Multimedia instruction in border and ethnic regions: a case study of teaching Chinese language in Yunnan Radio & TV University

Xu Ping
Yunnan Radio & TV University
Kunming, China


Most students registered for distance learning at Yunnan Radio & TV University come from border, ethnic and remote mountainous regions with a poor cultural background. Some of them have never used a computer before and they are eager to acquire more knowledge and learn how to use modern educational technologies.

The author carried out an experiment on the teaching of College Chinese Language, in which student questionnaires and their examination results were used to compare the effects of being taught in a multimedia classroom and in a face-to-face mode. The results indicated superior student performance when teachers used multimedia technological equipment.

In teaching College Chinese Language, it is very important to integrate network resources and make use of multimedia classrooms. However, given the limited educational resources available in Yunnan province, consideration needs to be given to ways in which to optimize teacher and student use of existing multimedia classrooms.