BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- "Amazing!" On January 9, the CES, the world's largest consumer electronics show, opened in Las Vegas. At the booth of Xueersi, a subsidiary of China's TAL Education Group, the newly released learning machine xPad Pro attracted many foreign guests. The most popular learning interaction comes from "Mobby Loves Writing," which teaches Chinese characters through air gesture interaction. In just over 10 seconds, even foreign friends with zero foundation can write the characters for their Chinese zodiac animals by hand.
Using AI to create "smart classrooms anytime, anywhere," TAL Education showcased the results of integrating technology and education at the CES. In recent years, TAL Education has joined hands with UNESCO to jointly implement the "Artificial Intelligence and the Futures of Learning" plan, which has been promoted to the world as the "Chinese solution" for AI+education.
Implementing "Artificial Intelligence and the Futures of Learning"
On April 8, 2019, at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, UNESCO and TAL Education signed a three-year strategic cooperation agreement to jointly implement the "Artificial Intelligence and the Futures of Learning" plan to help education development. UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education Stefania Giannini and a senior executive of TAL Education attended the signing ceremony.
"Science and technology and AI are key drivers for the development of education and hot topics in today's world," Giannini said at the signing ceremony. "UNESCO highly values and expects the strategic cooperation with Chinese companies so that the two sides can work together to explore the development of AI technology for education."
The senior executive of TAL Education said that with the strategic cooperation with UNESCO, TAL Education hopes to push the boundaries of "technology+education" in the future and absorb more frontier technologies to promote the integration of education with innovative technologies, thus fulfilling TAL Education's mission to advance education through science and technology.
More than a year later, in December 2020, TAL Education continued to extend its funding areas, and Xueersi will support UNESCO to establish an open online learning system based on internet and AI technologies with crisis response capabilities globally. The two parties will also work together to bring China's online education development experience to sub-Saharan African countries and other developing countries.
Since the project's implementation, TAL Education has developed the "WISROOM Xueersi smart classroom solution," organized a series of discussion meetings around "Artificial Intelligence and the Futures of Learning" involving governments, research institutions and enterprises, and formed a series of research results such as "AI and education: Guidance for policy-makers" and "K-12 AI curricula: A mapping of government-endorsed AI curricula." The project results will also be applicable to all UNESCO member states.
The photo shows one of the project outcomes: "K-12 AI curricula: A mapping of government-endorsed AI curricula." (Provided by the project team)
"UNESCO is committed to promoting quality educational resources worldwide. By connecting with educational forces like TAL Education, we aim to improve the global educational landscape and ecosystem, and enhance the overall educational standards and quality of member states," said Giannini.
Advancing Digital Transformation in Education
As a specialized international organization under the United Nations responsible for science and technology, UNESCO has become a pioneer and pacesetter of global AI governance. In recent years, China has actively collaborated with UNESCO, engaging in the wave of AI and making significant contributions to the international governance and application of AI.
In September 2023, UNESCO's annual event in the field of digital learning, "Digital Learning Week," kicked off at its headquarters in Paris. Upholding the vision of "promoting education through technology," Digital Learning Week focused on the impact of digital learning platforms and generative AI on education. The event aimed to drive digital innovation in higher education in the digital age, promote cross-sector cooperation, and build a more inclusive and sustainable educational system.
TAL CTO Tian Mi delivers a keynote speech at the main forum of "Digital Learning Week." (Provided by TAL)
Tian Mi, CTO of TAL Education, delivered a keynote speech titled "Achieving Large-Scale Personalized Learning with LLM (Large Language Model) Technology." Tian introduced the latest developments in the MathGPT developed by Xueersi and shared how Xueersi plans to use LLM technology to achieve large-scale personalized learning. He also revealed the upcoming launch of the AI Tutor, a product-level application based on the MathGPT model.
In September 2023, UNESCO officials and TAL representatives pose for a group photo. (Provided by TAL)
"All citizens need to have a certain level of AI capability. This includes the knowledge, understanding, skills and values required for "AI competency" — the fundamental grammar of our century," said Giannini.
"TAL will continue to invest more resources to contribute significantly to the application of AI and other cutting-edge technologies in the education sector globally," said Wei Chen, executive president of TAL Education.
Enhancing Competency Enlightenment with Science
Today, many countries regard "core competencies" as the gene for national education development. Typical components of competency education include reading, mathematical and scientific competencies, as mentioned in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Xueersi has created the Mobby Thinking Machine, allowing children to gradually establish a complete thinking training system while playing games.
In January 2024, international guests at the CES experience the "source learning method" of the Mobby Thinking Machine. (Provided by TAL)
"The growth and innovation potential of global educational technology is enormous. I find the most exciting educational innovations in China," said Christina Thoresen, director of Worldwide Education Industry Strategy at Microsoft, at this year's CES. "Microsoft's mission is to empower individuals and organizations for lifelong growth, which aligns with Xueersi's philosophy. We look forward to further collaboration, using technology to empower education and benefit more learners."
According to TAL Education, China's rapid development in recent years has transformed the familiar term "Made in China" into "Created in China." Chinese education is set to become an indispensable force in global education. (Gao Shaohua)
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