Enhancing children’s cultural awareness and global understanding through a multi-dimensional learning environment: An action research of Taipei Lan-Ya Elementary School

• Main Authors: Liu, Lin-Jung, 劉林榮
• Other Authors: Kao, Hsun-Fung
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2002
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/77175489857082955383

碩士 === 淡江大學 === 教育科技學系 === 90 === Economical globalization has more or less influenced the advancement of world politics, culture, technology and education. Especially developments in information technology have accelerated the process of globalization and therefore making our world a true “global village.” Therefore, cultivating students ability to understand and appreciate their own and others cultures, as well as realizing that we are living in a global village where interdependence is a major concern, and further expanding their global perspectives are very essential for current education practice . The purpose of this action research is to study the integration of information technology into English teaching while promoting international exchange and creating a multi-dimensional learning environment, in order to enhance “cultural awareness and global understanding” of students. The actions of this study include: the designing of a topic-based curriculum; finding E-pals; sound and video files exchange; establishing global partner school relationships; creating a global environment and constructing the “Global Education Consortium” website. Collected data sources for reference and analysis are Global Education Promotion Team meeting minutes, video conferencing summaries, students’ learning portfolios, web-site contents, parent and student questionnaire surveys; teacher’s opinions and the researcher’s personal observations. The results of the study indicated as follows: 1) Topic-based projects should focus on the experiences that students encounter in their daily lives. 2) In the process of teaching, teachers should offer more collaborative learning opportunities between the students and concepts or knowledge must be provided as a whole instead of being taught from separate subjects. 3) Through integration of information technology into English teaching, our students have not only improved their computer skills but also their English ability. 4) In the aspect of cultural awareness and global understanding, our students have learned the customs and traditions of their own culture and other cultures as well.