CDRF Holds Meeting to Discuss Findings of Survey on Digital Literacy of Compulsory Education Teachers

Digitalization of education is key to strengthening education and promoting the balanced development of urban and rural compulsory education. China Development Research Foundation (CDRF) has set up the "Tech for Teaching: Empowering Rural Teachers with ICT " to explore ways to improve the digital literacy of teachers in rural areas through field research, coaching and training.

June 6-21, 2023, CDRF and the Educational Informatization Strategy Research Base of the Ministry of Education in Central China Normal University (CCNU), jointly conducted a survey on the current status of digital education in the eastern, central, and western China, as well as the current status of primary and middle school teachers' digital literacy. A combination of questionnaires and field research was carried out in 8 counties and cities in Inner Mongolia, Guizhou, Zhejiang, Hubei, Shandong, and Jiangsu, with a total of more than 30 primary and middle schools visited and more than 600 teachers and students interviewed.

On July 26, 2023, CDRF held a meeting to discuss findings and experiences from the survey, aiming to help condense the survey findings into ideas to guide further practice, and better promote the high-quality development of the project. Cao Yan, assistant director of CDRF's Child Development Research Institute, moderated the meeting, members of the survey team attended the meeting and shared their work during the survey.

The survey sampled counties and schools at different levels of development in different regions of China. Through conferences with the local education bureaus, home visits to typical families, and interviews with teachers and students, the team learned about the development of digital education. . Each group presented their findings, analyzed the problems and shortcomings, and put forward suggestions, which provided ideas for the implementation of CDRF's digital education project.

In the open discussion session, Gao Guoqing, former Director of the General Office of CDRF, commented and made suggestions on the composition of the research team, the selection of digital devices, the use of devices by students, to the assessment of teachers.

Cai Jianhua, Senior Advisor of Child Development Research Institute of CDRF, pointed out that digital education has become an inevitable trend, and that how it can bridge the urban-rural gap is the focus of future research. It is important to focus on the configuration standards for the digital environments as well as improvement of teachers' digital literacy. In addition, he also put forward opinions and suggestions on the project's future research topics.

Qiao Zhengyang, Deputy Secretary General of CDRF, pointed out we need to strengthen interpretation of the central government's policy on digital education, and that in the face of the rapid development of digitization and the huge differences between regions, CDRF needs to focus on the core problems and to propose solutions through field research, so as to promote the balanced development of education.

Fang Jin, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of CDRF, made a concluding speech. He said that investigation and research is the basis of CDRF’s work, and the way to success. It is crucial to focus on the comprehensive implementation of the requirements of the 20th Party Congress, emphasize on investigation and research, establish and improve the long-term mechanism, make full use of the research findings, share and learn, and promote the high-quality implementation of projects and research topics.