I am Yuhong. I was born and brought in Chongqing, China. I came to America in February 1999. I came to do my research on Nathaniel Hawthorne. My sponsor, Dr. Mundo, took me to The House of Seven Gables in Salem, Massachusetts. He also took me to the library in the University of Maine to borrow books and do research. I was so lost in the technology...

That was the beginning of my pursuit of instructional technology.

On this page, I will tell you a little bit of myself.

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Background

Education

Childhood

Comparison

	American	Chinese
Educational System	Variety	Unified
	Kindergarten K-5 or K-8 elementary school. K-12 school. Junior high school. High school. 4 years of college. 2-3 years of graduate school. 3-5 years of postgraduate school. Varieties of technical and vocational schools.	3 years of kindergarten. 1 year of preschool. 6 years of primary school. 3 years of junior middle school, three years of senior middle school. 4 years of university. 2-3 years of graduate school. 3-5 years of postgraduate school. Varieties of technical and vocational schools
Compulsory education	12 years	9 years
School days	180 days a year.	About 200 days a year.
School hours	7 hours a day.	7 hours a day for elementary school kids. 9 hours a day for Junior and senior middle school kids.
Class size	About 10 – 20 in one class	About 40 in one class in elementary school. About 50 in one class in junior and senior middle school.
Types of Schools	High schools Specialized technical schools Vocational schools. High school can provide specialized technical and vocational programs.	Schools are divided into different types of schools. Key middle schools General middle schools Specialized technical middle schools Vocational schools Vocational, specialized technical or high school are all separate schools. Kids go to the schools based on their academic performance or test scores.
Competition	There are more opportunities for kids who want to go to colleges. Though SAT score is important, there are some other indicators that are considered important as well.	High stake and highly competitive educational system. Competition for colleges is intense. The answer is examination! A Nationwide Unified College Entrance Examination system has been adopted. July 7,8 and 9 are the three days each year that will determine the future of every young person.
Skills	There are a lot of real life skills that are included in the curriculum. Sports are highly paid attention to.	Tests, exams and scores. High test scores but lower abilities regarding real life skills. Sports are less important than academic performance.
Centralization	Less centralized. Each town or school can decide policies.	The Ministry provides policies and gives directives through a 5-level hierarchical system: ministry - provincial education commissions - city education commissions - district education bureaus - individual schools. The central directives are specific and explicit: what kind of textbooks schools have to use, how many courses students have to take, how many students have to be in a class, how big the sports ground has to be, and so on.
Curriculum	There are core courses, elective courses and study halls in high school.	There are neither electives nor study halls in high school. Kids have to take all of the courses that the city education commissions decided based on the ministry’s directives.
Workload	Workload is light. 1 or hours' homework.	Workload is heavier. 2 to 3 hours’ homework.
Responsibility	Janitors clean the school and maintain the equipments.	Kids clean their classrooms everyday after school and clean the assigned area in school once a week.