A stronger focus is to be put on digital education when the new semester begins in September, the Ministry of Education told Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) in a Cabinet meeting yesterday.
The ministry has set aside NT$20 billion (US$668.3 million) over the next four years to purchase 61,000 tablet computers for elementary and junior-high schools, it said, adding that the plan is part of the Executive Yuan’s digital education initiative.
The plan comes after it allocated NT$1.5 billion from 2017 to 2025 to improve high-speed Internet access at schools and install equipment for smart classrooms, the ministry said.
Photo courtesy of the Minsitry of Education
Supported by the Public Construction Commission, the ministry in March held an open bid, it said, adding that it chose a bidder in April and placed an order in May.
In addition to hardware, such as learning and charging devices, the project also focuses on enriching digital learning materials, it said.
The government has worked with the private sector to develop quality teaching materials and provided subsidies for schools to purchase the materials they needed, the ministry added.
With the help of the Institute for Information Industry, the ministry on June 1 published a list of 762 products from 84 companies for local governments and schools to choose from, it said, adding that it would publish a second list in September.
The ministry said it has held advisory meetings in which experts and academics shared their opinions on setting up a portal for digital learning that would integrate resources suitable for elementary school and junior-high school students from Taiwan and abroad.
Teachers and students can from next month use their education Open IDs to log in and use the resources on 52 free teaching or learning platforms, the ministry said, encouraging them to “like” and share the materials on social media.
The ministry also launched the E-Learning Gateway artificial intelligence learning platform, which uses big data to analyze students’ weaknesses and help them learn more efficiently, it said, adding that it did so in line with global trends in the education sector.
The results of national examinations, including the Project for Implementation of Remedial Instruction Technology-based Testing and local academic competence tests, showed that digital learning can significantly improve learning outcomes, it said.
To alleviate job market shortages, the ministry fully subsidized local governments to set up digital learning offices and provided financial support for schools to hire additional dedicated staff, it said.
The ministry prepared plans for teacher training, in which they would learn about the concepts and methods of using digital tools in the classroom, it said.
The ministry would continue to allocate resources to narrow the urban-rural gap in education and provide “borderless” digital learning classrooms, it said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to