The 2024 World Digital Education Conference, held in Shanghai from January 29 to 31, sheds light on China's remarkable progress in digital education.

An all-encompassing platform

China has significantly intensified its efforts to foster the development of global digital education and international collaboration in online education. It has established the world's largest library of education and training resources, known as Smart Education of China (smartedu.cn).

Launched in 2020, this platform caters to all levels of education, offering a vast array of resources:

- 88,000 online resources for basic education

- Over 10,000 online courses for vocational education

- 27,000 Massive Open Online Courses for higher education

Linking to all 519,000 educational institutions in China, it covers 18.8 million full-time teachers, 293 million on-campus students, and learners from over 200 countries and regions worldwide. By the end of 2023, it amassed over 100 million registered users, generating 36.7 billion page views from 2.5 billion visits. 

The platform played a pivotal role in digitalizing teacher training, engaging nearly 16 million teachers in a Ministry of Education program during the 2023 summer vacation.

In 2023, 17.55 million job vacancies for 2023 college graduates were released through the platform, and nearly one-third of college graduates have secured employment through channels associated with the platform

Balanced educational resources

Digital education has ushered in more equitable opportunities for students across regions and stages.

In less developed areas like Jingheyuan town in Northwest China’s Ningxia Hui autonomous region, primary school students participate in high-quality classes through interactive online sessions. This inclusivity has transformed Ningxia, which used to suffer from significant urban-rural school disparities.

The digitalization of education in Ningxia has opened new avenues for high-quality development, making the dream of having a good education accessible to all.

In higher education, the scope of high-quality course resources has expanded. In a remarkable online experiment, students at Shihezi University in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region successfully controlled equipment in a lab at Xidian University in Northwest China’s Shaanxi province, 2,600 kilometers away.

This was part of the "MOOC to the West" project, which provides online courses to college students in China's vast landlocked western regions and has delivered 198,000 MOOCs and customized courses, engaging 540 million students.

In vocational education, digitalization has accelerated improvements in education quality. Zhejiang Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering leverages virtual technology to simulate real scenarios, enhancing the practical learning experience.

By 2025, China aims to complete around 200 national demonstration training bases, driving the construction of about 1,000 such bases across the country.

Global impact

With users from over 200 countries and regions, Smart Education of China received the 2022 UNESCO ICT in Education prize. UNESCO Assistant Director-General Stefania Giannini praised it as an outstanding initiative for universal access to digital learning platforms.

The international version of the platform was launched at the 2024 World Digital Education Conference, which also saw the inauguration of the World Digital Education Alliance. Currently, 104 institutions from 41 countries and regions are part of the alliance.

Initiated by Tsinghua University in 2020, the Global MOOC and Online Education Conference serves as a key platform for exchanges. The alliance, the first multilateral international organization in digital higher education, boasts 341 global courses and nearly 25.4 million learners. 

A total of 88 Chinese universities have provided nearly 300 high-quality MOOCs to over 3,000 higher education institutions in Indonesia.

Source: China Education Daily