As part of its mission to serve Public Universities of Mauritius, and for the first time, CI-UoM delegated one Chinese teacher, Ms. Li Xiaoxia, to Rodrigues Island to conduct Mandarin Language teaching at one of Polytechnics Mauritius Ltd’s (PML’s) five campuses. From October 23 to October 27, Ms Li successfully conducted synchronous Mandarin teaching, both online and offline in Rodrigues.
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Synchronous Online and Offline Teaching Mode in Progress
The Mandarin Language module was dispensed to 24 students majoring in Leisure Management, among which, 7 students were from mainland Mauritius and who stayed behind due to internships and other commitments. To facilitate participation of all students, Ms Li Xiaoxia simultaneously conducted face-to-face classes for the local students while offering online interaction for the Mauritian students through Microsoft Teams. This synchronous online and face to face teaching approach is quite demanding, as the teacher has to give equal attention to both online students and the students on site. To ensure that online students experience ‘real’ class atmosphere, Ms. Li adjusted computer settings for optimum audio and visual experiences, and constantly motivated the students to fully participate in the class interactive sessions.
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On-Site Classroom Activities
Given the tight schedule, Ms. Li Xiaoxia designed a practical-oriented teaching plan, adapted the teaching materials, and proposed a dynamic set of practical classroom activities. The students in Rodrigues Island greatly valued the opportunity and displayed remarkable enthusiasm in learning Chinese. They actively participated in the class and learned with great autonomy. After class, they shared their newly learned Chinese expressions with the staff of Polytechnics Mauritius Ltd. The students could greet the administrative staff with basic Chinese greetings such as "Ni hao" and "Ni hao ma?"
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Teacher-Student Group Photo
Since May 2022, Confucius Institute at University of Mauritius has served different campuses of Polytechnics Mauritius Ltd to meet its Chinese language teaching requirements. Due to the long distance from the main island of Mauritius, teaching at Rodrigues Island campus was carried out online. This is the first time for Confucius Institute to provide face-to-face instruction to students in Rodrigues Island, and the feedback was positive from both local teachers and students. They hope that there will be more future opportunities to experience face to face Chinese language classes and cultural activities in Rodrigues.