry, math and life technology in order to solve the problems of daily life nature presented in this area.

27. Science Education – Cyber Experiment

28. History and Culture Websitehttp://culture.edu.tw

29. History and Culture -- Design Concept • Design Concept: Use dedicated sections like “Learning by Doing”, “Journey through Time”, “History Gallery” to become part of life and interpersonal relations in order to guide the course of learning for students as well as to share the entire learning experience online. • Each section compliments each other. Following the guidance provided by each section with specific topics, elementary and middle school students are able to access in-depth information to learn more relevant knowledge associated with the topics and study the wisdom and experience of our ancestors.

30. History and CultureWebsite • The content encompasses historical figures, events that echoes circumstances of modern days; figures, events of historical significance are selected to supplement text books by adding more detail information. The content takes a practical approach to teach history by disclosing the ideologies of the past in addition to the unique perspectives of historical subjects.

31. Nature and Ecology Websitehttp://nature.edu.tw Enter the world of nature, To study nature, To be part of nature Enter the world of social science To study society To become of society

32. Nature and Ecology Website FeaturesHands-on Learning Experience plus Cyber Knowledge Expansion 自然生態 • Hands-on <Field trip to get close to nature>  Cyber <Online sharing of knowledge learned from trips> • Active learning environment online • Constant updates of learning resources • Sharing of knowledge among innovative learning communities • Sharing of experiences and ideas among teachers, students and the society • Place importance on seminars, conferences and promotional activities

33. Nature and Ecology– Design Concept • Emphasize Learning by Doing Activities: support students, teachers and parents to take parts in exploration events • Exploring the ecosystem of insects • Exploring ecosystems found in schools • Exploring the wetlands • Exploring the geographical nature of hometown • Exploring ecosystems with paint brushes

34. Nature and Ecology– Design Concept • From various exploring activities to understand the beauty of nature and its relationship with people, students are transformed to love and care about nature by the process.

35. Conclusion • Integrated resources：create abundant online learning content for students and teachers in high schools and elementary schools. Online teaching materials and activities may be shared, discussed over, improved and developed collectively. • active and collaborative learning：Train students to use the Internet by using diversified online learning resources..

36. Conclusion(continued) • Bridging the digital divide：Teachers in remote areas will be better trained to integrate IT into their teaching activities and upgrading their teaching skills. • Sharing online teaching resources will help eliminate the inequity of learning activities between urban and rural schools.

37. Conclusion(continued) • Advocating the basics of education：Promote the value of making good use of technology to enhance the welfare of the entire human race. Use the Internet for broadening the perspective of care for life.

38. Thank You!