Amid coronavirus outbreak, China resorts to online classes
What's the story
The outbreak of coronavirus has hit all aspects of daily life in China, including the education system. Schools have been shuttered and the semester, scheduled to begin from February 17, has been postponed indefinitely. Now, to make sure that kids keep learning even during this epidemic, China has resorted to providing online classes. Here's all about it.
Platform
National cloud learning project for broadcasting classes
As kids can't go to schools during the outbreak, the Chinese government has launched a national cloud learning project to broadcast classes through digital means. The effort requires middle and senior schools to establish an online curriculum, with the eventual goal of making sure that 180 million kids in the country "are occupied with the guided study at home."
Impact
Unified learning platform to study
To establish the learning system, the Advanced Innovation Center for Future Education of the Beijing Normal University has developed a platform that middle and senior school kids can open on a daily basis. It has 169 lessons covering 12 subjects for the first week, according to the national curriculum. Teachers have been assigned the task of updating the platform with new materials regularly.
Information
Platform carries provisions for assignments, class breaks
Notably, along with digital courseware, the platform also comes with the facility to give kids assignments and breaks which they can use to have lunch, learn, relax or interact with the class. The communication aspect is handled via WeChat and other platforms.
Primary lessons
Meanwhile, primary school lessons are being offered on TV
As for those studying in primary school, China will provide lessons via state TV channels. The details of this broadcast are not clear but the online effort has been backed by telcos China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom and tech giants like Huawei, Baidu, and Alibaba. Together, they will provide 90TB bandwidth and 7,000 servers to ensure 50 million kids can study simultaneously.