Online classes mark fresh start for spring semester

As schools across the country delay the opening of the spring semester in an effort to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, education platforms are providing free online courses to students.

Following the government's suggestion to avoid congregating in crowded places, schools nationwide have asked students to quarantine themselves at home from the risk of infection until further notice.

The novel coronavirus first emerged in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province. It has infected 72,530 people and killed 1,870 across the country as of Feb 18, the latest official data shows.

"We are coordinating and integrating national and regional teaching resources to guarantee online education for students nationwide," Chen Baosheng, minister of education, said at a recent news conference. China has about 280 million students ranging from kindergarten to universities.

On Feb 17, a national class program opened on the National Public Service Platform for Educational Resources to students in all primary and secondary schools, according to the ministry.

For college students, the ministry issued an open letter which suggests they learn and study via the internet while at home.

The hashtag "School suspension doesn't stop studying" has been viewed more than 1 billion times on Sina Weibo.

According to the Ministry of Education, so far, there have been 22 online education platforms offering more than 24,000 college courses for free. They cover 12 undergraduate disciplines and 18 majors in polytechnic and vocational education. Many of them are for-college-credit programs.

One such platform is Umoocs. Covering studies of 10 languages, including Chinese, English, Spanish, Russian and German, Umoocs will open nearly 130 courses.

Its operator, Waiyan Online, a foreign language studying and research server in Beijing, is opening access to its key platforms and apps during the epidemic for free-Ucampus, Uclass, Umoocs, Ulearn, Utalk, iTest and iWrite－to provide online foreign language education to college students and teachers.

"Responding to the Education Ministry's initiative, Waiyan Online supported by the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press started offering online solutions for students and teachers on campus targeting foreign language teaching and learning from Jan 30," says Shang Qikun, CEO of Waiyan Online.

"From Feb 1 to 5, we received nearly 2 million visits, about a 12-fold increase year-on-year, according to the platform."

During the five days, more than 200,000 users studied for a total of 14,423 hours on Ucampus, a platform with its app that supports college education.

Ucampus aims to guarantee support for both college students and teachers from Feb 17 when most colleges were expected to hold their first lessons of the spring semester.

"We estimate that the number of daily active users of Ucampus will reach more than 1 million after the semester opens online," Shang says.

A training course for teachers was launched on Feb 14. Through the platform, teachers can send assignments, answer questions and revise homework.

Ucampus has more than 2.6 million students registered and about 16,800 teachers from more than 1,000 colleges registered. The number is still growing dramatically, according to Shang.

An online consultation team was established to service users 15 hours a day for seven days a week.

"During the peak time in March and April, about 500,000 users are expected to visit the platform daily, serving more than 1,200 colleges and universities across the country," Shang says.

He adds that a joint action team was set up to meet the diversified demand from different schools.

Facing the surge in visits in the coming months, he admits that it means huge operating costs in maintenance and technology support for the company.

"Despite the difficulties, as an education company, we have our duty to the country," Shang says. "We want to join students and teachers and offer our own contribution to the fight against the epidemic."

With the new semester around corner, students and teachers across the country are preparing for a special start online.

Some teachers, however, expressed doubts about the effectiveness of teaching online.

"For me, online classes are less interactive than in real classroom. You cannot have eye contact with students," says Li Ding, a college English teacher in Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning province.

"But under these special circumstances, something is better than nothing," Li adds.

In China, there are two breaks for schools in a year. The winter break, lasting at least one month, usually comes around the weeklong Spring Festival holiday, allowing students to reunite with their families for Spring Festival.

In a bid to control the novel coronavirus outbreak, the State Council, China's Cabinet, extended the national holiday until Feb 2. Local authorities in parts of the country, including East China's Zhejiang province and Shanghai, said companies were not allowed to resume operations before Feb 9.

Industry experts estimate that due to this special period, the convergence of online and offline education sectors will be accelerated.

To expand presence in the market, more than 80 education companies, such as Zuoyebang, Youdao and VIPkid, are reported to have offered free courses online.

Many universities and institutions have also livestreamed lessons.

From Feb 3, Tsinghua University livestreamed open classes on videosharing site Douyin, known as Tik-Tok overseas, covering topics of international relationships, public speaking, traditional culture, interpersonal relations and dance appreciation.

The open class on Feb 5 lectured by Yan Xuetong, director of the Institute of International Studies at Tsinghua University, attracted about 160,000 viewers. From the outbreak to the reaction from the international community, Yan analyzed the basic principles of international relations.

On Feb 5, Peking University also released its open class schedule on Douyin.