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The Impact of Instructional Technology Interventions on Asian Pedagogy[1]

Heng-Yu Ku

Cheng-Chang Pan

Ming-Hsiu Tsai

Yedong Tao

Richard A. Cornell

Introduction

The background that Asian students bring to the West reflects an educational culture that saw its birth thousands of years ago, well before Copernicus (1473–1543), Pestalozzi (1746–1827), Froebel (1782–1852), Dewey (1859–1952), and others developed their educational theories. Confucius (551–479 B.C.) influenced Asian ped­agogy in the same way that Plato (428–348 B.C.) and Socrates (470–399 B.C.) influenced Western pedagogy. Confucius shaped the way education is currently practiced by well over one third of the world’s total population by instilling Asian education systems with his philosophy (Beck, 2002). There are myriad lessons to learn from a system that has continued to flourish for thou­sands of years.