CDRF Launches "Tech for Teaching: Empowering Rural Teachers with ICT" Program in Inner Mongolia

On 27 September 2023, China Development Research Foundation (CDRF) held a launching ceremony for " Tech for Teaching: Empowering Rural Teachers with ICT" program at No. 1 Middle School in Qingshuihe County, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. Qingshuihe, Wuchuan and Zhijin in Guizhou participated in the launching ceremony as the first pilot counties of the program, with a total of more than 300 teachers from Qingshuihe and Wuchuan attending the ceremony. Teachers from Wuchuan and Zhijin who were unable to attend the ceremony watched the live broadcast online.

Gong Huiyang, deputy director of Hohhot Municipal Education Bureau, chaired the ceremony. Wang Junwei, director of the Office of Teachers' Affairs of Department of Education in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, delivered a welcoming speech. Fang Jin, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of CDRF, delivered an opening speech. Zhao Jun, a member of the Party committee and vice-principal of Beijing Open University, made a speech on behalf of partners of the program. Zhang Keling, secretary of CPC Qingshuihe County Committee, and Yun Xiaomin, Deputy Mayor of Wu Chuan County, made a speech on behalf of the two pilot counties respectively.

Cai Jianhua, senior advisor of CDRF's Child Development Research Institute, Cao Yan, Assistant Director of Child Development Research Institute, Wei Xuezhi, Deputy Director of Training College of Beijing Open University, and relevant personnel from Hohhot Education Bureau, Qingshuihe and Wuchuan’s education departments attended the ceremony.

Appointment certificates were awarded to the representatives of the program's chief expert and Director of the Teacher Workshop, the representatives of the part-time teaching researchers, and the members of Teacher Workshop. Representatives of the teaching researchers of Wuchuan and of teachers in Qingshuihe made speeches.

Afterwards, CDRF signed program cooperation agreements with Beijing Open University, Qingshuihe County People's Government and Wuchuan County People's Government respectively.

After the launching ceremony, Tang Liang, Deputy Director of the Information Center of Beijing Academy of Educational Sciences, delivered a lecture on "Digitalization of Education: Vision, Concept and Practice".

Jia Hongbin, expert Chinese teacher from Beijing, exchanged with the Chinese teachers of elementary schools in the two counties, conducted a demonstration lesson for fifth grade students, and gave a lecture.

The event helped teachers in the pilot counties gain a deeper understanding of the program and awareness of the significance of digitalization for teaching and national development, laying a foundation for the program.

In order to explore ways to improve the competency of rural teachers through technology, with the support of Apple, the "Tech for Teaching: Empowering Rural Teachers with ICT" program plans to conduct county level trials for teachers of core subjects such as Chinese, mathematics and English, as well as for teachers of IT courses to improve their digital literacy, with the aim of improving rural teachers' ability to leverage ICT to improve the classroom teaching, explore innovative education and teaching methods, and improve the quality of rural education.