Under the leadership of Beijing Municipal Education Commission, the Advanced Innovation Center for Future Education (AICFE) at Beijing Normal University has launched, jointly with Tongzhou District, the project called “‘Internet +’ Deepens Comprehensive Education Reform in Tongzhou District.” The project employs new information technologies such as mobile Internet, big data, cloud computing, and more to boost the development and education of Tongzhou District as the sub-center of Beijing.
Leaders from Beijing Municipal Committee and Beijing Municipal Education Commission have visited AICFE many times since the establishment. Their visits give guidance on the basic ideas of comprehensive education reform in Beijing, technical research and development, organization and implementation, and the attraction of talented individuals to keep the project on track. At present, AICFE has made substantial progress in research and implementation, such as diagnostic and analytical tools for subjects, educational data mining, organizing and developing high-quality education resources, personalized recommendations for learning resources, online and offline teaching services, maps of education resources, problem-solving ability assessment, personal traits evaluation, and more. In addition, the Smart Learning Partner (SLP) system has been successfully developed, which supports all of the research and applications.
The pilot project in Tongzhou is to solve the educational problems by using Internet and big data as approaches to deepen comprehensive education reform in Tongzhou. To meet the needs of reform in examination and admission systems, curriculum and textbook, subject teaching and other aspects of education, AICFE has researched and developed smart public education services platforms based on big data, and drafted the “‘Internet+’ Deepen Comprehensive Education Reform in Tongzhou District Scheme.” The project tasks are as follows:
1. Evaluate 7th and 8th graders’ abilities in different subjects; evaluate all junior high school students’ overall competences Tongzhou District; diagnose and track learning problems and strengths.
2. Organize rich teaching and learning resources (including online teachers and materials in different subjects) on the smart platform to provide tailored teaching services for students, which are based on the analysis of students’ performances at different levels and in different subjects.
3. Launch and implement the pilot project “Beijing Secondary School Teachers’ Open Online Teaching” to encourage secondary school teachers to share their own teaching resources autonomously; provide online teaching services to 7th and 8th graders in Tongzhou District to allow choice in what and when to learn through one-on-one synchronous tutoring; and enable students to enjoy tailored, personalized, and differentiated online education services.
4. AICFE plays an influential and leading role in designing and conducting teaching and research activities jointly with the teacher training centers and secondary schools in Tongzhou District. AICFE also provides analysis, guidance and services to deepen reforms in examinations and admissions, curriculum and textbooks, and subject education.
In order to adapt to the new requirements of the reformed senior high school and college entrance examinations, the project will:
1. Promote the educational development of Tongzhou District as the sub-center of Beijing by: supporting the overall educational development in Tongzhou District by utilizing information technologies, making Tongzhou the precursor of Beijing’s education reform; introducing high-quality intellectual resources through the Internet to achieve rapid development of teaching and learning quality in the district as a whole; and achieving supply-side reform in education.
2. Transform comprehensive education reform in Tongzhou from concept to reality: on the basis of assessments to analyze teaching effectiveness in schools and propose improvement projects; by demonstrating in-depth integration of information technologies and curriculum in schools; and promoting high-quality cases in comprehensive education reform.
3. Facilitate student development in personalized and strength-based education: analyzing students’ competences and abilities in different subjects to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses in academic performance; providing students with one-on-one online teachers and peers; and preparing them for the senior high school entrance examination.
4. Help teachers adjust to personalized teaching and learning encouraged by comprehensive education reform: with the help of big data analysis tools, teachers can teach accurately, find out students’ strengths, and deal with students’ learning problems; and improve teaching and learning in classrooms while understanding comprehensive education reform.
5. Help parents know their children’s performance dynamically: report on academic performance and personal traits to help parents understand their children’s strengths and weaknesses in different subjects and their personality, which are references for parents notice; support children’s interests; and relieve parents’ anxiety when children are at schools, leading parents to focus on their child’s well-being.
