Beijing has become the first provincial-level region in China to introduce compulsory artificial intelligence (AI) classes for students in public schools, setting the pace for the rest of the country.
According to a report, nearly 1,500 primary and secondary schools in the Chinese capital city are providing AI lessons in line with the directive from the central government. Under the new curriculum, schools will offer students up to eight hours of AI education during the semester, with some schools planning to increase the frequency of lessons.
The Guangqumen Middle School and the Haidian District Experimental Primary School are ramping up their efforts via the introduction of multistage AI programs for pupils. Both schools have made significant progress in their attempts to provide students with foundational knowledge and hands-on AI skills.
A deep dive into the early attempts by Beijing public schools to introduce AI classes has indicated a mix of innovation and adherence to global best practices in education. For students between Grades 1 and 6, schools in the Chinese capital are turning to “interactive and project-based lessons” to build fundamental AI awareness.
Meanwhile, high school students are introduced to using AI to create smart hardware applications and other advanced functionalities. Several after-school clubs for AI have become a mainstay in high schools across Beijing, with AI enthusiasts filling the ranks to work on advanced projects with emerging technologies.
“The courses are designed to make AI tangible and accessible,” said Shi Yuan, head of the Information Center at Haidian Experimental Primary School. “We focus on letting students experience AI through projects that connect to real-life scenarios.”
Authorities say the push to introduce AI classes in schools is not to create experts, but to provide students with the skill set to interact confidently with AI tools. Meanwhile, Beijing’s pioneering status is backed by fresh AI guidelines for classroom use published by China’s Ministry of Education.
“In the future, human-machine collaboration will be inevitable,” said one expert. “Students may not all become AI specialists, but they must learn how to use AI effectively.”
AI in schools raises concerns
As AI utility in education grows, authorities are scrambling to introduce regulations to ensure the safe use of chatbots in schools. Following China’s AI guidelines, Kazakhstan has unveiled national standards for AI in education, emphasizing the importance of privacy and safety.
Despite the flurry of guardrails, critics have expressed concerns about the overreliance on AI in creative fields and the risk of cheating on tests. A group of experts has stated that AI learning methods may impact the well-being of younger children who require human interaction from their teachers.
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Open Campus raises $5 million to build blockchain-based education ecosystem
Elsewhere, the Web3 education platform Open Campus has raised $5 million from a pool of institutional investors as part of its effort to accelerate the integration of blockchain with learning.
Open Campus executives noted that the capital injection will prop up the $EDU market price support. Since the announcement, the native token has been trading at $0.1678 and is down 90% since reaching its all-time high in 2023.
The team added that a significant portion of the raise will be allocated to enhancing EDU Chain, the underlying distributed ledger that records credentials and key transactions. Apart from aiming to become the “financial and reputation layer” for the educational sectors, Open Campus has plans to create new revenue-generating opportunities for schools and teachers.
Building on blockchain, Open Campus will enable educators to own their lessons, allowing them to earn and share profits equitably. The team will make improvements to its peer review system, smart donation, and the trading of publishers’ non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the near future.
Meanwhile, students will have access to a broad pool of educational materials in addition to incentivized learning. A portion of the $5 million will be deployed to fund on-chain student loans via Pencil Finance, with the blockchain serving as a step up to traditional methods.
Currently, thousands of students across Asia are relying on Open Campus to access student loans and verified IDs, broadening its use cases. With the newly raised funds, the team disclosed its intent to expand its services beyond Asia to new frontiers, championing the integration of blockchain and education.
Despite blockchain’s head start and Open Campus’s frantic push, AI has increased its utility in education. Several primary and high schools have introduced compulsory AI classes, with China and Kazakhstan unveiling new guidelines for their mainstream adoption.
Outside of AI, metaverse technologies are making significant inroads in education, powered by VR and AR devices. Amid the efforts, there are lingering concerns about the mental well-being of students due to the over-dependence on AI and VR-based learning in schools.
