E-LEARNING INITIATIVES IN CHINA: PEDAGOGY, POLICY AND CULTURE

e-Learning Initiatives in China provides research and application insights into e-learning in China, in the light of two drives by the Chinese Ministry of Education: to implement curriculum reform and to promote quality and innovation in e-learning provision.

Educationalists throughout the world have their eyes on China, both as a market to understand and to enter, and as a major source of international students. In addition, educationalists are increasingly aware of the need to incorporate digital technology into their course provision and delivery. This book provides valuable insights into both of these elements. It includes ‘state-of-the-art' reviews of e-learning in China, case study examples of e-learning design and development issues, and explores the collaboration challenges that British and Chinese teams experienced as they participated in a Sino-UK e-learning initiative, the eChina-UK Programme.

The book is written in a clear and accessible style. Section 1, Background, introduces the book and provides an overview of e-learning in higher education in China. Section 2, Designing and Delivering Online Courses in China, starts with a critical review of online courseware designs that are currently widespread in China, and then presents a series of case study examples which deal with important design and delivery issues. Section 3, Managing the Interplay between Pedagogy and Technology, explores ways in which new learning technologies can be exploited for pedagogic purposes. Section 4, Managing Collaboration Processes, discusses the issues that the project teams needed to manage effectively as they collaborated both internationally and professionally. The final section, Section 5, Addressing Policy Issues, deals with key e-learning policy issues, both within China and internationally.

The topic of e-learning, combined with the book's emphasis on the interrelationship of policy and practice, and its international teamwork perspective, will appeal to education specialists and e-learning experts not only in Asia but also in many Western countries.

Helen Spencer-Oatey is Director of the Centre for English Language Teacher Education at the University of Warwick, and the UK manager of the eChina-UK Programme (http://www.echinauk.org/). Her main research interests are in the interrelationships between language, culture and rapport management. She has published widely in the area of rapport management and intercultural interaction.