Oracle Education Foundation and Shanghai Center for Education Technology Launch Think.com Project for Shanghai
Hong Kong, 20 April, 2006 - The Oracle Education Foundation (OEF) and Shanghai Center for Education Technology (SCET) signed an agreement and officially launched a joint project leveraging Think.com as the Internet platform to promote innovative use of technology in Shanghai's primary and secondary schools. This joint project is also aimed at enhancing cross-cultural collaborative learning and global citizenship.
Think.com will provide students and teachers with a secure email account and personal web pages to publish articles, upload images and host discussions with other Think.com-using students from around the world. Students will be able to stay connected to their classrooms from their homes, schools or public libraries.
Designed by education experts and senior researchers in Oracle, Think.com is a commercial-free online learning community for primary and secondary school students. Think.com provides interactive learning tools to over 660,000 students and teachers from 7,500 schools in 26 countries, in eight languages including Chinese, English, Spanish and Thai.
"One of the areas that Oracle's Golden China initiative focuses on is contribution to education in China. To date, we have contributed more than US$200 million worth of software and services to support basic education, vocational education and higher education in China through the Oracle Education Initiatives," said Yan Xuan, Vice President of Government and Business Development, Oracle China. "The project with SCET is a new milestone in our support for education in China. I am confident that by bringing Internet resources and tools into classrooms, the project will motivate primary and secondary school students in Shanghai to adopt innovative ways of learning and to more actively collaborate with their peers around the world."
In 2003, the Oracle Education Foundation signed a similar agreement with the National Center for Education Technology (NCET) to conduct a Think.com project. Over 10,000 students and teachers, 70% of whom are from 120 schools in Qinghai, Gansu and Guangxi provinces, are participating in the project and use Think.com as a regular part of their classroom learning experience.
"Here at Oracle we are deeply committed to being more than just a business partner," said Jim Ballard, Vice President of Oracle Education Foundation Programs. "By working in close cooperation with organizations such as SCET, we can identify areas where our company goals and society's needs meet. Then, by applying our technology in innovative ways, we are able to protect the environment, enrich communities and advance education for the benefit of everyone."
"SCET's mission is to promote the adoption of advanced educational technology in primary and secondary schools in Shanghai," said Wang Min, Director of Shanghai Center for Education Technology. "We hope that by incorporating Oracle's technology in our pursuit of innovative learning applicable to China, we will be able to enhance the students' capabilities in collaborative learning and hands-on practice, and to bring up a new generation of students capable of winning in future competitions."
SCET and the Oracle Education Foundation have a project management team in place to oversee project coordination, implementation and administration. Over time, experts from SCET and selected teachers from Shanghai schools will undertake studies of the active role that Think.com plays in driving innovative use of technology in learning.
SCET and OEF will carry out the project in two stages:
- Starting from April, SCET will set up a task force of experts. They will be responsible for creating action plans to conduct train-the-trainer sessions. They will also coach the trainers as they practice new ways of learning based on Think.com. A total of 20 primary and secondary schools in Shanghai will be chosen to carry out the Think.com project around learning the Chinese language, mathematics, foreign languages and science courses, as well as several experimental courses, involving over 4,500 students and teachers.
- Following from this, six months later, based on their performance in the first stage, schools will be selected to coach other schools.
About Shanghai Center for Education Technology
SCET is one of the key organizations under the Shanghai Education Commission. Its primary role is to study, apply and promote education technology in primary and secondary schools in Shanghai. SCET has been instrumental in establishing a city-wide basic education network using new education technologies.
About Oracle Education Foundation
The Oracle Education Foundation sponsors ThinkQuest and Think.com, free online programs for the primary and secondary education community. It also makes grants to select schools and nonprofits to bridge the digital divide and promote global collaborative learning with technology. For more information, please visit http://www.oraclefoundation.org.
About Oracle
Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) is the world's largest enterprise software company. For more information about Oracle visit our Web site at www.oracle.com.hk
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