Educational reforms embrace ChatGPT and new technology

A Shanghai education official said people should respond calmly to changes brought about by new technology during a radio program on Thursday.

"Digital education is an import part in the digital transformation of the city, and has helped in the improvement of educational quality," said Zhou Yaming, director of the Shanghai Education Commission.

Shanghai in 2021 launched a three-year action plan for digital transformation in education, and a five-year strategy in implementing the nation's educational digitization ambition. It triggered the acceleration of digitally empowered education, such as digital teaching systems in primary and secondary schools, with digital assistants for teachers in terms of preparation, class delivery, homework design, review and individualized tutoring.

Zhou said these applications have been in trial in more than 300 schools in the city, helping improve education and learning efficiency and quality.

When asked about the impact of ChatGPT, he encouraged people to research it and make it a useful tool that serves education.

"Obviously, ChatGPT has shown great educational impact," he said. "It's so powerful that some people equated it to a nuclear weapon emerging during the cold-weapon era. But I don't think educators should sidestep or reject ChatGPT because AI is here to stay."

He said educators and schools should stick to their original mission to cultivate people regardless of how technology develops, and they should integrate technology with education to improve educational quality and expand the coverage of quality education resources.

"New technologies will definitely bring changes in teaching approaches," he said. "But we don't have to fear the changes.

"Teachers and schools should actively research the new technologies and absorb them, while calmly and confidently carrying out reforms in teaching, assessment and management, using them for educational purposes."

He said local authorities are also considering adjustments on education in local schools given changes brought by new technologies.

"There are new issues that previous education approaches cannot solve," he said. "AI technologies, such as ChatGPT are both tools and targets for research."

During the radio program, Zhou also said that the city will enhance supply of childcare services in kindergartens to meet increasing demand from local families.

He said about 1,000 local kindergartens, or 60 percent of the total, have nurseries for children under 3 years old, and the city will add at least of 2,000 nursing classes in public kindergartens within the year.

More community-based childcare facilities called "Baby Houses" will be built to benefit families in need of temporarily care for their children.

"Based on the trial last year, the 'Baby House' program will expand to all districts citywide this year, adding at least 3,200 spots," he said.

According to a plan released earlier, the city aims to increase the supply of childcare spots from 2.12 per 1,000 residents to 4.5 per 1,000 by 2025.