Oregon State department head to go to China

Dave King will lead team to China for technological and credit opportunities

By: Colin Fant

Posted: 3/15/07

Dave King, the department head for the extension and experiment station communications program at OSU, will lead a five-person team to China in an effort to establish clear and reliable lines of communication between the American Distance Education Consortium and rural areas of China.

They are looking for areas in China that are similar to rural America to establish internet communications to exchange ideas and techniques for solving agricultural issues both countries face.

The interest in rural locations is because "agriculture is the primary product of rural communities," King said.

The group's goal is to try to identify the current situation of computer accessibility, and the capabilities of having the internet. Beyond that is also the speed of the internet that the computer can handle.

King is also on the board of directors for the American Distance Education Consortium.

The American Distance Education Consortium, along with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, will be sponsoring King and his team as he travels to Beijing and the surrounding Heibei area. They will also go to the rural area of Kunming, located in southwest Yunnan.

Janet Poley is a professor of animal sciences at Nebraska University and has been president of the American Directors Education Consortium since 1994.

The U.S. has a number of agreements with China involving scientific and technical exchanges, Poley said.

King and his team were selected to go to China because of the USDA Foreign Agricultural Services agreement that is held with China.

Poley believes that King was asked to lead the team because of his connections with the American Distance Education Consortium as both the co-chair of the program panel and also being on the board of directors, as well as the experiences he has had in China, and other parts of Asia, Africa and Central America.

King's team will include four experts in distance learning and technology from the University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska, University of Maryland, and New Mexico State University.

The four team-members are all professors and are deeply involved with the advancement of technological programs at their respective schools, varying from educational game development to administrators of online communications within their school system.

They will leave for China on Friday and get back on March 31.

The team will have a translator provided for them by both the American Directors Education Consortium and also the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture.

When King was last in China, he said he "tried very hard to learn some of the rudimentary language," but this time it will be easier having someone there to help him out.

King hopes to bring back any collaborative opportunity that OSU can be a part of, as well as any possibilities to provide technical information. He also hopes to develop some credit courses for the future.