According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, more than 400,000 elementary and secondary schools in China have faced the threat of closure in the past two decades, due to their geographically remote locations and limited educational resources. Twenty years after China's national education reform, however, rural schools are undergoing a change for the better. Local school enrollment rates have improved through the adoption of online learning models.
There are about 140,000 rural schools in China currently with fewer than 200 students. Many of these schools are choosing to embrace online education, and actively collaborate with the Hu+ (Hujia - editor's note: '+' is 'jia' or 加 in Mandarin) Project, a K-12 educational charity programme launched by Hujiang EdTech, an online education company in China, to address falling enrollment numbers, severe teacher shortages, and a lack of resources to properly deliver their curriculums in rural schools.
Hujiang EdTech aims to make education easier, fairer and more enjoyable through the Internet. As of July 2016, the company has more than 110 million users, over 20,000 courses in 11 languages* and partnerships with over 500 schools and organisations.
There are about 140,000 rural schools in China currently with fewer than 200 students. Many of these schools are choosing to embrace online education, and actively collaborate with the Hu+ (Hujia - editor's note: '+' is 'jia' or 加 in Mandarin) Project, a K-12 educational charity programme launched by Hujiang EdTech, an online education company in China, to address falling enrollment numbers, severe teacher shortages, and a lack of resources to properly deliver their curriculums in rural schools.
Hujiang EdTech aims to make education easier, fairer and more enjoyable through the Internet. As of July 2016, the company has more than 110 million users, over 20,000 courses in 11 languages* and partnerships with over 500 schools and organisations.
Its Hu+ project provides online education tools and other resources free
of charge to elementary and middle schools in rural and underdeveloped
areas in China, and helps them develop innovative online curriculums. The result is that the students enjoy diversified and multifunctional
online classes, while teachers are trained to use novel methods to deliver
their lessons online.
Xindian Elementary School, located in Yibin prefecture, Sichuan Province, which has 16 students and three teachers. Zou Changjiang, a teacher from Xindian Elementary School, has been involved with the Hu+ Project since October 2015. Like most traditional rural teachers, Zou found it difficult to teach using modern technologies. He is now able to teach using online curriculums and even introduce the Hu+ Project to other new teachers.
After using the online model, his students became more confident and talkative. "Online courses can provide us with more learning materials for children who lack educational resources," Zou said. "Even teachers like ourselves, are able to learn from teachers in big cities and grow together."
Beijiao elementary school, in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, 125 miles from China's eastern metropolis, Shanghai, recently explored a new way to provide more courses for its students. The school has been using crowdfunding to purchase online courses, aiming to provide better educational resources for its students. As school funds are limited, both the school and parents share the costs of these courses.
Crowdfunding has been popular in China for doing business on e-commerce platforms. Products and services are often available at significantly reduced rates once a minimum number of customers choose to buy them.
Xindian Elementary School, located in Yibin prefecture, Sichuan Province, which has 16 students and three teachers. Zou Changjiang, a teacher from Xindian Elementary School, has been involved with the Hu+ Project since October 2015. Like most traditional rural teachers, Zou found it difficult to teach using modern technologies. He is now able to teach using online curriculums and even introduce the Hu+ Project to other new teachers.
After using the online model, his students became more confident and talkative. "Online courses can provide us with more learning materials for children who lack educational resources," Zou said. "Even teachers like ourselves, are able to learn from teachers in big cities and grow together."
Beijiao elementary school, in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, 125 miles from China's eastern metropolis, Shanghai, recently explored a new way to provide more courses for its students. The school has been using crowdfunding to purchase online courses, aiming to provide better educational resources for its students. As school funds are limited, both the school and parents share the costs of these courses.
Crowdfunding has been popular in China for doing business on e-commerce platforms. Products and services are often available at significantly reduced rates once a minimum number of customers choose to buy them.
All of these courses are supported by CCtalk, a real-time interactive educational platform from Hujiang EdTech. Although some parents doubted its feasibility at first, most have welcomed the idea as children have responded positively to the courses.
In Sichuan Province, Liangshuijing Middle School started on the Hu+ Project in September 2015. Students received access to high-quality online art courses, and school activities are livestreamed via CCtalk. Teachers and students can also share their progress through Hujiang EdTech's online learning community. As a result, half of the students passed the local senior entrance examination and were admitted to prestigious senior high schools in 2016. The remote school even attracted students from nearby cities.
In July 2016, Yue Yingchun, a director of Global Teaching Centers in Hujiang EdTech, said that her vision for Hujiang global teaching centers in five years' time would be an eco-educational global society online and offline. All levels of educational professionals can offer their expertise that will be equally valued by net learners and customers.
"My mission is to bring the world's top learning resources onto Hujiang's platform and to introduce teachers with different languages, cultures, education and experience to China's e-learners," Yue explained at the time.
"Furthermore, what makes Hujiang stand out is the variety - Hujiang has over 110 million users, including 89 million mobile subscribers with all kinds of learning needs, which is rarely shouldered by any educational company; the technology - our constantly upgrading teaching tool CC Talk supports one-to-one highly interactive classes as well as lectures that can accommodate over 20,000 students in the same classroom; and the ecosystem Hujiang does not walk alone. It builds a strong ecosystem of online-to-offline education. We are partners with the world's top educational organisations such as Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, McGraw-Hill, Coursera and so on. Our Hu+ Project has connected to more than 500 public schools for free courses."
*English, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, German, Korean, French and Thai, with English being the most popular.
posted from Bloggeroid
In Sichuan Province, Liangshuijing Middle School started on the Hu+ Project in September 2015. Students received access to high-quality online art courses, and school activities are livestreamed via CCtalk. Teachers and students can also share their progress through Hujiang EdTech's online learning community. As a result, half of the students passed the local senior entrance examination and were admitted to prestigious senior high schools in 2016. The remote school even attracted students from nearby cities.
In July 2016, Yue Yingchun, a director of Global Teaching Centers in Hujiang EdTech, said that her vision for Hujiang global teaching centers in five years' time would be an eco-educational global society online and offline. All levels of educational professionals can offer their expertise that will be equally valued by net learners and customers.
"My mission is to bring the world's top learning resources onto Hujiang's platform and to introduce teachers with different languages, cultures, education and experience to China's e-learners," Yue explained at the time.
"Furthermore, what makes Hujiang stand out is the variety - Hujiang has over 110 million users, including 89 million mobile subscribers with all kinds of learning needs, which is rarely shouldered by any educational company; the technology - our constantly upgrading teaching tool CC Talk supports one-to-one highly interactive classes as well as lectures that can accommodate over 20,000 students in the same classroom; and the ecosystem Hujiang does not walk alone. It builds a strong ecosystem of online-to-offline education. We are partners with the world's top educational organisations such as Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, McGraw-Hill, Coursera and so on. Our Hu+ Project has connected to more than 500 public schools for free courses."
*English, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, German, Korean, French and Thai, with English being the most popular.
posted from Bloggeroid
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