MOE Addresses E-Learning and Curbing the Spread of COVID-19

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Due to the outbreak of the COVID19 coronavirus, China’s Ministry of Education (MOE) issued a statement that encourages schools to use online platforms to continue teaching until the postponed onsite semester starts. A number of schools in China have since turned to online learning as a method of teaching, and to minimize human to human interaction. Meanwhile however, some problems have already begun to occur such as, “How to prevent children from staring at the screen for a long time?” and “How to manage an exponential rise in Internet traffic?”  

On Feb 11, MOE spoke to some of those concerns.

Online classes aren’t solely for academic purposes

Online learning does not have to be so focused on academia. Schools could also combine study of the national curriculum with the study of epidemic prevention knowledge, strengthen public safety education, and mental health education.

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It’s not mandatory for teachers to record their lectures

To make full use of the existing high-quality online course resources, if necessary, the Department of Education can organize a small number of excellent “backbone” teachers to record some online courses and share those resources with other schools. Schools should carefully study and design courses that are clearly suitable for online learning, so as to prevent copying normal classroom teaching methods and arrangements. Teachers should not be forced to record online classes, otherwise it will be difficult to guarantee the quality, and also increase the burden of teachers.

Avoid overtime online studying

For lower grade students in primary schools, there is no specific study time requirement needed. As such, parents and students can decide accordingly. For higher-grade students, they should have a specific amount of time to study and avoid overtime online study. Likewise, students should not be forced to “clock in” online or upload learning videos every day. Online teaching activities in kindergartens are strictly prohibited.

Make a good transition to school teaching

MOE requests that when schools reopen and the new semester officially starts, to prevent the situation that online learning takes place of school classroom teaching completely, schools should undertake a survey and make an evaluation of the quality of students’ online learning, and curate teaching plans accordingly. In addition, schools should provide more support to students with learning difficulties and students/children of front-line personnel and rural left-behind children.

Guide to using “off-peak” time to conduct online learning

Due to the large demands of online learning in China, an increase in Internet traffic is inevitable. To ensure the normal operation of the network for online learning, local authorities should step up coordination with industry, schools, and information technology departments to seek support.

Stop offline training

Off-campus training institutions must, in accordance with the requirements of various localities, stop off-line training activities, so as to prevent the spread of the epidemic. Illegal behaviors such as exceeding standards, test-oriented, false publicity, and anxiety creation should be seriously investigated and dealt with.

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Photo: shangyexinzhi.com

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