TAL Attends GES2018 to Explore Future Education Frontiers

BEIJING, Dec. 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On December 3^rd, GES2018 began in Beijing. Over 800 distinguished guests from the global education community gathered at the summit to discuss the future trends of global education. The summit was held under the direct guidance of the Development Research Center of the State Council and Ministry of Education, and co-sponsored by China Development Research Foundation, Beijing Normal University, Tencent, GSV, XDF, TAL and also academically supported by ASU.

As one of the sponsors of the summit, TAL attended the meeting with its various business departments. On the first day, Bai Yunfeng, co-founder and president of TAL, attended the summit and made a keynote speech. Moreover, heads of different business systems of TAL also participated in the high level discussions, panel discussions, and product exhibitions, fully demonstrating multi-dimensional thinking and exploration of education.

Education is the permanent commitment of TAL

In the first morning of the summit, Bai Yunfeng gave a speech on the theme "Education is our permanent commitment."

In the speech, he reviewed some milestones that have influenced at least one generation of Chinese students, including the resumption of college entrance examinations in 1977, the initiation of Project Hope in 1989, and the enlargement of the college enrollment scale in 1999. Bai believes that the evolving needs of 1.3 billion Chinese people are the primary driving force for scholastic progress. The basic education in China has transformed from teaching-focused to character-building-focused and future-oriented. The goal of education is to grow the children into caring and trustworthy citizens with integrity, and help them obtain the abilities that will bring a lifetime of happiness. The evolving outlook of Chinese families is the ultimate driving force behind educational innovation.

When speaking of education technology, Bai introduced that TAL has been studying the science of learning since its establishment with the goal of realizing personalized teaching and equal access to education, and equipping students with a scientific learning approach. TAL now has 5,000 employees working in such areas as products, technology and teaching method research. It invests over 1 billion yuan in science and technology and R&D every year, and has set up joint labs with six top universities worldwide.

Bai also talked about TAL's involvement in public welfare. The "Same Class", TAL's project supporting rural schools, has done 181,944 hours of voluntary work, covered nearly 50,000 kilometers and offered help to 38 schools in 11 provinces. TAL is also actively engaged in programs for inclusive education and poverty alleviation that have reached such areas as Jimunai in Xinjiang, Xiong'an New Area in Hebei, Foping in Shaanxi, Wangmo in Guizhou and Daliangshan in Sichuan.

Bai concluded his speech with remarks about Go, the Chinese game of Weiqi. He said, "In the game of Weiqi, every game piece is equal. Similarly, every child is unique, and each one of them deserves respect. Our understanding of the world is very limited, but we will never cease the exploration for the education's future. "

TAL products at GES

As a grand event for the education tech industry, GES set up an exhibition area to showcase accomplishments on that front.

 "Hello!" "Yes?" "Where are you from?" "I come from robot planet." At the TAL Pavilion, a robot that can talk with children in English attracted the attention of many. This is a smart robot jointly developed by First Leap, an English learning platform of TAL and ROOBO, the AI solution provider. As introduced by the staff, the robot can choose suitable learning materials based on the assessment of the children's language level and send the AI oral English taught by a foreign teacher, the AI interactive class by a foreign teacher, online reading materials, original English songs and animations. With abundant content and smart interactions, and supported by technologies such as big data capability graph analysis and the algorithm, it is a 24/7 good learning partner for children.

Professor Cheng Fangping at the School of Education, Renmin University of China, has shown strong interest in the teaching aids exhibited by MOBBY under TAL. The music box made by students with teaching aids under the guidance of the teacher was displayed at the exhibition. As the motor and the gear drove the stick to beat the keys in rhythm, the melody "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" was played. By making a music box like this, children can have hands on DIY experience and better understand the science of how levers and gears work. Prof. Cheng believes this kind of education represents advanced education philosophy. He also suggested that as an excellent education technology company in China, TAL can integrate Chinese elements such as the nine interlocked rings and Luban Lock (Six-Piece Burr), to help children appreciate traditional Chinese culture while learning. 

TAL online-school products "OCR Smart Homework Correction App" and "AI One-on-One Teacher", the signature products at the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, were exhibited at GES, too. The "OCR Smart Homework Correction App" can efficiently recognize a child's handwriting based on OCR technology and make immediate corrections. The "AI One-on-One Teacher" uses AI technologies such as imbedded facial expression recognition, voice recognition and assessment, to let children be fully immersed in an all-English environment so that they can practice oral English and listening anytime and anywhere they want. These two high-tech products can effectively meet the individualized learning needs of children.

Participating in multiple sections to discuss future education with industrial peers

On the first day of the summit, besides the speech by Bai Yunfeng, Wu Ying, TAL's President for Quality Education Department moderated the roundtable with the theme of "Exploration: current and forthcoming education" where participants exchanged views on that topic. Chen Dinghong, TAL Chief Investment Officer for US, and famous tennis player Andre Agassi also discussed the sports spirit and character building on the theme of "Opportunity comes from education." TAL vice president for Smart Education Group, Wang Luze, moderated the roundtable themed "Public education vs. private education, how can they complement each other?" and talked about integrated development of public and personal education with attending educators.

This session of GES will last for three days. In the following days, TAL co-founder and COO Liu Yachao will get on the stage with Apple's co-founder Steve Wozniak to discuss how technology and humanity can create new energy through synergy centering on the theme "Education and technology: future symbiosis". Bai Yunfeng will also attend the China-Israel Special Sub-Forum on Education Cooperation to share the thoughts and exploration of TAL on globalization. In addition, head of relevant business lines of TAL will participate in several sub forums to engage in the discussion about the future of education with the rest of the industry.

Under new circumstances with technological innovation, industrial integration and supportive policies, education, one of the most innovative sectors, is releasing huge energy as a growth driver. Chinese education is also transforming and upgrading. TAL has also reinvented itself this year and is unremittingly exploring the nature of education and setting sail again on the new voyage of education development towards the goal of becoming a respected educational institution.

SOURCE TAL Education Group