Strategy For Integration Of Information Technology And Elementary School Curriculum In Ethnic Minority Regions

"Information Technology(IT) and Curriculum Integration" is a new measure in China's elementary school education reform in the 21st century.As the foundation of basic education,the educational concepts,teaching patterns and teaching quality of elementary school education directly influence the development of China's educational undertakings and the growth of qualified personnel for the 21st century.Limited by various factors including traditional concepts and inadequate teachers' IT expertise due to a backward regional economy,integration of IT and elementary school curriculum is unevenly implemented across the minority regions.Despite increased IT investment by the government, utilization of the fairly abundant IT resources is comparatively low resulting in an evident disparity between resources and application.By now,for the majority of minority regions in West China,the biggest obstacle for basic education informatization is no longer finance and equipment but "lack of teachers able to operate the equipment" and "too little application of the equipment".The current pattern of integration of IT into school curriculum is,to a large degree,heavily city-oriented,which lacks practical solutions for minority regions.Current uniform integretion target didn't care for the diversity of western ethnic minority schools.Only in accordance with the requirements of city standards,making integration of this region a mere formality.Through surveys carried out in selected elementary schools in YouYang,the reality of current integration of IT and elementary school curriculum is presented here.Upon further analysis,it is concluded that implementation of the integration of IT and elementary school curriculum in minority regions shall be carried out in accordance with the actual conditions i.e.,the availability of teachers' IT expertise and IT hardware. The key to successful integration lies in people,i.e.,the mutual development of both teachers and students.To reform the teaching contents,relevant teaching methods and strategies are indispensable.Modern teaching techniques are needed in order to stimulate the students to learn IT in an enthusiastic,active and creative manner.In a teacher-led teaching environment,the decisive factor is the teacher not the equipment.This research upholds an integration approach from the perspective of both the teaching process and the learning process.An integration strategy that emphasizes both the "teaching" and the "learning" aspects based on the cognition nature of the students and the actual teaching abilities of the teachers is recommended.Field examples of local elementary schools are provided to prove the feasibility of this strategy.Focusing on real-scenario classroom teaching,this research studies how to make the best use of information technology for the teachers,how to promote different teaching approaches to different subjects,how to arrange teaching procedures,how to create student-friendly learning environments, how to encourage students' participation and interaction in the learning process and finally,how to optimize the entire teaching and learning process.Efforts are made to suit the actual conditions of YouYang Autonomous County in the hope of providing good examples and valuable references to similar minority regions nationwide.