NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (“NetDragon” or the “Company”; Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, is pleased to announce that its education subsidiary Huayu has signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with National Center for Educational Technology (“NCET”), a unit directly affiliated to the Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE). The two parties will work hand-in-hand to create a new model of smart education based on emerging technologies such as virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI) and big data, and explore the development of education informatization. The signing ceremony was attended by Deputy Party Chief and Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of NCET Li Ping, Deputy Director of NCET Yang Fei, Founder and Chairman of the Board of NetDragon Liu Dejian, and Senior Vice President of NetDragon Yu Biao.
Based on the agreement, Huayu and NCET will carry out strategic cooperation in virtual simulation technology, online learning, AI, gamified learning and other aspects to help develop education informatization at multiple levels. In the future, based on the new online learning model of “New Infrastructure of Education”, both parties will continue to cooperate in developing more innovative educational products and building online learning service systems with the characteristics of intelligence, autonomy, self-help and advancement. These will be introduced to potential regions across China, forming a new teaching model combining online and offline education in the country’s basic education.
At the signing ceremony, Yang Fei, Deputy Director of NCET, said that NCET and Huayu have conducted fruitful cooperation in virtual experiment teaching in primary and secondary schools, and have achieved positive pilot results. Following the signing of the strategic cooperation agreement, NCET will make use of the edge of its national education technology system to create a favourable ecosystem and provide continuous support for education informatization. It will work with Huayu to promote innovation in teaching methods and popularization of education informatization, and tackle the current issue of uneven development of education.
Li Ping, Deputy Party Chief and Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of NCET, expressed gratitude to Huayu for its support and also recognized Huayu’s development and achievements in the field of “Internet+Education”. She hopes this strategic cooperation is a starting point and both parties will go further to broaden the scope of cooperation, increase global influence, empower education with technology, create a bright future of cooperation, and contribute to the balanced development of education.
Liu Dejian, Founder and Chairman of the Board of NetDragon, said that NCET has played an indispensable leadership role in building a curriculum system and making it professional. Huayu, under the leadership of NCET, has utilized its technical edge to create industry-leading virtual experiment teaching products. It is believed that riding on this cooperation opportunity, Huayu will continue to integrate high-quality educational resources and enable the adoption of advanced technologies in the education segment. As such, virtual reality, artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies could be incorporated into the everyday teaching and learning routine, creating a new norm of “3E Education”, in which education can be more “efficient”, more “effective” and more “entertaining”.
In retrospect of the history of cooperation between Huayu and NCET, the joint work in the field of virtual experiment teaching has begun to bear fruit. In January 2020, Huayu and NCET officially signed a cooperation agreement to jointly push forward the development and promotion of a virtual experiment teaching system in primary and secondary schools. The two sides have made use of the national education resource public service platform to build a “Virtual Experiment Teaching Service System”. As the exclusive provider of research and development as well as technical support for the system, Huayu has provided a full suite of technology support and services for the launch and use of the system, supporting the improvement of the level of experiment teaching and laboratory construction of related subjects in primary and secondary schools nationwide. The virtual lab has already had over 3,000 sets of teaching materials and has launched pilot programs in 68 primary and secondary schools in six provinces across China. In the future, it will enter into the experiment classes of more primary and secondary schools.
Yu Biao, Senior Vice President of NetDragon, said that NCET’s virtual experiment program has achieved very positive pilot results across the country and the cooperation between Huayu and NCET has marked a new milestone. The two sides will continue to develop high-quality educational tools, so that virtual experiments can be incorporated into the everyday teaching in primary and secondary schools and create a new norm of intelligent education.
In 2019, “New Infrastructure” was written into the State Council government work report. In recent years, NetDragon’s Huayu has capitalized on the “New Infrastructure of Education” to apply VR, AI, 5G and other emerging information technologies to educational products and create the “future classroom” in the era of digital education. Looking into the future, NetDragon will make an across-the-board effort in promoting innovation in education and teaching methods, introduce education informatization to more areas, and strive to promote equitable and quality education.
