Projects

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TECC's projects focus on closing the technology and education gap between urban and rural China through the joint efforts of student teams in China and the U.S. TECC’s projects are made possible by the generous help of our sponsors and partner-foundations. Links to project-specific reports are below. Below are some of TECC’s latest projects:

TECC Summer Institutes (TSI)

The annual summer institutes are a major part of TECC’s effort. The institutes seek to train elementary/middle/high school teachers from rural districts throughout China to teach English innovatively and incorporate useful technologies into their curriculum. They offer an opportunity for students from the U.S., Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing work together closely in rural Chinese settings where the educational and technological need is greatest.

To learn more about TSI:
Check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AkwOdx34oc
Check out our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/teccultures

Youth Ambassador Program for Minorities (YAPM)

Uniting education and technology in an innovative program, YAPM aims to promote greater awareness and understanding of China’s national minorities by empowering local minority youth. YAPM believes that the key to preserve the disappearing Chinese national minorities’ culture is to evoke self-awareness and a sense of responsibility among ethnic minority youth because they are the only ones who can keep their culture alive for future generations. The YAPM project will empower local youth to become global ambassadors of their unique traditions through a 10-day summer institute and subsequent online forum. With access to technology for the local youth and through the collaborative efforts of students from top universities in both China and the United States, YAPM hopes to promote the importance of cultural diversity preservation on an international scale. The project also intends to raise local governments’ attention concerning the necessity of incorporating ethnic culture into local school curricula by campaigning for an ethnic culture course in the schools. With its bottom-up rather than top-down approach, YAPM’s potential lies in utilizing local initiative and resources rather than relying on outside parties to be effective. The localized structure can be mirrored in other minority regions, giving YAPM the potential to spread to broader areas without diluting the power of its program in any particular locale.

TECC Talk

As a project initiated by TECC, our main focus and purpose of this venture is to create a means to harbor both academic and cultural discussions between two distinct cultures through technological means. Through this project we will help foster the exchange of both cultural opinions and give the students the opportunity to interact with each other through a web conference. By utilizing free web conferencing software, we will be able to provide a cost effective and convenient method of communication. For this project, we want to give the Chinese teams the opportunity to practice their English and to also be highly engaged in a seminar discussion on a given topic. This also gives the U.S. group a chance to learn about the differing opinions held by Chinese students on several topics. Along with touching upon common areas of interest, this project may also give Chinese students the opportunity to explore oftentimes overlooked or neglected areas of interests. By giving an avenue through technology for two cultures to exchange information over, the project will indeed help create a greater understanding for different opinions due to current social norms and long held cultural values. This cultural exchange will provide positive, perspective-broadening experiences for tomorrow’s leaders in both China and the U.S.

To learn more about TECC Talk, read the TECC Talk project proposal here.

The PEACH Fund

PEACH (Promoting Education Across China) aims to help impoverished youth from rural backgrounds in China afford high school fees and pursue a higher quality of life. Towards this goal, PEACH connects sponsors to Chinese students in a support system that subsidizes the cost of tuition, fosters cultural understanding, and creates personal relationships. Many of these students want to go to school, but cannot pay for tuition, as their families mainly live off farming in arid, unfertile land. Unfortunately, the only way for a child to escape continued poverty is to get an education and go to college. Sponsors help the students stay in school not only by subsidizing their tuition, but also by giving them the confidence that comes with knowing someone cares. In return, the students write letters to their sponsors, and the correspondences back and forth will hopefully create a meaningful relationship between sponsor and student.

More for Migrant Kids (MMK)

A local project initiated by the TECC Shanghai team, More for Migrant Kids focuses upon improving the educational and career opportunities of migrant children in the city of Shanghai. Historically, this group has been severely discriminated against and deprived of equal opportunity. In this program, student volunteers from universities and middle schools in Shanghai (Fudan, SJTU, Datong Middle School, Fudan Affiliated Middle School, SJTU Affiliated Middle School, Gezhi Middle School) mentor and teach local migrant children, helping to broaden their exposure, increase educational opportunity, and better integrate them into the community. The programs are focused on improved literacy through “reading time,” exposure to cultural and historical exhibits through museum visits, technology education through computer lectures, as well as seminars with migrant children’s parents highlighting educational opportunities and the importance of education.

Dong Shu Xi Song Book Drive

At TECC’s first project, the 2004 Gansu Summer Institute, local teachers and administrators cited poor textbooks and teaching materials as a major obstacle to improving education. In response, TECC officers coordinated the Dong Shu Xi Song (DSXS) Book Drive, which has grown to become one of the most successful TECC projects. Since its inception, over 10,000 books and audio tapes have been sent to the Gulang County in Gansu Province. The books were organized and shelved in the town library at TECC’s Gansu Institute by volunteers from Need a Hand, a grassroots nonprofit (www.needahand.org), and are now available to students and teachers free of charge. TECC hopes that the continuation of its DSXS project can significantly alleviate problems relating to the lack of print materials in developing rural towns, and believes that these donations offer a valuable supplement to classroom lessons and Web-based education tools. The DSXS Book Drive is coordinated with the generous support of several Beijing-based and Shanghai-based publishing houses and local high schools (affiliated with Tsinghua, Pudong, Fudan, and Jiaotong universities).

NPO Leadership Training Program (NLTP)

NPO Leadership Training Program (NLTP) was carried out by the Project Innovation department of TECC Beijing. From December 2008 to June 2009, thirteen lectures were given to twenty four students and occasional auditors aiming to provide the audience with general knowledge and specific skills for the NPO field. The student body consisted of undergraduate and graduate students from Peking University and Tsinghua University, and their teachers were experts in the NPO field, some having an academic background and some having served for many years in the NPO sector. This program had two goals: 1) offer students a deeper understanding of NPOs and improve their skills, and 2) build a network between students and instructors interested in the nonprofits.

Chinese Connections for Children (CCC)

Initiated by TECC Smith, the CCC program is designed to provide immersion experiences to children and families interested in Chinese cultures. Our primary focus will be the children who are adopted from China. By connecting the adopted Chinese children with their cultural heritage, TECC Smith wishes to help them form their own perceptions of their identities in the future. To make this meaningful project happen, a survey will be constructed to build a solid statistical basis for the future events planning. A cultural exhibition will also be held to provide a glance of Chinese cultures for the families with adopted children.