InformED Report: China’s Education System Takes Heat

China’s Middle Class Anger at its Education System Is Growing

Lauren Teixeira | Foreign Policy Twitter

It is a cold January evening in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province in China, and the sun is just about to dip below the city’s gray horizon as the students of Tianjiabing high school trickle sluggishly forth from their classrooms. At the school gate, their parents — some chatting in hushed tones, some still rolling in silently on electric scooters — are waiting. One girl, in her last year of school, stands behind the accordion gate talking to her mother, from whom she receives words of encouragement and home-cooked dinner in a plastic box; the girl, who will take the college entrance exam (gaokao) in just five months, must stay in class for another four hours. She reaches her arms over the gate and waves in an exaggerated farewell gesture to a friend in the year below who is going home for the day; the life of Chinese high schoolers is suffering, and they know it.

To read more visit Foreign Policy

Thousands of Chinese parents take to the streets to protest university admission quotas

He Huifeng | South China Morning Post Twitter

Thousands of parents staged demonstrations in the capital cities of Hubei and Jiangsu provinces on Saturday, protesting over a change to university admission quotas which they say puts their children at a disadvantage.

Under the new scheme, leading universities across the country must admit a greater number of non-local students, which the parents fear will make it more difficult for their children to find a place at schools close to home.

Demographers said the protests highlighted the unfairness of a college admission system that was based on household registration, or hukou.

To read more visit South China Morning Post

 

Nation’s Largest School District Discusses Integrating Technology At EdTech Week

Nigel Roberts | News One Twitter

New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña oversees not just the largest public school district, but also one of the most diverse in the nation. Speaking at New York University’s Edtech Week, co-hosted by StartEd, Fariña shared her vision for the school district’s tech future.

Looking beyond just purchasing the latest software—which can break budgets—she said technology in the 21st century classroom means using different approaches tailored to how kids learn.

To read more visit News One

U.S. schools have more computers than ever. But what are they doing with all that (expensive) technology?

Nichole Dobo | The Hechinger Report Twitter

A show-stopping school of innovation today can quickly devolve into tomorrow’s has-been.

Keeping track of who’s doing what in the diverse field of blended learning, which mixes online and in-person education, isn’t easy. There are few sure things in life, but the lightning-fast rate of change in education technology is a given.

The Blended Learning Universe and its new website, blendedlearning.org, offer a solution for schools and those who want to track local trends. It has assembled a database of more than 300 profiles (and counting) from 175 schools districts in 38 states.

To read more visit The Hechinger Report

 

Schools inspired to promote tolerance on campus

Faisal Masudi | Gulf News Twitter

Dubai schools were inspired to build “tolerance” on campus during the What Works event in Dubai on Monday.

It follows last year’s What Works focus on “happiness”. Around 500 teachers participated in Monday’s event, hosted by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA).

The latest What Works edition, held at Amity University in Dubai International Academic City, aims to inspire “positive education” in the school community.

To read more visit Gulf News