Webinar looks into normalizing online education after COVID-19

Many schools and institutions were forced to temporarily shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and had to switch to online learning, giving rise to the question, will this new normal become normal after COVID-19? A webinar, "The Forum of Normalization of Online Education in the Post COVID-19 Era" was held jointly by the Research Institute of International Education South-South Cooperation and TopSchools, a consulting firm focusing on international education.

The pandemic acted as a catalyst for online education, engaging millions of teachers and students across the globe, Cen Jianjun, chairman of the Research Institute of International Education South-South Cooperation, said in his opening speech. He also noted that dominant pedagogy practice in China has changed profoundly ever since China's opening up and reform, shfiting from a teacher-centered approach towards a student-centered one. As China is making headway in educational infrastructure innovation and development, the country has a lot to offer in promoting online education, which also paves the path for the country to share its experience in its renowned K-12 school programs.

Ma Xiaoping, CEO of TopSchools, noted that online education has been pushed to the foreground by the pandemic, attracting much attention to the industry. He believes this attention will remain even after the lockdowns and that more research is needed to explore the best practices to maximize the potential of online education.

Guest speakers shared their observations and experiences in online teaching during the pandemic. Chen Zange, the president of Dalian Jiaohui Education, introduced the school's efforts to collaborate online teaching and offline teaching activities by asking students to take assessments on online learning, as well as helping teachers to document the practices they find useful during online teaching for future research and teacher training.

Xin Ying, president and board member of Tsinglan School, believes that online education won't be an alternative to traditional learning; instead, the new normal will be a combination of the two. In-class learning and teacher training will be crucial to incorporating online learning into traditional pedagogy.

Her view was echoed by Li Guibin, co-founder of Intelligent Learning, who pointed out that the adoption of "OMO", or "online merger offline"will light the fuse for the development of online education. Face-to-face interaction and bonding between teachers and students during this time is irreplaceable, Li said. Online learning platforms will focus on helping schools provide a more customized learning experience for students.

Wang Yapeng, director of Education Business Development at Microsoft China, said it is essential for technology platforms to be highly compatible with third-party applications to build an effective learning platform for its users. He believes online education requires collaboration among technology tools, using AI and big data to empower customized learning.

Xiao Huilin, deputy dean of the Research Institute of International Education South-South Cooperation, concluded that the end of the lockdowns is not the end of online education. A tight connection between technology and learning has been established and will continue to develop going forward.

The webinar was the second of a series of conferences dedicated to the theme "Educational Informationization", following its serial activities on "A Review of Education under the Influence of COVID-19".

Over 50 professionals, including directors of national education institutions, educators and experts from the R&D sector, attended the webinar, sharing best practices in online learning during the pandemic. Attendees also exchanged insights on how to improve current internet infrastructure to make online education a complementary tool during normal school operations, and to promote educational equality at home and abroad.