Online school classes to cater for pandemic will remain

Shanghai’s educational authorities will continue video recording classes next semester to create a complete set of online classes for primary and secondary school students which will be available to the public for free.

The decision was announced on Sunday by Wang Ping, the new director of the Shanghai Education Commission.

According to Wang, the commission has organized more than 1,000 outstanding teachers from across the city to produce 5,000 online classes for students of Grade 1-12, covering all courses they are taught in school. They were broadcast on TV and the Internet as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The classes were watched by about 1.5 million students not only in the city, but also around the country and the world.

Wang said the teachers had formed four groups to design, prepare, teach and review the classes to ensure the quality of the largest ever online teaching resource.

“The practices have provided valuable preferences for promoting balanced educational materials and reforming teaching approaches,” said Wang. 

“The classes of outstanding teachers have been shared by all the students. Meanwhile, both teachers and students have improved their capabilities in using modern information technologies and made their communication more interesting, making students more active in interacting with teachers. All teachers now can use the classes as resources in their own teaching, while students can also use the resources for individualized learning.”

He said the commission will continue producing online classes in autumn to create a complete set of outstanding online classes and open them to the public for free.

“We will transfer challenges and experience into driving forces for the modernization of education to promote the integration of technologies with daily education,” he said.

Wang also said students might face limited offline activities in the coming summer vacation due to the pandemic. But the commission has joined hands with other government departments to organize plenty of online and offline projects, such as painting, stamp collecting, singing, reading and drama performance, to ensure students spend a safe, healthy, happy and meaningful summer vacation.

The China Welfare Institute Children’s Palace has worked with about 300 schools to provide online classes for students. Thirty-five vocational schools have also offered 72 online activities for students to experience different professions. 

Communities around the city have designed more than 500 activities. The commission has also encouraged libraries, museums and cultural venues to provide admission plans for families with adolescents during the summer vacation.