On June 15, 2020, China Central Television (CCTV) Focus Report program reported "Insights of Cloud Classroom", in which educational public service—inclusive online tutoring implemented by Advanced Innovation Center for Future Education (AICFE) won high praise. In coronavirus outbreak, the inclusive online tutoring recruits 14,000 excellent in-service teachers to provide free one-on-one Q&A for Grade 12 and Grade 9 students in Beijing to meet students' demands when learning from home. Students respond positively to this inclusive online tutoring, and then this service is provided to more students.
"According to statistics, by May 31, 4,997 Grade 9-12 students in Beijing had raised nearly 111,000 questions, and 1,724 teachers answered questions online, giving nearly 301,000 answers." The detailed data in the report proves that "students in rural and suburban areas are more active in online Q&A", and this service "alleviates the long-standing problem of balanced development of education to a certain extent", providing a positive education practice for "online and offline blended educational public service supply".
Figure 1: Guo Xiaoshan, Deputy Director of Integrated Application Laboratory, showing the inclusive online tutoring platform
Yu Shengquan, Executive Director of AICFE, said in the program, "during this process, we solve the problem that traditional face-to-face education suspended, meanwhile some new models of teaching and learning emerge, which are noteworthy for traditional education."
As mentioned in the report, "Although 'cloud classroom' started due to the epidemic, it not only solves the problem that school suspended, but also solves some old problems in traditional education, which inspires teaching in face-to-face classrooms. Challenges are opportunities, we find that 'cloud classroom' is no longer a contingency measure, but gradually become a new model of education. The new model of online and offline blended education will impact future classrooms, schools, and education".
Figure 2. Professor Yu Shengquan, Executive Director of AICFE, making suggestions for future education
The inclusive online tutoring to answer students' personalized questions online is based on "Smart Learning Partner" platform in the period that "suspend classes but not suspend learning". Qualified teachers in Beijing cross boundaries of schools and districts to meet students' demands through Internet and they become accessible for children even in rural and suburban areas at anytime and anywhere.
The inclusive online tutoring to answer students' questions online is one of the important tasks undertaken by AICFE to fulfill work requirements that "suspend classes but not suspend teaching and learning" by Beijing Education Commission. In addition, AICFE supports educational public service for different districts, levels, and roles in education system:
(1) Open Smart Learning Partner platform. AICFE provides free online teaching and learning resources, online diagnosis, evaluation, data analysis, interactive classroom, etc. Teachers in Beijing can use the platform to organize online teaching directly. Nationwide teachers can also use the platform by free application.
(2) Provide service to different regions. AICFE builds a new model of online teaching and researching for Tongzhou, Beijing. Supporting "cloud test" in Beijing. AICFE facilitates 5,699 students in Tongzhou and 3,058 students in Fangshan, Yanshan and Haidian taking tests online. Problems of online provision and implementation of the test are solved. At the same time, in Shanwei, Guangzhou and other pilot areas, AICFE provides guidance for online teaching and learning.
(3) Provide guidance on online education. AICFE organized "Cloud Forum of Future Education" to discuss theory, model and direction of basic education and higher education in and after the coronavirus outbreak. AICFE also provide teacher training courses on multiple platforms, such as China Education Television, Sina and Tik Tok, and topics range from "How to better organize online teaching and learning during the coronavirus outbreak" to "Common online education models and tools". High-quality teacher training courses are continuously uploaded to Smart Learning Partner platform to provide free resources for teachers to improve their online teaching ability. Last but not least, AICFE organized experts to write a series of original articles and compiles a resource index on "Online Teaching Ability Improvement". In general, AICFE has provided solid educational public service in various forms and ways.
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