Comparison Of Integrating Information Technology Into The Curriculum In Primary And Middle Schools Between China And America

The twenty-first century is an information age characterized by creation and application of knowledge. The development of the society requires persons with good quality and high ability. Faced with the challenges and opportunities in the information society, all the main countries of the world are developing their educational informatization level and carry out researches and practices on integrating information technology into the curriculum in order to improve the competitive abilities of the country and to cultivate people's information literacy. Under the condition, developed countries take grate importance in integrating information technology into the curriculum. Integrating information technology into the curriculum is taken as the key of a country's curriculum reform and education informatization. The Chinese government has also put in a lot of capital and power to develop our country's curriculum reform and education of information technology. Nowadays, effective integration of information technology and the curriculum has become the most important problem of our country's educational informatization. In the paper's opinion, the development of information technology in America is the best and the fastest, and the experiences of integrating information technology into the curriculum in America are rich and advanced. Comparison of integrating information technology into the curriculum in primary and middle schools between China and America will be meaningful for us to broaden our views, learn from the others', and improve our curriculum reform in foundational education.The study is carried out by literature research and comparative research methods. Based on the literature review, the paper compares the aims, the meanings, the directive theories, the models of integration, the supporting policy and some other aspects of integrating information technology into the curriculum in primary and middle schools between China and America. Also, the paper analyzes the status and some problems of integrating information technology into the curriculum in China and America.This paper includes five parts:Part 1: Introductions. This part introduces the backgrounds and the significances,the methods, and the contents of the study.Part 2: Literature reviews. This part shows the summarization and description of the studies on comparison of international information technology education, information technology and digital integration in China and America, and the standards of infonnation ability and educational technology in America. Through literature review, the author demonstrates the theoretical and practical meaning of the study.Part 3: Comparisons. In this part, the paper compares the aims, the meanings, the directive theories, the models of integration, the supporting policy and some other aspects of integrating information technology into the curriculum in primary and middle schools between China and America.Part 4: Characteristics and problems. This part summarizes the similar existing problems of integrating information technology into the curriculum in China and America, and points out the characteristics and shortcomings of integration in China and in America.Part 5: Elicitations and suggestions.Part 6: Conclusions and expectations. This part concludes the study results and points out problems which need to be studied further.The paper compares the theory and practice of integrating information technology into schools curriculum between China and America, and puts forward some original viewpoints on the similar problems and differences about the process of technology integration in the two countries.