China launches national remote learning platforms for students

From Monday, China’s national cloud learning platform will provide learning materials for students in junior and senior high school. Photo: Shutterstock

With schools in China remaining closed due to the coronavirus outbreak, China has launched a national online learning platform and started broadcasting primary school classes on public TV to help 180 million students “keep learning even with classes suspended”.

• A new national cloud learning platform will provide junior and senior high school students with study resources online

• At the same time, educational content will be broadcast on national TV for primary school students

From Monday, a national cloud learning platform will provide learning materials for students in junior and senior high school, according to a statement by the Ministry of Education (MOE). The e-learning platform is meant to provide resources for students but not to replace classroom learning, the ministry said, urging educators and parents to continue guiding students.

At the same time, classes for primary school students will be broadcast on state-broadcaster CCTV’s China Education Television Channel 4. 

The division of learning platforms for different levels of students is to limit the time primary school students spend online and “protect the students’ eyesight”, as well as prevent network congestion from too many students going online at the same time, the MOE said in the statement.

The move toward remote learning comes as schools have postponed the upcoming spring semester until further notice. Chinese authorities have encouraged people to stay at home to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus through human-to-human contact.

Education is just one of many examples where everyday life has changed for many Chinese people because of the outbreak, with more preferring to do things online than offline, such as grocery shopping, health checks, web-conferencing and gaming.

On the national cloud learning platform, 169 lessons were introduced for the first week, covering 12 subjects for junior and senior high school based on the national curriculum, according to CCTV News. The national broadcaster added that the materials will be supplemented by key teachers from Beijing and other cities as needed.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology also roped in the three major telecommunications operators – China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom – and tech companies including Baidu, Alibaba and Huawei to back up the e-learning platform with 7,000 servers and 90 terabytes of bandwidth. This is to ensure that it can run smoothly with up to 50 million students using it at the same time, CCTV reported.

The health crisis has put the spotlight on China’s online education market, which grew 25.7 per cent year-on-year in 2018 to 251.7 billion yuan (US$35.9 billion), according to iResearch Consulting Group. The previous forecast of annual growth of between 16 per cent to 24 per cent in the subsequent three to five years may now need to be revised upwards, the research firm said.

Before the launch of the national cloud learning platform, Chinese tech companies including Alibaba, Tencent and Huawei also stepped forward to offer free online classes for students of different levels in light of the school closures and outbreak situation.

Here are some of the latest China apps and platforms people are using to combat the coronavirus

China’s tech companies are introducing even more new features and platforms to provide accurate information to users and help in outbreak containment efforts. Photo: EPA-EFE

As the deadly coronavirus that causes the illness Covid-19 continues to sweep across China, China tech companies are introducing even more new features and platforms to provide accurate information to users and help in outbreak containment efforts.Here is a round-up of some of the latest apps and online services introduced in response to the epidemic:

1. Apps to check if you’ve come into close contact with infected people

Chinese authorities co-launched a platform called the “close contact detector” this week. The platform can detect if someone has had close contact with a person confirmed or suspected to have been infected in the recent past. It uses big data on the movement of people and records from public authorities to see if they have within the last two weeks worked, lived, or travelled with a person confirmed or suspected to have the virus.

Qihoo 360 and NoSugar Tech also introduced a similar AI-based platform that lets users check if they have recently travelled with someone who contracted the new coronavirus.

2. Weeding out counterfeit masks and profiteering online merchants

Chinese electronic retailer and e-commerce giant Suning.com launched a new program on its shopping app last week that enables users to access information about facial mask manufacturers before they make purchases online to avoid counterfeit masks and profiteering merchants.

Pinduoduo also rolled out a new social feature, Circle of Trust, that helps users share information and recommendations about the products they have bought or plan to buy, such as surgical masks. Users can comment on their friends’ feeds, ask questions about the products, and invite recommendations by putting out appeals to their social circles, according to a Pinduoduo press release.

3. Online learning for students stuck at home

Schools in China are embracing online learning as academic semesters are postponed due to the outbreak, forcing students to stay at home. Tech giants Alibaba (the parent company of the South China Morning Post ), Tencent and Huawei are all offering free online classes for students of different levels during this period.

The free online learning services include Alibaba’s DingTalk homeschool programme, Tencent Classroom and Huawei Cloud Classroom.

4. Fever detection systems

National AI champions Megvii and Baidu have introduced remote fever detection systems that can measure a moving person’s temperature in a crowd.

Megvii’s remote fever detection system can measure a person’s temperature in a crowd at a distance of up to five metres. The system was designed to work through masks and hats worn by people, with a margin of error within 0.3 degrees Celsius, according to the company. Baidu’s screening system, meanwhile, can detect the temperature of masked people on the move, with a margin of error within 0.05 degrees Celsius.

5. Tracking virus cases in real-time

Chinese search giant Baidu released an epidemic map on the Baidu Map app that shows the location of confirmed and suspected cases of the deadly infection in real-time, making it easier for people to avoid areas where the new coronavirus has spread.

Other companies including Tencent have launched similar platforms for locating confirmed coronavirus cases.

6. Free online doctor consultations

Baidu has launched a free online doctor consultation platform to the public to handle pneumonia-related questions. By encouraging people with minor illnesses to consult doctors online, this platform aims to ease panic among people and save hospitals from overcrowded situations.

Ping An Healthcare and Technology, also known as Ping An Good Doctor, is also providing free online and telephone consultations to people concerned about catching the deadly virus.

7. AI chatbots to conduct surveys, provide information

AISpeech announced that its AI chatbots, which can make automated calls to people and record their responses, would be free of charge for governments, medical institutions and charities to use for outbreak control efforts. The robot calling system enables organisations to reach out to a large number of people to survey their recent travel history and record their responses, and give recommendations for quarantine or information about the new coronavirus situation based on their responses.

Alibaba’s research institute Damo Academy also developed an AI-powered public health service tool to provide information related to the virus. The system can provide answers to various questions using information released by authorities, such as the location of nearby hospitals or how to choose a medically-approved face mask.

Source: SCMP, By Sarah Dai &Minhe Hu in Beijing

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