(Photo/qianlong.com)

The Internet Plus initiative has been playing a significant role in driving China’s education over the past few years as the country combats an imbalanced distribution of educational resources and endeavors to improve school education.

No. 29 Middle School in Chongqing, southwest China, is among the beneficiaries of the initiative.

It established a teaching platform powered by cloud technology with the collaboration of a tech firm in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, on which educational resources could be shared among all schools across the country. To date, more than 600 schools have joined the platform.

Except for sharing educational resources, the platform also features remote interaction, enabling students from remote areas to receive high-quality education from top teachers. Additionally, teachers can correct and give feedback on homework through the platform.

A middle school in Dehong Dai, Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China’s Yunnan province joined the building of the platform three years ago. Now, 27 classes in the school use the platform, and over 2,000 classes are taught online each month.

The enrollment rate of the school increased from 55.8 percent to 82.6 percent thanks to the platform, said Luo Huayu, director of the information center of Chongqing No. 29 Middle School.

Liying Primary School in Shanghai has also jumped on the bandwagon of information technology, seeking further innovation.

Now, students in the primary school can preview lessons through online classes. Thus, the teacher can better prepare for the lessons in a more targeted way.

According to a survey that has been conducted for three consecutive years, 100 percent of teachers and over 70 percent of parents believe that interest in studying has been improved, and over 80 percent of students said they could learn better on their own in this way, said Zhang Jun, a teacher at the school.

In addition to facilitating interaction between schools, teachers and students, Internet Plus offers individual teachers, especially those in rural villages, a valuable platform to communicate with and seek guidance from their peers.

As of January 2019, over 1,600 online teaching workshops have been set up, and 266,489 online courses have been uploaded. Teachers across the country have also hosted over 6,000 live stream lessons, attracting over 800,000 viewers.