Summary on Four
SDNP/China Training Courses
by Wang Qiming
the Co-ordinator for
Sustainable Development Networking Programme in China
October 10, 1998
This is a summary report to the country programme of SDNP of
China in which the training programme has been conducted in accordance
with due submitted proposal of feasibility study and project document
to UNDP/SDNP. During the period of December, 1997 and September,
1998, in a lapse of ten months, four training courses were performed
to a coverage of people from central information holders to local
Agenda 21 implementers, who to take an one-week intensive training
workshop on substantial knowledge of Internet concept, connectivity,
content and capacity. A total number of 118 trainees has received
training, thereby obtaining certificates issued by the Administrative
Centre for China's Agenda 21, whereas others, a proportion of
about 30 people who took the training courses, were for non-credit
listeners. 18 faculty staffs, together with people from Information
Networking Division were involved in the preparation, management
and implementing of training courses.
As the result of training, SDNP/China has delivered several outcomes,
including one book, entitled "Handbook of Internet and Sustainable
Development Networking", one pamphlet for introductory to dial-up
service, and one portfolio of collected hand-out of teaching materials.
A website navigation software were developed out which collects
over three hundred web URLs covering multiple aspects of sustainable
development areas: capacity building, agriculture, energy, industry,
resources conservation, human settlements, and global environmental
issues. An FTP server was open for access of up-loading and down-loading
of all teaching materials when needed. More encouraging is the
phenomenon of the local sustainable communities, under the stimulation
of the heatwave of national connectivity, whose homepage is preparing
to release on Internet. In the central level, information sharing
is taking air among all information holders whose areas are within
natural resources, natural disasters and environmental protection
and environmentally sound technologies. The version of Chinese
metadata (part 1), as recommended the standard format, is also
one of the outcomes delivered by SDNP/China, used for practising
its feasibility among all who took the training.
The training has reached its attempted goal for building on capacity
for facilitating information sharing and knowledge-based networking,
strengthening decision-making capabilities at the levels and sectors
of central and local Agenda 21.
The summary is compiled by several sections related to this training
in a more explicit description of the training preparation, management
and its results.
1. Training Preparation
"Well preparation is a half way done." The Chinese proverb tells
us how important is the preparation before any action is taken.
So is the training we plan for. Teaching Internet skills is simpler,
if comparing with training we attempted to tackle both skill barrier
and barriers for sustainable development information sharing -
a knowledge-based decision making approach. The situation was,
by the time of 1996 when we were planning for training, a rapid
expansion in uses of advanced information and communication technologies
in China. Each year the Internet users are doubled in numbers,
in 1996 200 k users, in 1997 up to 500 k, then in 1998 jump over
1 million. Users are not limited in large cities, but widely distributed
into nation-wide, arising a connectivity high-tide. On the other
hand, hundreds of databases have been established by various research
institutes and governmental agencies, which cover almost all aspects
of resources and environmental protection, but faced with awkward
dilemma - very few users. This is simply by the reason not network
connected or the excuse that carries for confidential protection.
So the training we take into account is on two-sided consideration:
facilitation of networking connectivity, and promotion for sharing
capabilities. The first step for approach of sharing is to build
a compromised metadata standard.
SDNP/China node, along with its establishment of infrastructure
layout, was preparing for information collection on sustainable
development related websites and cases of metadata standards.
Nearly one year work we put on information collection, involving
one full time ACCA21 employee and two part time students carrying
their mission on searching any available web sources. Searched
results were classified, and translated with a small paragraph
of Chinese description. The consequence of this information searching
is that we gathered over 400 web URLs that appear to be closely
related to China's Agenda 21 and its associated priority areas,
and more than 10 cases of existing metadata standards, including
metadata recommended by ISO/TC211, FGDC, NASA, CIESIN, Australia,
New Zealand and Canada.
Simply noticed that all this work can not be accomplished by
only a unit of four people in SDNP/China node within the time
framework. It must be distributed over the work shared by synergy
of all interested stakeholders to make contribution if the time
has to be bound of consideration. Cooperation with CERN, China's
Ecosystem Research Network, began on metadata, whereas Beijing
College of Technology for developing website navigation software.
Contract was made between ACCA21 and respectively institutions,
so that more people, more sophisticated people participated into
the work for preparation of training, enhancing efficiency and
quality control.
Before December 1997, the time scheduled for first training,
we had finished training preparation: infrastructure of layout,
a 64 Kb DDN, HP server of mail, www and ftp; website navigation
software; and a bundle of collected metadata cases. All this needs
to be transferred into prepared teaching materials.
2. Teaching Materials
Training can not be made possible without teaching textbook.
Two options can be the solution for finding teaching materials,
procuring published Internet books or developing our own textbook.
The fact has to take into account that available published Internet
books can not meet our demand for metadata and sustainable development
information, nor possible in one book which illustrates in details
of using PINE, Teraterm, Foxmail, and other tools for ftp, web
search engine, and homepage making that are specifically suitable
to our trainees. So development of a teaching material is apparently
necessary. Along with preparation for teaching material, we have
our ambitious vision making a step ahead that we are going to
publish our textbook as the first publication for China's sustainable
development of information technology. A group of people were
organised targeting for book writing, editing and publishing.
Our chief goal of this book is to be practically useful to our
users whose Internet knowledge is limited, so the steps of operation
ought to be explained in details. This was approved to be correct
as the result of training showed that our book can be regarded
as self-learning ones, particularly useful in remote areas where
local qualified technicians are few.
The book itself is attractive in the title "Handbook of Internet
and Sustainable Development Networking", the first book attempting
to put two very popular items bundle together, sustainable development
and Internet. This is as what is addressed in the preface of the
book. The book has Internet fundamentals, the part compiled from
selected Internet books, together with new contributions of our
work on metadata and sustainable development information sources,
some content listed as appendix for user convenience.
Other than textbook, we have also delivered to each trainee a
translated Chinese book specified for Windows 95 Internet connectivity,
a pamphlet for introductory to dial-up, and a set of hand-out
of teacher's lecture materials. A case study of sustainable city
in Guilin, Guangxi Province of their homepage design with a map
template is included in teaching materials available for access
from ftp down-loading (http://www.acca21.edu.cn:8000).
3. Selection of Trainers and Trainees
Trainers were considered from the selection in Zhongguancun Area,
a place of the father of China's information networking. The area
has concentration of China's best universities and research institutions
- Peking University, Tsinghua University and the Chinese Academy
of Sciences, as being the earliest networked in China, back to
1993. Two out of four national ISP are from this area, CERNET
and CASnet. Cooperation has been developed between ACCA21 and
other three institutions for technical matters as well as for
policy matters. Another advantage is its geographical vicinity
to ACCA21 that all three institutions can be accessed within 20
minutes of bicycles. Much related to the work of ACCA21, Peking
University Library, Tsinghua University Networking Centre and
the Institutes of Zoology and Microbiology are the nodes partner
to ACCA21, a close relationship tied by CIESIN training in 1995.
This has been formed of the core team for SDNP training.
Many other people have involved in supervision of training courses.
Those people are currently implementing projects funded by the
Ministry of Science and Technology, such as the projects of sustainable
communities, information sharing promotion and local agenda 21
initiatives.
In terms of what kind of trainees shall take part in the training
course, this has been carefully considered. The consideration
includes the representation of people, sectors and coverage of
areas, even gender is taken into account. From central agencies,
those people who were selected are from governmental information
institutions, like Chinese Academy of Sciences, State Survey Bureau,
State Seismology Bureau, State Planning Commission, State Meteorological
Bureau, State Bureau for Forests, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry
of Water Conservation, Ministry of Geology and Ore Deposits, and
the Environmental Protection Agency. China Daily, an English newspaper
also sent their people in joining the training. From point of
view of local participants, we selected those people from 30 local
sustainable communities, 16 pilots on local agenda 21 initiatives
and 4 sustainable cities.
Trainees are required for acquainting with computers, familiar
with Windows 95 and good English reading ability. Trainees are
also requested for responsible for their own networking establishment,
and as being the seed for providing more training at their home.
We are aiming those people who got trained, are our partners,
our nodes of human web.
4. Arrangement of Training
Training was arranged in one week time, an intensive course from
Sunday arrival till to next Saturday departure. Prior to each
course of training, one week time was taken for specific preparation
for logistic arrangement, computer setting-up, teaching material
printed and packed. Logistic arrangement is prepared by Information
Networking Division for board and lodging, and for classroom set-up,
utilising facilities in Beijing Environmental Training Centre.
The overall design is half day teaching and half day practice.
The teaching classroom is networked, so that performance by teachers
can be learnt exactly when trainees doing their exercise. All
teaching materials, transparencies and powerpoint presentations
are copied in hand-out and delivered to trainees before teaching
takes place. Exercise sheet is given to trainees after each session
of lecture is presented. Trainees have to complete all four exercise
sheets and passed by performance evaluation, can then obtain certificates.
The case was occurred that two trainees failed to complete required
homework, and left with no certificate with them. At the end of
each teaching unit (four units in all), the main points and some
common mistakes were reviewed and commented in a group discussion
with all people participated. Teaching evaluation is also carried
out along with the group discussion. We have managed to have other
several assistants in helping lectures and exercise. Those assistants
shall observe the teaching presentation, and facilitate computing
exercise. Therefore, such an arrangement is so intensive that
evening time also utilised, till to as late as mid-night.
Training includes four main units, Internet and its development;
mail tools (E-mail, FTP, Mailing list, Newsgroup), Web tools (www,
Gopher, search engine); Web page design and making; Metadata review
and standard. Two trainees share one computer, but each has its
own user name and login password, and a separate student document
file for all loaded information. The goal of exercise is to achieve
the trainees who can operate in independent way of software installation,
setting-up, down-load and up-load. Homepage making is always enthusiastic
of all students bringing overwhelmingly enjoyment. In order to
encourage trainees, two best designers of homepage were rewarded
by the lecturer, and kept for reference in the following training
courses.
5. Budgeting
As estimated in the project document, each training course was
requested from UNDP/SDNP budget approval of $10,000 dollars (RMB
80,000 yuan), plus co-funding of government cost sharing and each
trainee's contribution. This budget estimation is approved to
be fairly close to what really happened in true case. Government
cost sharing is spent on the work of Information Networking Division
for preparing and managing the training course. Trainee's contribution
includes return travel cost and local transportation expenditure.
Among UNDP/SDNP funded $10,000 dollars, 30% expenditure is on
board and lodging, 20% on inviting lecturers and teaching assistants,
7% spent on renting classroom and teaching facilities, 15% on
curriculum preparation, 18% on communication charges (Internet
flow, telephone and facsimile), 10% on stationery cost (printing
and packing).
6. Training Results
Training has obtained very good results in promotion of information
sharing and local connectivity. So far, four local sustainable
communities have placed their homepage onto Internet. This is
the direct benefits resulted from training. More is preparing
their system designing and equipment installation. Those of places
have not yet connected by dial-up are ready to apply for it. Inspired
by such rapid progress, ACCA21 has suggested to all sustainable
communities that by the end of 1999, connectivity to Internet
shall be thereby completed. And their web pages ought to be seen
on Internet. Taking account that some communities may not be possible
for the connection due to insufficient infrastructure in the local
place, ACCA21 shall offer a proxy server for loading those local
information.
Central level information sharing has reached a new stage. Marine,
Forest, Geology, Biodiversity and Environmental Technologies have
their web pages available from Internet. More will realise web
pages shown on Internet by the end of 1998. This implies that
ACCA21, as the national node, shall form a networking that covers
30 communities, 16 major cities, 10 central ministries, and more
of China's Agenda 21 central and local offices.
Training has resulted in some other implications:
- Technical support of the ACCA21 turns to be an important factor
to local communities. This is not only at design stage in helping
for equipment selection or system identification, but also in
operation stage that provides assistance in maintaining the
system functional;
- ACCA21 node will take co-ordinating role in future networking,
the co-ordinating for metadata standard, for web page source
information, and for database establishment;
- The feedback from local users requests for if there is such
a search engine that is specifically design for sustainable
development, helping for decision making and knowledged information.
MIT invented GSSD may have such function;
- English language is still the main barrier to most users at
local. Translation software that can either translate into single
Chinese words or powerful enough for the whole paper conversion
is strongly desired by Chinese users;
- Database establishment and the CGI development for linking
web page to database are of great value to local users;
- GIS information shown on Internet is getting popular in China,
in particular those of information takes graphical illustration.
7. Appendix
- Handbook of Internet and Sustainable Development Networking.
1998, Scientific Press of China, 320 total pages;
- Introductory to Dial-up Service for SDNP/China;
- Software pack for SDNP web searching;
- Complete list of trainees and Trainers,
- Time Table for Teaching Arrangement;
- Hand-out of Teaching Materials.
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