Eight educators from Beijing are visiting NIU’s College of Education to look at its educational model.

The group arrived in DeKalb June 8 and spent a day here, NIU was their first stop in the U.S.

They followed another group from China that came in the spring of 2004. The eight educators are observing NIU’s educational technology of today and the future.

NIU hopes to help the educators design better curriculum for schools in China, said Diane Jackman, associate dean of the College of Education.

There are many ways to approach a subject, Jackman said. The challenge is to improve student learning and find ways to make sure all students are successful.

Visits like this one will help the educators to experience U.S. higher education on a long-term basis, said Deborah Pierce, executive director of International Programs at NIU.

The delegation is also interested in looking at exchanges between faculty and students.

The Chinese group includes the presidents of the Changping Teacher Education Institute and the Tongzhou Teacher Education Institute.

China stood as the second-largest economy in the world after the United States in 2004, according to the CIA World Fact book.