On May 8 the 7th three-day National Chinese Learning Conference (NCLC) was held in Los Angeles, U.S. More than 1,200 delegates, including education officials, school principals, Chinese education specialists, and teachers from across the U.S. and other countries, as well as participants from relevant education and teaching institutions, attended the conference. Distance Chinese teaching became one of the highlights of the conference.

The MyEChinese Teaching Platform and mobile Chinese learning resources displayed by the Chinese Language Centre of the Open University of China (OUC) attracted a great deal of attention. Attendees from hundreds of schools, teaching institutions, and association of teachers consulted and discussed with participants of the Chinese Language Centre. 

In recent years, the booming development of online teaching and learning based both on the personal computer and mobile Internet platforms has brought a large amount of influence on the methods of Chinese teaching and learning. For this purpose, the conference specially set up a parallel session with the topic of MOOC, which discussed and analyzed methods and the prospect of combing MOOC with Chinese teaching. Chinese teachers in the US have gradually accepted distance teaching methods, but Chinese curriculums, resources, and auxiliary resources for distance education are lacking, and therefore the MyEChinese learning and teaching resources, which are positioned as leaders in the market, are warmly welcomed. 

Teachers of kindergarten through the 12th grade from roughly 10 States, including California, Arizona, and Michigan, as well as teachers from Confucius Institutes and classrooms, experienced the MyEChinese Teaching Platform (class.myechinese.com) and explored the Chinese Culture APP and mobile Chinese learning resources, such as the upcoming HSK, Easy Chinese, and China panorama. The newly developed MyEChinese HSK Online Exercise/Mock Test System witnessed great popularity at the exhibition, and attracted users with its abundant question bank and innovative intelligent test paper generating function. The content of the Exploring Chinese Culture APP is short and to the point, very easy to use, and covers 45 Chinese culture points that are very suitable for the teaching requirements of American teachers. The App became the most popular mobile Chinese culture learning resource at the exhibition. 

An American Chinese teacher inquiring about the MyEChinese distance Chinese teaching resources

The Principal of a Korean Chinese distance teaching institution learning about the APPs

With a main topic of “Building Capacity, Coast to Coast,” the conference held 5 plenary meetings and 75 parallel sessions. Xu Lin, Chief Executive and Director General of Hanban, David Coleman, President of the U.S. College Board, and Josette Sheeran, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Asia Society, attended the conference and held a trilateral forum at the opening ceremony. Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd also attended the opening ceremony. 

By Zhou Jinlan