Want to use the Internet to help left-behind children? Volunteer for Videolink!

 

 

 

Would you like to volunteer remotely to help left-behind children in isolated and disadvantaged areas around China improve their English? If so, the Videolink Program needs your help.

 

In this program, volunteers teach a minimum of one 40-minute class per week for the duration of a full school semester via the internet. You must be over 16 years of age, have a proficient level of English, a basic knowledge of internet technology, and a strong commitment to helping disadvantaged children.

 

If you are interested, please do the online orientation then register as a videolink volunteer on our website. For more details, contact Sherry Jia at: program@steppingstoneschina.net.  

 

 

 

“…Videolink is a new form of teaching for me. Basically, it’s a video conference between students in their classroom and us in our office. I’m glad to see projectors installed in kids’ classrooms and Stepping Stones makes use of the high-tech to make remote teaching possible. Volunteers don’t have to go to where the students are, which saves time and money for both sides. …Thanks to Ross at Stepping Stone who provided us with great training, tech, and admin support, together with the teaching materials we needed for each class to make life easier. He’s always there if anything comes up and trying his best to improve the program. My classroom teacher Fanny in Guangde also gave me great help. We communicated through our Wechat group before each class to make sure I had the right sitting plan and prepared for the right unit. Students have learnt what we are going to teach. So our goal is to help them review, create for them a full English speaking environment, and encourage them to actually use the language, to speak out…“

 

— Shusi He, Hong Kong (Videolink Volunteer 2017)

 

“…To be honest, when I started thinking about teaching English via Videolink, it made me very nervous, and I wanted to give the best and the most perfect lesson for the kids. I was wondering how can I get to know the individual kids when I’m not physically present in the classroom amongst the students. And the worry didn’t just stop there: I remembered that I would be teaching in Chinese rural areas where technology isn’t the greatest at all.

However, the on-boarding experience with Stepping Stones was really great. Ross from Stepping stones helped me on the training as well as on the teaching material (PowerPoint lessons). Everything was super organized! The kids were all awesome. They are very smart and bright kids. And with the help of the Classroom Teacher I managed to engage all the kids in a very fun way (sing a song, play games, etc.). We learned about time, animals, places and many more things.

This teaching experience is truly the best feeling I ever had. And for me in return, being perfect wasn’t the one after all, instead it’s all about having a fun lesson and happy to see all the kids’ English improve greatly over time. I’m really thankful to my company and Stepping Stones (CT and Ross) for helping me along this journey. Thank you, and I can’t wait to teach next semester. :)…”

 

– Lisawaty Indayang, Singapore (Videolink Volunteer 2017)

 

 

“Although I was excited about this new English course, I was also worried about my English skills. I had always tried to avoid speaking English in front of others. In the first class, the big smile on the teacher’s face comforted me. I told myself that I was going to take this opportunity to learn and speak as much as I could. Gradually, I became familiar with my teacher, classmates, and the course.

At the end of my course, I had learned more than I expected. Not only my communication skills improved dramatically, but also my courage to try new things. I want to thank all my teachers for their efforts. Although we were a hundred miles away from each other, it feels like you were sitting in front of me. In the future, I wish my teachers could come to my school and visit us.

Lastly, I want to thank my school for giving me this opportunity, as well as all the teachers. It was a pleasure to meet all of you. Looking forward to seeing you and wish you all have a great summer.”

– Zhang Bo (Videolink Student 2017)