Schools to teach on-line

For more than 1,200 students at Hsinghua Primary School (興華國小) in Taipei, the homework this month is unusual -- to send the supervisor an electronic Christmas card via the internal network established by teachers.

"It was not an easy job, but it could be done at Hsinghua because of our abundant information network educational resources. You can imagine a first grader, aged six, picking his favorite photo from the net, typing his name in bopomodo (Mandarin phonetic symbols,ㄅㄆㄇㄈ or 注音符號), and then sending the e-card out," said principal Wen Ming-cheng (溫明正).

At a press conference held yesterday by the National Information Infrastructure (NII) Steering Committee in charge of developing plans for communications, scientific research, education, culture, and government administration under the Cabinet, representatives from two primary schools in Taipei made reports on their achievement in information network education.

Wen said that using the Internet as a teaching tool had become a global trend, but in Taiwan, teachers have, for years, been hampered by insufficient facilities. Although Hsinghua initiated plans for computerization in 1993, he said, it was not until July 1999 that all the middle schools and primary schools on the island had been equipped with computers with access to the Internet via the Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL).

"Now, my idea is to expand the existing interactive digital teaching/learning environment through which students can learn in a lively way, extending to other areas such as internal electronic commerce," Wen said.

Representatives from Hsinhu Primary School (新湖國小) said that the school-based information network could be an excellent bridge between teachers and parents.

"Starting on Oct. 1, teachers at Hsinhu inform parents of important events at school by sending e-newsletter. Parents also can communicate with teachers by writing their opinions on students' daily communication notes (電子聯絡簿, a way for teachers and parents to communicate) sent via the network," said Andy Liu (劉富仁), a member from the school's parents' association.

"However, there's a long way to go because currently less than 35 percent of the 1,200 students have computers at home, and far less have e-mail accounts," said Lu, who is also a general manager of a network company.

NII officials said yesterday that the enhancement of information education was one of the primary focuses of NII development.

"The direction these primary schools are going is consistent with the NII's main goals, including enhancement of information network education, promotion of universal use of the Internet, and development of Chinese content on the Web," Hsu said.

At the end of 1998, the NII reached the goal of "three million Internet users in three years," nine months ahead of schedule.