What ideals prompted Ray Lu, chairman and CEO of the Junyi Academy, to quit medical practice and dedicate himself to making education available to all? What are the methods that find favor in both elite schools and rural backwaters? In this month’s cover story, we explore the education technologies that combine artificial intelligence and big data to extend teaching and learning beyond the classroom and beyond school hours.
Through the “Teach for Taiwan” foundation, a group of young people are working to provide education in disadvantaged areas. They share with us their child-centered approach, which integrates students’ life circumstances into education, motivating children to study and developing their ability to learn on their own. We also report on the overseas education NGO “Calls over Ridges,” and its transformation of former volunteers from mere “helpers” into “cultivators of talent.”
In addition, we visit two winners of the “Excellent Teacher Award,” who share their personal life journeys and many unforgettable experiences from their teaching careers. These “extracurricular” lessons deserve our close attention.
Our ongoing series on cycling in Taiwan takes us this time to the East Coast, setting out on Provincial Highway 11 from Dulan in Taitung and enjoying the beautiful ocean scenery as we listen to the stories of people along the way.
With growing numbers of Thais and other Southeast Asians living in Taiwan, in mid-April each year local governments islandwide hold Songkran events to celebrate the Thai New Year. We go to Taipei City Plaza in Banqiao to observe this unique cultural activity.
Another thing worth celebrating in 2019 is the centenary of the Presidential Office Building. Originally built as the headquarters of the Japanese colonial governor-general, it was also the site of the 1935 Taiwan Exposition, and since 1950 it has housed the Office of the President of the ROC. Designated a national monument in 1998, it has gained a new meaning with Taiwan’s democratization over recent decades.
Sun Chao, recipient of a 2018 National Craft Achievement Award, has devoted his life to ceramic art using crystalline glaze. Now aged over 90, he rarely gives interviews, but he made an exception for Taiwan Panorama. This fascinating report is not to be missed.
Through its information and communications technology program for the Caribbean, Taiwan’s International Cooperation and Development Fund is selflessly sharing Taiwan’s mature ICT with countries such as St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Belize.
Other articles this month include one on reducing plastic use in Taiwan. We hope to bring readers stories not just of Taiwan’s development, but of the perseverance that is part of the Taiwan spirit.
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