Under The Same Blue Sky

The new century is the era with advanced science and technology as well as filled with fierce competitions. Thus the students are required to have the capabilities in information collection, organization, operation, and evaluation, as well as the abilities in problem solving, reasoning with criticism, and cooperating with others. To achieve this objective, besides innovating educational contents, rewriting textbooks, highlighting course designs, and improving students’ capabilities, modern educational technology should be introduced into teaching processes. Correspondingly, the instructors are required to change their ideas and roles. The discussions on this topic in the book of Fundamentals to the Applications of Modern Educational Technology, has caught a lot of attentions among the teacher in primary and secondary schools. That book was published by Anhui Education Press, as one of the series books for continuing education for the teachers in primary and secondary schools in Anhui Province.

What is Modern Educational Technology?

Five aspects are concluded in that book. First is the design of learning procedures and resources. In order to reach the expected teaching goals, the teachers should analyze the students’ characteristics and the teaching contents, then optimize the teaching issues with respect to the materials, the structures, the applied media, the programs, the demonstration means, the human-computer interactions, and so on. Then appropriate teaching strategies are set up accordingly. Second is the development of learning procedures and resources. The associated techniques, such as the visual and audio like electronic sound and television, electronic publishing, computer aided technologies (e.g., CAI and ICAI), as well as the technique integration, should be applied to the research and development of the education and teaching processes. Third is the application of the learning procedures and resources. Apply and distribute new types of media and information techniques, and make them in regulations so as to keep the education innovation constantly. The fourth is associated with the management of learning procedures and resources. Scientifically organize the teaching system and the educational issues in information, resources, and research, etc. Fifth is the evaluation for the learning procedures and resources. Highlight the summaries and general evaluations on the education and teaching systems. Conduct quantitative measurements and comparisons based on the references, the results of which are used as the main standards for monitoring of education quality.

The modern educational technology is a new term relative to that of traditional education. In the history of educational technology development, the formation of media techniques in the beginning of this century is generally believed as the start of the modern educational technology. The educational technology is not completed, however, without either the traditional or modern educational techniques.

The information era challenges the education, and new requirements are enforced to the teachers. The teachers should meet these new needs, and hold the historic tasks for education innovation, develop qualified personnel for this cross-century period for the country and society. Besides their current professional knowledge in their own disciplines, the teachers must clearly realize the necessity of learning and mastering the fundamental theories of modern educational technology and its corresponding applications. First of all, there is a problem associated with the change of ideas and roles. Then which aspects of ideas should the teachers change?

The teachers at the Beijing 65th Secondary School believed that, as occurred in other areas, the revolution in science and technology certainly results in a significant innovation in ideology in education. With the development of modern educational technology and the introduction into the teaching field, it is necessary for the teachers not only to learn and handle these new theories and techniques, but also to take care of the changes in education ideology, which consists of new ideas in qualified personnel, teaching, and schools. The classical teaching was that the instructors taught knowledge from textbooks, whereas the students learned knowledge from textbooks too. The education functionality was very unique. The modern education believes that the teaching is a multi-functional process. It not only consists of knowledge learning, technique training, and intelligence development, but also includes the development of the students’ comprehensive abilities and characteristics. To achieve this goal needs the applications of various modern technical means such as computers, audio-videos, courseware, and tele-education, etc. Classically the students were treated as the passive knowledge-receivers, whereas the teachers as the main aspects in education. The modern education, however, believes that the students are not only the objects of the teaching, but also the main aspects of the study activities. In learning, the students are the integration of both subjective and objective aspects. And the modern educational technology provides the possibilities of enhancing the interactions between teachers and students, and highlighting the functionality of the students. The traditional schools believed that the formal schools were only those with full-time courses and enclosure walls. These ideas have been changed with the development of computers and tele-education. The modern schools are not being constricted by time and space any more, and in turn, the school ideology has also been modified accordingly. It can be seen that the formation of the modern ideologies in teaching, students, and schools has a close relationship with the development of educational technology. It is impossible to understand this aspect thoroughly without mastering the modern educational techniques.

Teachers were the knowledge distributors in old teaching systems. Their main roles in the future education, however, are the teaching designers, organizers, helpers, and demonstrators for moral qualities. The teachers act not only as the students’ elders and directors, but also as their friends and partners. With respect to these new changes, the teachers at Beijing 9th Secondary School believed that, as stated in the aforementioned book, in modern and future education, education is no longer restricted to school teaching, it also consists of the education from families and the society as well. The teachers should pay attentions not only to classrooms, but also to the society. In addition, due to the rapid development in science and technology, knowledge is updated quickly. The knowledge and techniques students learned from schools are not enough to meet their needs for a whole life. Therefore, teachers must set up the concepts of learning for whole lives, and must realize that the aims of school education is not limited only to teach the available knowledge. They must also teach the students the capabilities of how to study, get new knowledge, and process information. The students must also be trained to keep enthusiasms and motives in learning. These are the very benefits to the students for a whole life.

Recently, I have been reading a book called “The Red Badge of Courage”. There is one part which describes the war like this: “The thunder of the batteries was heard again. Here and there flags splashed bits of warm color over the dark lines of soldiers. Henry felt glad and excited. He listened to the noises that come from many directions. He realized then that the fighting was going on everywhere. As he looked around him, Henry felt a sudden flash of surprise at the pure blue sky and the sunlight glittering on the trees and fields. It surprised him to think that Nature was calmly going on with her business while men were doing their best to destroy each other.”

I am deeply moved by this scene. Why do people become enemies? As the newspaper said, “The fact that every individual seeks his own fulfillment leads to competition and mistrust, thus to war. Men are selfish by nature. All desire, power, riches, knowledge and honor lead to war.” I have the same idea with it. The war needs peace. The war only results in hate, fight, and just so much terrible things. I hope such things like what the USA have done to Iraq and Afghanistan will never happen again. There is little recourse in the world, but human beings are still wasting it without thinking it over. I am always imagining there will be an end to the world.

The world need more love…, as you know, the old and the young who are at the edge of the society really need people to pay attention to. Every time I see some beggars on my way to school, there was a gelling out of description coming out to my mind. Should I walk away from them? Should I just give them some money? Or…? I think if I give them some money, nothing will change and they will still be there. What they need is our society’s concern.

I hope people will love each other and the world a paradise!

(I come from a remote village,where many villagers consider it a taboo that a man be present when a woman is giving birth to a child,thinking that may bring misfortunes to their families.)

THE thick black cloud has covered the sky,making the daytime like dark.Such weather reminds me of an unforgettable experience of last summer holiday.

That too was a gloomy day.I was dozing over a stupid novel in my study when suddenly I heard a womans fierce scream coming from my neighbors house. Whats happening? I closed the book, locked the door and hurried near.It was my neighbors wife!I rushed in without hesitation.Pacing anxiously hither and thither in the sitting room was my neighbor,who,seeing me come in,was so shocked that he cried to me in wild voice, No!You cant come in!Out upon you!,trying to push me out. I kicked open the door of the room from which the scream came and was greatly astounded at what I had seen.In the middle of the room was kneeling a witch muttering something,her eyes closed and hands folded.In front of her rested a table,on which there was a bowl of rice with three chopsticks inserted in it. Next to the wall stood the bed on which was struggling the wife,her face as white as a piece of chalk.—She was giving birth to a baby and obviously,had great difficulty with parturition.Her mother-in-law stood by,desirous to help her but not knowing what to do.

You should take her to hospital!Right now!I turned back and shouted to my neighbor.

Shut up!he snarled to me, Out!

There was no time left.I ran home and phoned my cousin,telling him in brief what was happening.Soon,he came driving his agrimotor. Now the poor wife was already unconscious, her blood having incarnadined the bedsheet. The husband seemed to have realized the urgency and with his help,my cousin and I put his wife on the agrimotor and drove to the hospital at full speed.

The wife was sent to the operation room the moment we reached the hospital,leaving us waiting impatiently outside.After what had seemed a long century,the door opened and a nurse came out,her face serious and solemn.

I regret to tell you that the baby was born dead,said the nurse to my neighbor, Only if you had sent your wife here half an hour earlier!

The man gave a frantic scream, What?!

Like a wounded beast,he stamped with fury and,summoning all his powers,showered his heavy fists on me,roaring hysterically, You!Its you!You have brought such misfortune to my family!I soon became black and blue and lost my consciousness.When I came to myself,I found myself lying in hospital.Mother was sitting beside me,tears rolling in her red eyes.

Words pale before my grief.The horrible moans of the wife,the overwhelming fists of the husband,the shocking words of the nurse and the worried eyes of my mother have been engraved in my heart and,perhaps,will never be erased from my memory.