Development and Application Scenarios of Artificial Intelligence Technology in 2023
-
Smart education, also known as educational informatization, refers to the comprehensive and in-depth application of modern information technology in the field of education (including educational management, teaching, and research) to promote educational reform and development. Its technological characteristics include digitization, networking, intelligence, and multimedia, with core features of openness, sharing, interactivity, collaboration, and ubiquity. The goal is to advance educational modernization through informatization and transform traditional models with information technology.
Domestic experiments integrating ChatGPT with educational hardware are ongoing. In the education sector, several companies have revealed related product and technological developments. Notably, iFlytek and NetEase Youdao plan to launch new smart education hardware products, actively seizing this technological opportunity.
ChatGPT Drives the Development of Smart Education Technology in China
The emergence of ChatGPT has stirred the education industry and presents new growth opportunities for educational smart hardware. The advancement of AI technology and its expanding applications have led to a continuous increase in the market size of educational smart hardware. According to the 2022 China Educational Smart Hardware Market and User Insights Report by iResearch, the consumer-grade educational smart hardware market is projected to reach ¥43.1 billion in 2022, with a year-on-year growth exceeding 20%, and is expected to maintain double-digit growth over the next four years.
However, evaluations of educational hardware products are not uniformly positive, as the industry has yet to meet ideal expectations. Challenges include product homogeneity, difficulty in meeting personalized student needs, inconsistent product quality and pricing, and limited "smart" functionality with weak interactivity.
Insufficient innovation in product intelligence remains a key issue for educational hardware companies, making technological upgrades and innovation critical breakthroughs. With the rapid development of AI technologies like ChatGPT, educational hardware companies are focusing on integrating these advancements.
As a large language model-based text chat product, ChatGPT's capabilities in intelligent conversation and writing are widely recognized. Reports indicate that ChatGPT reached over 100 million monthly active users within two months of its launch, making it the fastest-growing application in internet history.
Consequently, many believe that ChatGPT and similar technologies can transform the educational smart hardware industry, driving faster and better development.
For students, ChatGPT offers superior comprehension, learning ability, and interactivity compared to traditional smart hardware products. While traditional learning tools provide answers and guidance, ChatGPT can analyze and track students' learning habits, styles, and progress, offering personalized tutoring.
For teachers, ChatGPT is more flexible and adaptable than traditional smart teaching tools, enabling tailored instruction and improving efficiency. For example, it can provide additional teaching resources, enrich lesson content, and automate repetitive tasks like assigning homework, explaining exam rules, and grading, saving teachers time.
Regardless, developing domestic ChatGPT alternatives, learning to leverage ChatGPT for work and study, and integrating it into educational smart hardware are urgent tasks for companies in this sector.
New Oriental Officially Launches Smart Education Solutions
On April 20, ahead of the 81st China Educational Equipment Exhibition, New Oriental's Smart Education Division held the "Insight·Collaboration" launch event for its Smart Education Solutions 2.0 in Nanchang, Jiangxi, the exhibition's host city.
Yu Minhong, Chairman of New Oriental Education Group, sent a video message to the conference, wishing it a complete success. Yu stated that the concept of smart education has been proposed in China for nearly 20 years. During the Smart Education 1.0 era, the industry focused more on hardware upgrades. In the current Smart Education 2.0 era, there is a greater need for comprehensive solutions that integrate software and hardware, content and operations, and product courses with supporting services. The development of smart education products is a continuous process of integration and upgrading. New Oriental is making new attempts in the Smart Education 2.0 era to optimize the integration of software, hardware, content, products, and services, aiming to create a complete educational ecosystem for content dissemination and talent cultivation. New Oriental is willing to collaborate with industry, academia, and research institutions to promote the future development of smart education and contribute meaningfully to the field of education.
At the beginning of the conference, Chai Mingyi, Assistant Vice President of New Oriental Education & Technology Group and General Manager of the Smart Education Division, stated in his opening speech that smart education has been a continuously evolving process since its inception. New Oriental has its own approach to smart education development. First, under the strategic drive of revitalizing the country through science and education and strengthening the nation through talent, New Oriental Smart Education adheres to the goal of innovative talent cultivation, supports educational institutions, improves education quality, promotes balanced development of high-quality educational resources, serves digital education reform, and contributes to educational equity, which is the core principle of New Oriental Smart Education's development. Second, in teaching scenarios and service processes, New Oriental Smart Education insists on innovation driven by customer needs, including both iterative innovation in educational technology and service innovation throughout the product lifecycle. Finally, and crucially, New Oriental is a believer and practitioner of long-termism. While helping schools solve current problems, it also provides services to support future educational development and transformation, which is the service goal of New Oriental Smart Education. In 2023, New Oriental is more confident in exploring greater possibilities in the smart education field with industry leaders.
Subsequently, Liu Binli detailed the two major product service systems launched by New Oriental Smart Education in the general education field: the integrated science education solution and the integrated education technology solution.
First, in the field of science education, New Oriental Smart Education's integrated science education solution focuses on three main tracks: in the scientific exploration track, it has developed a comprehensive system of practical science exploration courses from kindergarten to primary school; in the information technology track, it has created an information technology product solution based on the new curriculum standards and OpenHarmony, centered around the self-developed Tianqi education development board and its supporting software and hardware ecosystem; in the aerospace technology track, it focuses on interdisciplinary integration and the comprehensive application of cutting-edge technologies, building a youth aerospace innovation talent cultivation system that covers primary and secondary schools and connects with higher education. Adhering to the core business philosophy of 'education + technology,' New Oriental Smart Education provides integrated science education solutions that combine 'technology + products + services' for primary and secondary schools across the country.
Second, in the field of education technology, New Oriental Smart Education adheres to the principles of demand-driven, application-first, and service-oriented approaches, launching the integrated education technology solution (smart education solution) with 'problem-solving' as the starting point. This solution integrates next-generation information technology with educational practice, creating a unified management platform for science and innovation education in primary and secondary schools that serves the needs of regional education authorities and educational institutions, as well as a smart education cloud platform that provides comprehensive technical support for educational institutions. Leveraging the empowerment of the smart education platform and New Oriental's educational resources and service advantages, education authorities and schools can achieve comprehensive applications across all scenarios of 'teaching, learning, research, evaluation, and management,' meeting the educational needs of the new era of education informatization in areas such as regional management, smart education administration, new college entrance exam reform, precision teaching, digital resources, student growth, teacher development, and education quality improvement.
Solutions Drive Digital Transformation in Education
Huawei Terminal Commercial showcased six smart education solutions, including the 'Teacher Preparation and Teaching Solution,' 'Computer Classroom Solution,' and 'Education Tablet Solution,' at the 81st China Education Equipment Exhibition. The high-tech exhibition area attracted a large number of visitors.
After fully entering the commercial field, the education industry has become one of the key areas for Huawei Terminal Commercial. After gaining deep insights into the pain points of digital transformation in the education industry, Huawei Terminal Commercial partnered with collaborators to launch multiple new smart education solutions.
'In education, the most important factors are people, including both teachers and students. Digital transformation in education is a long-term systematic project, and when it meets independent innovation, the complexity doubles,' said Zhu Dongdong, President of Huawei Terminal BG Commercial Office Product Line. Huawei Terminal Commercial hopes to collaborate with more enterprises and schools to build a new ecosystem for independent innovation in education and continuously promote the realization of education equity.
How to use next-generation information technology to build a secure, manageable, and diverse computer lab that meets teaching needs has become a key focus of school informatization construction.
Building high-quality and inclusive digital economy infrastructure has always been a key focus for Huawei's Commercial Terminal. Through continuous in-depth communication and discussions with educational institutions to understand the real needs of campus teaching, Huawei's Commercial Terminal has launched the 'Qingyun Computer Classroom Solution.' This solution covers multiple application scenarios, including computer classrooms, multimedia classrooms, and public examination rooms, supporting over 50 teaching management functions such as interactive teaching and courseware distribution.
The ultimate challenge of 'batch operation and maintenance management for PC terminals' is resolved in this solution. 'In the past, traditional methods required coordination among multiple systems, with decentralized control platforms. Building a computer lab involved significant costs and time to ensure compatibility and coordination. However, Huawei's Commercial Terminal, in collaboration with partners, has developed a computer classroom solution that simplifies teacher workflows through integrated management,' the spokesperson explained.
This approach completely 'overturns' traditional scenarios. With this solution, teachers only need to start all devices, transmit teaching content to one device, and quickly distribute courseware through the 'Smart Classroom Management System.' 'It saves time compared to traditional methods while also reducing failure rates,' the presenter added.
The results are evident. For Zhang Pei, a teacher at Ningjin Vocational School in Dezhou, the biggest change in the new computer lab is classroom efficiency. 'With cloud desktops, new software can be installed with one click, and there are many practical teaching management tools, including remote monitoring, assignment distribution, and one-click screen sharing, greatly improving classroom management efficiency.'
'Previously, equipment often malfunctioned, and I had to constantly run between the computer lab and the office,' said Wang Hui, another teacher at Ningjin Vocational School, whose responsibility was to maintain the smooth operation of the computer lab. After the new lab was put into use, centralized management of multiple systems became possible, with strong performance ensuring smooth operation. 'Now, I only need to remotely control the computers to manage all student terminals in the lab.'