In many developing countries, students who have completed study-abroad programs to the United States are coming more and more interested in becoming teachers like those they studied with in America. In countries such as the People's Republic of China, however, the current practices for teaching teachers remain very different than what learners experience during their study abroad. To help bridge this pedagogical gulf, a number of U.S.-based institutions are beginning to take advantage of low-cost hardware, easy access to technology, and tools provided by Intel® Innovation in Education to help meet these needs.

The path to get this program established has not been as difficult as one would expect, claims Barlow. "One of the most important aspects of the Berglund Center is to create scalable best practices such as this one, so that we can help to foster expansion to other schools for other learners." To get this distance-learning class off the ground, Barlow had to pull together a number of interested parties and components to make it work.

Barlow began with finding an institution in China and a contact person who would be willing to help facilitate all the technological and logistics interests. One of the associate professors in the English program at Wenzhou College, Yang Deshang, was a perfect fit. "Yang has both the technical savvy and the interest in American teaching and learning to help make all this happen. His help has been invaluable," said Barlow. "I became interested myself in earning a master's degree in teaching so that I could help make these changes occur. It has been great!" said Yang.

After making contact with Yang, Barlow then had to find a professor willing to teach in this unconventional style. He found a willing instructor in American Literature professor Tim Thompson from Pacific University. "Once you get past the idea that the students aren't sitting in front of you directly, but are virtually there, the class pretty much functions the same as any other. Granted, my Chinese students aren't as proficient as my Pacific students, but it has been an interesting and very rewarding process."

Online Connections
The next step in the process was to set up the technology—both hardware and software— to make all this happen. "Like anyone, we're operating on a limited budget, so our goal was to do this with the most affordable and available equipment," said Barlow. They began be using online conferencing software that is freely available (like Skype and iChat) to connect the two classrooms together.

The set up is pretty simple: microphone, camera, and speakers connected to a computer with a high-speed connection. From there, the Chinese students have a similar setup, and the two classrooms connect entirely via the Web. "Once in a while we encounter some technical glitches, but generally we make it through the entire class where we all can see and talk to each other. It is very exciting and very easy," said Barlow.

In order to archive the classes, Barlow also has the classes videotaped. "We're hoping to be able to archive these classes so that students, instructors, and other folks can take a look at what we've done. Or even use the videos as a way to study or review material if they've missed a class," Barlow pointed out. Since they have begun videotaping the courses, they also decided to bring a digital projector into the classroom that Thompson uses. This way it can feel more like a traditional classroom where the instructor is looking out on a large group of students instead of looking at a small picture on a computer monitor.

Collaborative Tools
The next element in the process is for the students and instructors to extend their classroom beyond the time they meet to include online tools to help support student learning. Using collaborative thinking tools like Seeing Reason on the Intel® Innovation in Education Web site, students can work synchronously with the instructor and then return later to continue the work they have begun. "The Chinese students are really taking advantage of all the opportunities given to them," said Thompson. "They use the online tools and collaborative spaces to help support each other's work and continue the classroom discussion well outside the confines of our 90-minute meetings."

Class sizes in China are typically much larger than ones instructors are used to dealing with in the United States It is typical for Thompson to have a minimum of 60 students who all want to engage with him and use the technologies to participate in the class. "It can be quite difficult, but I think the students are happy, and I'm thrilled with the results," said Thompson.

Looking to the Future
Barlow is hoping to expand this program over the coming years to help demonstrate to other educators and institutions how such programs are both cost-effective and significantly contribute to the life of the students and teachers. "We're hoping to help bridge part of the pedagogical divide that can only be changed by employing classroom-to-classroom communication," continued Barlow. "In the future I'm convinced that instructors and students will be able to enroll in classes and learn using these sorts of tools in ways that we haven't even begun to imagine."

These practices are helping to make technology more transparent in the classroom and deliver a wealth of new experiences and services to students and educators. By blending online technologies and human interactions, students in China are well on their way to becoming licensed U.S. educators. "Though we haven't finalized all the details," said Barlow, "in the near future we're hoping to offer a dual-degree program where Chinese students can complete their general requirements in two years in China and then spend their final two years in America and graduate as a licensed teacher. These sorts of technologies are essential to making that future a reality."