On June 27, Xueersi and Tencent Education held a cooperation signing ceremony in Beijing, and reached a deep cooperation on literacy products such as programming and science. This time, Xueersi will fully integrate its accumulated educational experience, teaching and research capabilities, and faculty strength with Tencent Education's technical capabilities and product advantages to jointly develop science literacy course products.

(Cooperation signing ceremony between Xuewesi and Tencent Education. Left to right in the second row: Tang Rui, Xueersi's national literacy business person in charge, and Yang Hui, General Manager of Tencent Education Enterprises)

Prominent figures such as Professor Liu Yong, the ambassador for space science popularization and chairman of the popularization committee of the Chinese Space Science Society, Dr. Jiao Dian, a scholar in neuroscience and educational innovation, Shi Mei, Vice President of Tencent Cloud and head of the education industry, Yang Fuguang, principal of Xueersi, Yang Hui, General Manager of Tencent Education Enterprises, Tang Rui, head of Xueersi's national literacy business, Zhang Shuai, director of Tencent Interactive Entertainment's youth business, and Sun Yifu, head of Xueersi Suyang Coding and programing, all attended the event.

The product is based on the Tencent Knock Ding virtual simulation laboratory's Mars science exploration-themed course, which brings students' interest in science and engineering activities into the classroom. The entire course is designed around the core scientific concepts and presented in a progressively in-depth and spiral rising framework according to the students' cognitive levels, allowing students to solve real-world problems from a scientist's perspective and gain a deep understanding of how science and engineering operate in the real world, encouraging students to consciously acquire scientific knowledge and cultivate a scientific spirit.

(Programming drives Mars rover exploration)

Head of Xueersi Suyang Coding and programing, Sun Yifu, detailed the four major highlights of the product during the event:

- Classroom scenes are more realistic:

In comparison to traditional classroom forms of learning through video or images, the Mars exploration-themed course leverages Tencent's 3D virtual simulation technology to "move" the course to Mars in a situational way. Students will complete real scientific exploration tasks in a 1:1 reconstructed simulation space on Mars, such as taking soil samples on Mars to compare its differences with Earth's soil, and detecting traces of water on Mars to assess the possibility of the existence of life. This experience cultivates students' scientific spirit and interest in science more effectively.

- More efficient learning content:

The Mars exploration-themed course can study graphical essence content in 1-4 months, and then better follow up with AI courses or informatics Olympic competition courses. The method of learning knowledge has also transitioned from traditional explanation and practice to learning through practical application. For example, by using the acquired programming knowledge to investigate actual Mars exploration problems, students experience the fun and impact of programming while solving real problems.

- More fun classroom experience:

The course incorporates interesting themes such as "Exploring Mars Life," "Building Mars Bases," and "What to Eat When Immigrating to Mars," and includes rich classroom activities such as group discussions, group PKs, and speaking on stage. In addition, teachers have added more tiered questioning, such as "How to find signs of life on Mars - why to find them - how to find them - what to analyze after finding them," guiding children to think independently and express themselves.

- Broadened competition opportunities:

After completing the course, students who have mastered programming knowledge more systematically can participate in national programming competitions approved by the Ministry of Education, exchanging learning on a broader platform and further testing, solidifying, and broadening their learning achievements in competition activities and expanding their horizons.

(Course schedule for a series of Mars research tasks)

The virtual simulation laboratory in the Mars exploration-themed course uses Tencent's independently developed educational application engine, the Tencent GameDream Engine. This engine provides technical support for virtual hardware high-fidelity simulation, high-fidelity construction and operation, and high-level AI capabilities for education, helping to popularize robot programming learning at low cost and low entry barriers. Zhang Shuai, General Manager of Tencent's youth business, stated that in the future, they will continue to leverage their expertise in gaming technology and digital capabilities to help children experience the fun of programming in gamified teaching scenarios, igniting young students' dreams of science and technology, and further contributing to the cultivation of scientific and technological talent.

- Focusing on technology education to keep pace with the times

Popularizing scientific education amongst youths is both a requirement of the times and a strong support for promoting the high-quality development of compulsory education. Recently, eighteen departments including the Ministry of Education issued the "Opinions on Strengthening Science Education in Primary and Secondary Schools in the New Era," deploying measures to enhance science education in primary and secondary schools to adapt to the needs of scientific and technological development and industrial transformation, comprehensively improve students' scientific literacy, and cultivate a group of young people with the potential to be scientists and a willingness to dedicate themselves to scientific research.

Shi Mei, Vice President of Tencent Cloud and person in charge of the education industry, said: "Education has a profound impact on social development, and the combination of education and technology can create greater value for social development. This is also an important reason for the deep cooperation between Tencent Education and Xueersi. This Mars exploration-themed course is just the beginning. We look forward to conducting more cooperation with Xueersi in course development, platform construction, and internal and external linkage, and exploring new modes of youth AI talent cultivation, effectively promoting the cultivation of scientific and technological talents and the development of science and education."  

As a comprehensive education brand under TAL Education Group, Xueersi has been deeply cultivating the primary and secondary education field for many years and has long been committed to promoting the integration of science and technology internet and education to create a better learning experience for children. In recent years, Xueersi has launched literacy courses for children aged 3-16, with the comprehensive and healthy development of children as the primary goal, focusing on cutting-edge research fields, transitioning to scientific education, with "inspiring interest" as the core value and "learning to application" as the training goal, guiding students to consciously acquire scientific knowledge and cultivate an investigative spirit, and fostering innovative abilities with a focus on the future.

As Tencent's education brand, Tencent Education is based on technology, has a focus on connection, content, and social responsibility, and aims to help drive the development of education through equalization, personalization, and smart capabilities, using cutting-edge technologies such as cloud computing, audio and video, and artificial intelligence to constantly enhance its product capabilities, content capabilities, and ecosystem construction, insisting on being the "digital assistant" for the high-quality development of the education cause.

Both parties hope that through this product cooperation, they can sow the seed of science in children's hearts, enhance their scientific literacy and investigative abilities, and help cultivate more creative talents. In the future, both parties will continue to leverage their expertise in the education and technology fields, explore new forms of scientific education, and help build a new future for quality education.

This article is from: https://news.eol.cn/hot/hangye/202306/t20230628_2449528.shtml