Innovative Practices in China's Smart Education: Ushering in a New Stage

This book presents 36 case studies selected from over 1,000 cases collected via the “2024 Smart Education Outstanding Cases” solicitation initiative. This initiative was launched by the “Smart Education Demonstration Zone” expert group secretariat, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education’s Education Informatization Strategic Research Bases (Beijing, Central China, and Northwest regions). The various chapters are categorized into regional development, school practices, solution-oriented approaches, and research outcomes. This book explores themes such as sustainable development mechanisms for regional smart education, regional education public service systems, integrated application of smart education platforms, digitalization development and governance in education, new infrastructures for education and smart learning environments, enhancement and assessment of teachers’ and students’ digital literacy, application of the National Smart Education Platform, new teaching models, application of digital teaching tools, as well as smart classrooms. The selection and evaluation criteria for these case studies include concept and implementation, effectiveness and characteristics, innovation and demonstration, and expression and structure. This book serves as a useful reference for researchers, educators, policymakers, and school administrators across the globe who are interested to learn more about China’s smart education experience.

Mr. Changshan Ren is the director of the Education Informatization and Network Security Department, Department of Science, Technology and Information Technology, Ministry of Education of China. He is also a doctoral candidate in Peking University, China.

Dr. Dejian Liu is the founder and chairman of NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited, and serves as a co-dean of the Smart Learning Institute and the National Engineering Research Center for Big Data Application in Education at Beijing Normal University, China. He is also a member of the Governing Board of the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE). As a contributor to China’s National Smart Education Platform, Dr. Liu has driven technological innovations aimed at enhancing educational equity. He has played a pivotal role in global education initiatives under UNESCO and the Belt and Road Initiative, with impacts felt across Africa, the Middle East, and The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). 

Dr. Haijun Zeng is the vice dean of the Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University, the deputy director of the Educational Informatization Strategy Research Base (Beijing) of the Ministry of Education, and the deputy director of the National Engineering Research Center of Cyberlearning and Intelligent Technology, China. His main research interests are in online education and Digital Learning Support (DLS) service systems.

Dr. Jianjiang Hao is an associate professor and master’s supervisor at the School of Educational Technology, Northwest Normal University, China. His research areas include educational applications of intelligent technologies, digital rural education, educational digitization planning, and integration of information technology with curriculum. He has chaired or participated in numerous national, provincial, and other various level projects, and authored multiple academic publications.

Dr. Xiaorong Yu is an associate professor at the Faculty of Artificial Intelligence in Education, Central China Normal University. Her research focuses on education digitalization policy and evaluation, application and assessment of digital educational resources, and international comparative studies of education digitalization development. Dr. Yu has participated in more than ten provincial and ministerial level projects, and has also participated in the preparation of the 'China Education Informatization Development Report’ series as a key member for more than 10 consecutive years. She has also published a total of more than 20 papers in high-level journals.

Ms. Zhuo Zhang is a project manager of the National Engineering Research Center of Cyberlearning and Intelligent Technology at Beijing Normal University. Her main research interests include smart education and the application of artificial intelligence in education.