An educational Website (www.cxjy.net) dedicated to improving teaching in Shanghai was established on November 5, 2001.

It is run by the Zhabei District Education Bureau and the State Education and Science Research Institute.

It is the first in the nation to provide live demonstrations of teaching techniques.

The Website is being used on a trial basis only in Zhabei. If it proves successful after one year, the online service will expand to all schools in Shanghai, said a Website official, Du Xinyi.

Added Kang Deshan, an education official with the Zhabei District Education Bureau, “It's not convenient for teachers to postpone their classes and go all the way to another school to listen to a class demo. Furthermore, only a limited number of teachers can cram into a classroom to audit a teaching class performance.”

Educators say the online service should be an effective and efficient way for teachers to share their classroom experiences and to introduce innovative teaching methods.

The e-broadcasts currently are limited to the district's 100 primary and secondary schools, which are linked to a network administered by the Zhabei Education Bureau.

Teachers are being encouraged to post on the Website their theses on innovative teaching, Website officials said.

A bulletin-board system has been set up for teachers to exchange ideas on new teaching methods, they added.

Local education officials say that they are seeking to lead students to think analytically and creatively because the traditional way of teaching that stressed memorization and rote learning has fallen out of favor.

(eastday.com November 6, 2001)