You are here

Owens Corning classroom Beijing, May 18

On 18th of May, 15 volunteers from Owens Corning made the long trip to Bozhi Migrant School located in the outskirts of Beijing, to mark the opening of their new Green IT classroom. The company volunteers came from Tianjin, Beijing and Shanghai, holding two activities at the school: an IT class in the new computer room, followed by a handicraft activity.

Located in the remote area of Beijing, Bozhi school is a non-governmental funded school severing the children of Beijing’s migrant population - the thousands of unregistered migrant labourers who have flocked to the city over the last decade. Affordable and based in the communities where migrant workers live, the school offers an attractive alternative to the more expensive, government-run schools. 

 

Nevertheless, equipped with low quality of educational facilities and insufficient teachers , the school can barely offer good education for children that it is taken for granted in government –run schools .Furthermore, as all students at school come from other province, which means they have to back to their hometown for further study or career, according to the national education authorities ‘regulations, the school hasn't yet paid enough attention to students ‘s education , let alone their computer skills. Before the installation of Green IT classroom , according to principal Hu, students had little chance to get access to computers , some of them even felt difficult to close computer. Despite the conditions, peasant workers continue to send their children to the schools because of their convenience and low cost.

It's not foolish to recognize the importance of education ,especially computer knowledge ,which reshape the way people think in the digital world. For that very reason, Owens Corning , in collaboration with Netspring set up one Green IT classroom in Bozhi school, providing IT facilities to students, through which students could have a chance to get necessary IT training.

The visit began with the flag –raising ceremony, during which Teacher Hu, headmaster of the school and Don Rettig, President of the Owens Corning foundation based in Toledo Ohio, gave speeches. Teacher Hu expressed his gratitude to Owens Corning and Netspring, adding that the Green IT classroom would be put to good use and bring many benefits to the children at the school. Particularly in terms on opening up access to the internet. Don also felt honoured to have the privilege to represent the company commitment to improving equality in education. Paul Wei, Owens Corning Vice President and Managing Director Asia, also joined from Shanghai to handover the nameplate and participate to the activities.

 

Volunteers gave gifts of stationary to the students. In return, the children put on an amazing performance in a token of gratitude 

 

The ceremony was followed by a handicraft activity where the volunteers and grade three students decorated flower pots that they would later use to plant seeds. The students got really into the handicraft activity, showing off their creative flair!

 

While waiting for the paint to dry, the kids and volunteers moved to the new Green IT Classroom to take a lesson relating to growing plants. Mixed with vivid and interesting pictures and animations, the class offered the kids a totally different kind of interactive classroom experience in which they learned how to grow plants and take care of them. 

The students were given an online quiz about the things essentials to growing plants. The quiz was developed on Scratch, a children-friendly visual programming language, used by children scholars, teachers, and parents to easily create animations and games, providing a stepping stone to the more advanced world of computer programming. For the students, this new programming language can allow them to understand the logic of programming and how to creatively build and collaborate, promoting self expression and problem solving skills. 

Then it was time to plant! Under the guidance of planting experts from Limagrain, a cooperative committed to improving the seed planting conditions in China, the volunteers and children began to plant potatoes, raddish, beans, and lettuce seeds. 

Thanks to AICM, the migrant children at Bozhi school have an opportunity to explore their creative potential and the world by means of digital inclusion and the Internet. 

English