Chinese Education Changes to Match Its Global Ambitions
SHANGHAI, Aug. 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time, a hybrid Chinese-Western approach to education has won honors for an English language learning product. Recently, the CODiE Awards named as a finalist ALO7's Genius English, the first honoree of these digi-education awards to have been made in China for Chinese students. The popularity of ALO7's methods is borne out by the numbers: more than 70,000 teachers have used AL07 to teach English to 12 million students from preschool to high school.
"The traditional Chinese educational system was designed and built for the industrial age," says Dr. Pengkai Pan, MIT graduate and CEO of ALO7. "Teaching needs to progress to foster critical thinking and the creative curiosity that fuels imagination and innovation." Many in China agree. A recent HSBC survey reports that more than half of Chinese parents want their child to attend university abroad. Additionally, China's college entrance exam is being updated to reflect global trends. ALO7's programs, which follow Chinese national guidelines, US Common Core standards, and European English-language recommendations meet this demand for progressive learning that respects Chinese educational culture.
The cross-cultural content includes custom exercises and games, music, Chinese folktales, essay writing, US publisher Zaner-Bloser's grammar practice adapted for Chinese students, and more. It provides an interconnected suite of classroom and at-home apps and books accompanied by teacher training and seamless digital support, including personalized student reports. Language used to inspire students to love learning is combined with big data and technical knowhow to give schools better tools and student outcomes.
ALO7 students also reach beyond borders by studying English online. Nearly 1,000 teachers in the US and abroad provide small-scale classes via the Internet for more than 40,000 Chinese students. Chelsea Fields, an ALO7 long-distance teacher, has seen Chinese students benefit from these East-West style of classes. For example, Fields says that her students are sometimes "in a state of panic when asked to offer an opinion on a topic." But after a few lessons, "they eventually come to enjoy it."
The appeal of ALO7's education extends beyond the classroom to the boardroom. Qualcomm Inc., Vickers Venture Partners, and New Oriental Education & Tech Group are among the companies that have invested a combined total of $50 million in ALO7, whose major clients include New Oriental, Only Education, and TPR. As China's educational system changes to match its global ambitions, what will students and corporations learn next?
SOURCE ALO7
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