【推荐1】When Faith Wanjiku graduated from the Technical University of Kenya (肯尼亚) last year, she immediately enrolled at the Confucius Institute at Kenyatta University. She wanted to learn Chinese, as she believed that it would help her land a good job. She has just completed the HSK (level II) exam. The HSK exam is a test of Chinese language proficiency (水平) for non native speakers, organised by the Confucius Institute Headquarters.

However, level III isn’t enough for Wanjiku, who plans to pass HSK (level VI). “I want to increase my level of understanding and improve my spoken Mandarin,” she said. And Wanjiku isn’t alone. The Ministry of Education reported in May 2019 that the number of people taking the HSK reached 6.8 million in 2018, up 4.6% from a year earlier.

Chinese is becoming an increasingly popular choice of language to study around the world. Currently, middle school students in Russia can take a Chinese language test as part of the country’s national college entrance exam. In 2019, Zambia (赞比亚) became the fourth country in Africa——after Kenya, Uganda, and South Africa——to introduce Chinese language to its schools. And many English-speaking countries have shown an interest in allowing their students to learn Chinese. For example, the US government announced the launch of “1 Million Strong” in 2015, a plan that aims to bring the total number of learners of Chinese to 1 million. Additionally, a 2017 survey by the British Council showed that Chinese has become one of the languages that British parents most want their children to learn.

Behind the growing popularity of Chinese language learning is the international community’s positive expectations of China’s future development, which has also created worldwide interest in learning more about Chinese civilization and culture.

“I am fascinated with China’s history, culture, and language, as well as its economic development, and I think that studying in China could provide me with some great job opportunities, as I see growing investment and cooperation between the two countries,” said Patcharamai Sawanaporn, 26, a Thai student graduate of Beijing’s University of International Business and Economics.

Recently, people in US education have gotten extremely worried because a new report has shown that American students have a math problem.

The 2015 Program for International Student Assessment (评估) (PISA) shows math scores in the US getting lower and no improvement in science or reading. PISA tests 15-year-olds from different countries and regions in their math, science and reading skills. About 540, 000 students from 72 countries and regions took part in the assessment in 2015.

US scores in reading and science were about the same as three years ago, leaving Americans near the middle of the bigger group. But the situation in math is much more worrying. The US average score was 470, below the OECD (经合组织) test average of 490, meaning the US was No. 40 among the 72 countries and areas. It was 12 points lower than in 2012 and 18 points lower than in 2009. So, what is going on with American students’ math skills?

One reason may be that the US does not teach math in enough depth. “Students are often good at answering the first part of a problem in the United States,” said Andreas Schleicher, director of education and skills at OECD. “But as soon as students have to go deeper and answer the more complicated part of a problem, they have difficulties.” In comparison, many high-performing countries and regions in math teach a lot less but focus in much greater depth, especially when you look at East Asia, Japan and Singapore, according to Schleicher.

Another reason may be the fact that many people in the US are unwilling to travel to foreign countries to learn better teaching practices. “One of our biggest challenges in the US is that the teachers are not going out and seeing what high-performing countries do differently,” said Wendy Kopp, who started Teach for America, in a news program.

【推荐1】Tips for online learning

Online learning has the same basic elements as face-to-face learning. The major difference is that instruction is delivered online. Many of the strategies for effective face-to-face learning also apply to online learning.     1     Here are some strategies we recommend:

Create space to learn. Invest some time to understand your needs and preferences as a learner, and what an effective study environment looks like for you. For example, you might need a quiet place to study, or you might need to listen to classical music. Consider what equipment you might need. Wherever you study, try to minimize distractions.     2    

Manage your time effectively. Spend some time getting familiar with your online courses, understanding what is expected of you, mapping out key deadlines, and planning study time.     3     Research shows that learners gain more information if they spread their study over multiple days or sessions. Make sure your routine works with your other commitments so you’re more likely to stick to it.

    4     Just as with face-to-face learning, mental energy matters: take time to reflect on whether you have understood the materials, try to remember and sort the information you have learned to aid memory, test your understanding, mix different concepts and skills into the same study session to build connections and fluency, ask questions, participate in class discussions, and try teaching concepts to others.

Ask for assistance! In an online learning environment, you may need to ask lots of questions and take ownership over shaping the learning experience so that it meets your needs.     5    

Finally, if you’re facing specific challenges such as illness, mental health, accessibility, balancing childcare responsibilities, etc., it’s important for you to reach out to your instructors or the relevant student support services for discussion and creative problem-solving.

【推荐2】Online education has grown fast over the past ten years. The explosion of technology has made teaching outside the traditional classroom possible for teachers and has provided learners with easy access to course materials. Its attractiveness, benefits, and challenges are addressed.

In April,2005,I was approached by a student who was interested in our doctoral program. However, the first question out of her mouth was, “Do you offer any online courses?”Later that day, as I was reading the conference program guide trying for interesting presentations, I noticed many workshops on web-based learning and online education. I later attended two of those workshops and met several professors from different universities who had either taught online courses for quite some time or who were discovering the best practice for teaching online. The experiences helped me realize at least to some extent the degree of growth in online education.

My responsibilities for the term included gaining more understanding of online education. Consequently, I made several attempts to enrich my knowledge of distance learning and online teaching. I consulted with my colleagues who were teaching online courses. This helped me recognize the importance of getting materials prepared even before the start of a term. I also learned that online courses may consume more time than regular classroom teaching. And I attended several workshops regarding online education and established a network with those who were involved in online programs at other universities. I will consider these people as my consultants as I begin to design my own online course. Also, I conducted a brief survey with 15 students and two faculty members who had taken or taught an online course before to understand their experience. Eventually I completed a literature review which gave me the foundation and the background of understanding the need for online education.

As we advance into the third quarter of 2020, educators are watching ahead and wondering whether there is a possibility of reopening education campuses and in-person teaching anytime soon. The ongoing pandemic(流行病) has changed several aspects of human life, including education and potential online education trends. It has urged global experimentation with remote teaching, and most students accept the change from in-person to online learning. One of the newest trends in the education industry is microlearning. Microlearning provides information about school subjects to students in an exciting manner by dividing the course material into small, manageable parts for a suitable learning experience. It is suitable for people who are unable to provide attention to a matter for more than an hour.

As online education is entering the mainstream, students are looking for more straightforward and easier strategies to acquire knowledge, and this is where microlearning enters the scene. It allows learners to grasp bite- sized information quickly and effectively.

A great example of microlearning is the language learning application Duolingo which allows users to learn a piece of any language in small, frequent lessons. Over the next year, as far as online education trends go, we can expect to witness an increase in such educational applications and microlearning.

Online education is taking over traditional classroom-based education by providing students with a personalized learning experience that removes location, time, or device limits.

Traditional classroom lectures might not be useful for everyone, as each individual has a different pace of understanding and interest. Therefore, it is crucial to provide learners with a choice that encourages the most effective learning process. Personalized learning is one of the online education trends that will dominate the coming year.

The concept of traditional education has changed dramatically since the beginning and mass acceptance of online education. The world is busy in remote teaching experimentation, and the online education trends may impact learning in the future.