1. International and Domestic Backbone Links of the three Major ISPs

2 Domain, Host and Server Count
2.1 Registered Domain Name Distribution under .tw

2.2 Internet Host Count

2.3 Internet Server Count

3 Computer Education Development
3.1 Number of Schools, with Computer Labs and with Internet Access

3.2. Future Plan

4. Objectives
Time and distance are no longer barriers to the flow of information as a result of the fast growing information science such as networks and multimedia technology. Today, people are able to retrieve, process, and apply information in a very different fashion. This change has brought profound impacts at the individual, national, and even international level. Knowledge about information technology and basic skills to utilize these new tools have become fundamental to all citizens. Countries around the world have recognized the importance of information technology in improving their competitiveness in the global market. Therefore, to promote information education is essential in preparing for the coming information age. Nevertheless, education can also benefit from modern information technology. By employing information technology, education can be more flexible, more internationalized, more people-oriented and more delicate. For instance, through networks, teaching materials are no longer limited to books. They can be gathered from beyond national borders. A smoother communication channel facilitates exchanges of information and consequently will direct education to meet the needs of the new environment.

The goals of student-oriented and life-long education can be only realized with a well-established information infrastructure. With a strong information infrastructure, both the quality and quantity of education will be improved. Information education, in this aspect, is really the prerequisite to the success of important projects to increase the competitiveness of the country, such as the National Information Infrastructure (NII) of R.O.C. and the Asian Pacific regional Operation Center (APROC).
Since the ever-changing information technology will affect deeply how people work, live, and think, we are now more eager to explore new information and more anxious to learn to use these new tools. Therefore, how to establish a life-long education system to prepare all citizens and the society as a whole for the information age presents an important task to be completed.

In order to complete this mission, the Ministry of Education has established the following goals:

1. To promote an information education infrastructure for all citizens to prepare for an information society.
2. To facilitate networks in teaching, research and administration to improve the efficiency and quality of performance.
3. To apply information technology to enhance teaching methods.
4. To promote distance learning and its applications to diversify learning channels.
5. To establish a Social Education Information Network for life-long learning.
6. To train expertise for the National Information Infrastructure (NII) project.

5. Major Activities
New platforms such as computer-aided teaching and distance teaching have made consolidating and sharing teaching materials a simple matter. With these new tools, teaching methods and materials now can be more personalized. Students are able to choose courses and learning methods tailored to their needs. Therefore, education reforms should not only change teaching materials and teaching methods, they must also include the extension of learning channels. Learning will no longer be a one-way street. Students will play a more active role while teachers change from their traditional role of knowledge providers to become assistants in the self-motivated learning process. In other words, education reforms are to change the learning environment, the learning process and the whole attitude. In order to reach these goals, the Ministry of Education has established the following tasks:

1. To consolidate teaching resources, to improve teachers' information technology knowledge, and to revise course standards of information education.
1). To establish national and county information education material and teaching software centers: To promote digitizing teaching plans, to construct electronic databases for all courses, and to facilitate prompt exchanges of teaching materials through networks.
2). To upgrade hardware facilities of all schools and to update information education guidelines: To subsidize the establishment of computer rooms and networks of all schools.As of the end of 1997, all schools except elementary schools have established computer rooms. It is targeted that all elementary schools will have computer rooms by 2001.
3). To subsidize major computer-aided teaching schools and county network hub schools: to promote use of laptop computers in non-computerized classrooms and to pursue the long-term goal of computers in all classrooms.
4). To implement "The Guidelines of Resource-Sharing between Elementary Schools and Local Communities" to utilize local facilities for information education.
5). To revise information education standards to ensure continuity and consistency: Starting the 1998 school year, computer courses are required in junior high school and elective in elementary school.
6). To design application-oriented courses such as computer-aided teaching, network application, network management, and introduction to information system in order to provide on-the-job training for teachers: Between the 1989 and 1997 school years, 37% of all teachers have completed training courses administrated by national Taiwan Normal University and Chung-Hsing University. Teachers are also encouraged to participate in related extension courses offered by universities and the private sector. It is estimated that by 2001, all teachers will have sufficient basic knowledge of information technology. Information education is also emphasized in normal universities to prepare future teachers for the information age.
7). To establish organizations such as Information Education Committee and Taiwan Academic Network Management Committee to plan and implement information education: Members of these committees consist of representatives of relevant government agencies, the academia, schools and the information industry. The difference in the development of information education at the nation and local level must be recognized.


2. To establish a proper education information infrastructure in order to deepen the root of the Taiwan Academic Network.
1). To extend the Taiwan Academic Network to all levels of schools for students' easy access: Currently, all colleges and universities are connected. It is scheduled that all senior high schools, vocational and junior high schools and elementary schools will have access to the Network by 1998, 1999, and 2001 respectively.
2). To improve the operation of county education network hubs: To establish computer network experimental schools, and to facilitate information exchange and resource sharing between urban and rural areas.
3). To apply network applications to daily life: To hold network application competitions for junior high school and elementary school students and web page design competitions.
4). To provide a healthy network environment by promoting intellectual property rights, network ethics, network safety, and network etiquette.
5). To increase the band width of the back bond of information network: To promote information exchanges at the international level, to introduce Chinese culture to the world through Internet, and to improve the quality of the Taiwan Academic Network through international distance teaching and video conferences.
6). To hold seminars and symposiums on network applications such as wireless communication and high speed networks at local communities and cultural centers.


3. To facilitate digitization of education administration data in order to retain efficient education administration: The purpose of this task is to promptly provide information to teachers, students, parents, researchers, and decision -makers. The following projects are to be completed in several phases: electronic data exchange of official documents, consolidation of the school administration coding systems, consolidation of education statistics, consolidation of personnel information, consolidation of accounting, digitization of reports to the Ministry of Education, and establishment of school administration guidelines. Administrative efficiency is expected to be greatly improved upon the completion of these projects.



4. To improve teaching methods by utilizing computers and computer-aided technologies
1). To emphasize inclusion of information technology in all disciplines: To promote the concept of utilizing multimedia computers and networks in course designs to familiarize students with information technology at early ages.
2). To diversify course materials with information technology as to promote self-motivated learning: The Ministry of Education has completed several series of multimedia teaching software to facilitate better uses of teaching resources and to improve teaching methods. These series includes an introduction to the Nature for elementary school, basic Chinese for the deaf, hair dressing and bakery for junior high school vocational courses. Recent projects aim to utilize materials from the World Wide Web in order to advocate interactive and self-motivated teaching methods.
3). To establish the "Golden Learning Award" to encourage the development of computer-aided teaching software: To consolidate efforts of government, academia, and industry to engage in the research of computer-aided teaching software.
4). To promote computer-aided teaching through demonstrations, exhibitions and seminars.


5. To facilitate distance teaching and diversified learning channels.
1). To establish "Guidelines for Experimental Distance Teaching Courses" to encourage colleges and universities to provide distance teaching courses: As of the 1997 school year, 71 colleges and universities are offering distance teaching courses. Students can choose courses from all participating schools and therefore sharing all available resources.
2). To establish distance teaching programs with distinguished colleges and universities around the world to provide an international learning environment and to experiment distance teaching among high schools in urban and rural areas in order to minimize the difference of available teaching resources in these areas.
3). To continue improving distance teaching tools by introducing advanced technology from around the world and to establish new applications such as distance teaching library and distance hospital.
4). To develop teaching materials that can be used for distance teaching: To use these materials to facilitate the development of special education and social education in order to provide a high-quality and diversified learning environment for all citizens.
5). To provide custom designed distance learning courses to teachers, government officials and the private sector through the Unified Distance Teaching Service Center with the goal of building a Life-Long Studying Network.
6). To produce pamphlets and videotapes and to hold exhibitions to promote public participation in new applications of distance teaching and life-long learning for the 21 century.
7). To consolidate distance teaching resources by assembling a literature of distance teaching researches and to upload the information to the Internet for public use, also to establish laws and regulations to encourage the private sector's participation in teaching materials research and extension.


6. To establish social education information networks to facilitate life-long learning
1). To begin computerizing and networking all social education agencies of the Ministry of Education: To promote intranets for county social education agencies and to connect to the Taiwan Academic Network to establish a national social education information network.
2). To improve life-long learning by producing social and adult education materials in the forms of network publication and CD-ROM through producing theme network materials such as virtual museum and cultural heritage sites.
3). To provide students and citizens with live programs through a real-time broadcasting system on the Internet.
4). To provide network and library services for the blind by establishing special computer systems in social education agencies throughout the country.
5). To establish a national social education database: All social education agencies of the Ministry of Education will establish databases of their services. A database for cross-reference will follow.


7. To facilitate NII education and to provide personnel training
1). To cooperate with the academia and the private sector to introduce teaching materials of the key technologies to the development of NII and APROC.
2). To study the impacts of NII on the society and culture and to prevent negative impacts.
3). To gather information on the development of NII around the world and to provide training courses of NII to all citizens.
4). To develop courses of distance teaching, network management, and advanced multimedia to train NII expertise.

The above are major information education reform tasks. Completion of these tasks will prepare all citizens for the information age.