Application of the “Teaching Innovation Practice Platform” in English Reading Instruction

Since Shanghai started the second phase of the elementary and middle school curriculum reform in 1998, teachers have been encouraged and expected to incorporate new technology to support teaching and learning, both in and out of the classrooms, so that students can get skills such as problem-solving, team-working, and time-management more efficiently. Consequently, in order to improve students' English reading comprehension skills, a brand new online learning platform named “Teaching Innovation Practice Platform” (TIPP) was developed and implemented to enhance English reading instruction at a public middle school in Shanghai in 2010. After several years of implementation, the platform has not only strengthened the interaction and communication between teachers and students but also improved students' learning. In the following sections, the current status of English reading instruction, the online learning platform TIPP and its application, as well as the impact on teaching and learning are described in detail.

Cosmopolitanism in a World of Teachers

Cosmopolitanism, an emerging educational context in the last decade, has come to mean many things. Three constructs—cosmopolitanism as experience; cosmopolitanism as multiculturalism; and cosmopolitanism as intercultural competency—provide ways to conceptualize American student teachers in a Chinese school context. In this chapter, a collection of critical incidents is presented to illuminate these constructs in the ways they support and extend the researchers' efforts to use technology to support an international student teaching program in China. Critical incidents describe an event or experience, something planned, if successful or not, or events that are coincidental in nature. Each critical incident is situational and serves as a snapshot to enable discussion and consideration of related issues leading to action. The critical incidents in this chapter show the ways that teachers used technology to deepen their intercultural competencies through the lens of cosmopolitanism while taking into account similarities and differences in the partners' approaches to effective education.

Community of Inquiry as Teacher Professional Development in China

Over the past decades, improving teacher instructional quality has been a top priority in the Chinese government's K-12 educational reform agenda. Within this reform context, the purposes of this chapter are to share: (a) a community of inquiry model of professional development on new literacies that is being used with teachers in China; and (b) qualitative data from three teachers' perceptions of the professional development, their classroom practices, and challenges they are confronting as they implement changes in their educational system. Emerging themes indicated that teachers embraced pedagogical change along a continuum, from resistant to completely open, within the context of their school culture. Challenges to pedagogical change included teacher cultural identity and lack of time and commitment needed for implementation. Future research will include more in-depth analysis of the change process that Chinese teachers embrace as they conceptualize and apply new literacies and innovative pedagogies in their classrooms.

Multimodal Semiotics in China

With the rapid development of information and communication, China's digital technology was brought in line with international standards, and the studies of multimodal semiotics has emerged and developed quickly. This chapter has carried out an analysis of related papers published in Chinese core linguistic journals, as well as in linguistic-related journals indexed in Social Science Citation Index (hence forward SSCI). The results show that the research in multimodality has been on the increase. Present research contents are multidimensional but need to be broadened and deepened. Various theoretical perspectives have been explored but the increasing empirical research is still not sufficient; indigenous innovation research is inadequate, as most studies focus on the factors of foreign language teaching in college. This chapter intends to answer the following three questions: What is the basic profile of multimodal semiotics in China? What are the research foci of multimodal semiotics in China? And what are the successes and challenges of multimodal semiotics research in China?

Designing a State-of-the-Art High School in Suzhou, China

Globalization, migration, transnational movements, and new economies have led educational leaders worldwide to view schools as key venues to develop global competence in working and learning with people from different cultures. With this global trend as a context, a state-of-the-art high school was created in Suzhou, China through a public-private partnership. Additionally, the school leaders invited North Carolina State University to be the creative partner for the school. This chapter traces the development of the new educational facility, the innovative curriculum embracing the best of Chinese and American education, and the successes and ongoing challenges that the members of the collaborative partnership experience.

Recontextualizing Immersion in the Chinese Context

Immersion and bilingual education have been key concepts in English language education policies and practices. Though discussions have been made on the theoretical and practical issues of bilingual education in China, there has been much disagreement between which model of bilingual education is suitable for the Chinese context, as well as which terminology to use. Drawing on interview, observation, and documentary data gathered during a three-year study of a public-funded foreign language school in Shenzhen, one of the most economically developed cities in China, this chapter is focused on the impact of a Sino-Canadian collaborative educational program on the teachers, students, and school leadership, and reports some preliminary findings and thoughts on related issues. The conclusion is that immersion and bilingual education in the Chinese educational context needs to be reconceptualized and reinterpreted.

Blended Learning in China

Sprouted in the late 1970s, with the direction and support of the Chinese government and the participation of private institutions, blended learning in China has developed quickly and massively. By reviewing the origin, evolution, and current practices of blended learning in the contexts of elementary and secondary schools, colleges, and universities in China, the authors examine the problems, controversies, and issues raised. While the Chinese government still may play an important role in blended learning in the future, private institutions' involvement, learners' motivation, and learning ideology could become more important in promoting and implementing blended learning. How best to use the current educational system and resources to further promote blended learning in China is a challenge to educational practitioners and policy makers. Blended education in china is at the crossroads.

Achieving Rural Teachers' Development Through a WeChat Professional Learning Community

WeChat group is a new network communication platform, which gradually influences rural teachers' development and brings some specific issues into schooling. This chapter focuses on two rural banzhurens, Ms. Liu and Ms. Lin, from Guangdong Province, to explore WeChat groups' influences on rural teachers' development. On the basis of interviews and data analysis, the authors summarize the main activities that the two rural banzhurens have taken part in; outline the development they have obtained in three areas, including courage, benevolence, and wisdom; examine how rural teachers achieve their development based on the WeChat group; and discuss the limitations of this online tool.

Flipped Classroom in China

The flipped classroom method has the potential to transform schools by promising an innovative instructional design that merges a student-centered approach with a technology-assisted application. The method has attracted attention over the past 10 years. The Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China has supported the inclusion of technology, digital learning environments, and new instructional models as an important aspect of educational reform. The chapter begins with a background of the flipped classroom, including origin, history, and usage. Next there is a discussion of the design models that have been addressed in the research field, and a comparison of instructional practices in different regions of China. Several empirical studies that reflect the effectiveness of the flipped classroom are examined as well. This chapter sheds light on the benefits and challenges of the flipped classroom in Chinese school systems. Future research directions are articulated for those who may be interested in the use of the flipped classroom for educational purposes.

Sustaining a Teacher Professional Learning Community in China Through Technology

This study explores the evolution of a professional learning community (PLC) of Chinese teachers over a multi-year period. A group of 16 teachers participated in a three-semester PLC over the 2008-2009 school years to develop master mathematics teachers in a school district in Beijing, China. The goal of the PLC, as identified by the teachers, was to improve instruction for greater student autonomy, creativity, and problem solving as they developed their master capacity building skills and networked relationships. This paper explores what has happened to these 16 teachers six years later, specifically considering how they may have used technology to further their development as master teachers. This study shows the potential of a PLC for self-adaptive, emergent behaviors and understandings that are instructional for transforming teaching practices, sustaining changes in teaching practices and preparing students for 21st century engagements.