Dr. Jim Brown, associate professor of history, is spending 2 months teaching and advising in northeastern Thailand. He is teaching English and computers to novices at the Wat Pratatwitthaya Buddhist temple in Nong Khai, on the Mekong river border with Laos. The school’s students are boys from mostly poor ethnically Lao families throughout the Issan region. Brown is working with English and computer teachers at the school to develop computer-assisted learning techniques that combine English and computing and to upgrade their website.
Dr. Brown is also visiting village schools in the area and holding workshops for teachers and volunteers. In addition he is working with Openmind Projects, the sponsoring Thai organization, to develop new teaching methods enabling volunteers to work more closely with local teachers.