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NetDragon Takes Education into the Future at 8th Global Smart Education Confab, Debuts Edmodo Academy Platform

The high-profile 2023 Global Smart Education Conference ramped up from August 18 to 20 in the capital city of Beijing. Co-hosted by the prestigious Beijing Normal University (BNU) and the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (UNESCO IITE), the conference brought out the big guns with appearances from Deputy Education Minister Chen Jie and Nobel laureate author Mo Yan. For the eighth year running, NetDragon showed up with its edtech A-game on deck, unveiling cutting-edge projects and products including the new Edmodo Academy (EDA) online learning platform, NCET Vlab, Future Lab, and Rokid AR glasses. And in a major announcement, NetDragon launched EDA in full as the marquee achievement of this year's conference.

The company lent a hand to the event in other ways too. It created the conference theme song "Light of Education" and co-organized a forum on how generative AI can shape the future classroom. NetDragon also hosted a session exploring how to develop teachers' digital know-how and innovating ways to cultivate talents. Additionally, attendees including government officials and special guests got an up-close look at NetDragon's metaverse-based BNU Smart Campus, which caught eyeful attention.

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Education Visionaries Convene as NetDragon Experts Take the Stage at Global Event

The annual conference drew over 300 heavy hitters in the education world to discuss innovations in learning. Leaders from prestigious institutions like UNESCO, BNU, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences were among the more than 1,200 attendees at the event.

In his closing keynote, Dr. Liu Dejian - who wears two hats as the co-dean of BNU Smart Learning Institute (SLI) and CEO of Chinese edtech giant NetDragon - reflected on their eight-year partnership with BNU building up the SLI. Both have pushed research advancing pedagogy worldwide as technology revolutionizes classrooms at warp speed, he said. Dr. Liu hopes all students globally will soon have equal access to top-shelf teaching and lifelong study - a basic right, not privilege.

Also on the slate was Chen Hong, a NetDragon veteran now serving as senior VP and CTO of subsidiary Elernity. In his keynote “Experience, Efficiency, Effectiveness—Exploring AI's Role in Creating Quality Learning Materials” at the “Generative AI and the Future of Education” forum, Chen outlined how the company plans to fluidly integrate all devices and systems. The goal is to facilitate rich engagement between users, virtual assistants, online spaces and hardware through the strategic use of AI to develop and share high-quality educational resources.

At the launch of EDA, Emil Chen, Assistance Dean of the SLI and VP of NetDragon, welcomed global educators to the collaborative online platform. The VP noted EDA incentivizes everyone to contribute and benefit together from advancing educational equity worldwide. “Our collective efforts will ensure all learners have opportunities regardless of background,” Chen explained.

Concurrently, NetDragon Chief Designer Lin Jiaquan, was on the judging panel for the finale of the “Global Competition on Design for Future Education”. Meanwhile, Star Epoch board member Su Yi delivered the thought-provoking keynote "Add or Subtract? Rethinking Schooling in the AI Era". And in another session, Lin Fan, Director of NetDragon's Overseas Strategic Cooperation Department, moderated a panel on "Empowering Teachers' Digital Skills and Innovating Training Models" to help prepare educators for the 21st century.

 

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Conference Unveils Next Frontier in Learning as Edmodo Academy Platform Launches

As technological revolution transforms how we think and work, digital tools are fundamentally changing education worldwide - offering exciting prospects but new tests as well. In this digital age, "smart learning" has emerged as the inevitable path to ensure all learners gain equitable access to quality schooling and lifelong study opportunities.

A major reveal at this year's conference was EDA - a promising new frontier for intelligent schooling. NetDragon aims to develop EDA as an "ideal" learning platform and global smart education resource hub. Leveraging cutting-edge tech like AI, virtual reality, 3D models and animated clips, EDA will generate rich online lesson content. Catering to global students' diverse needs, EDA opens up educational materials access through anytime, anywhere channels. Notably, users can also recreate and share course assets - building a collaborative global network for digital instruction.

On site, Chen Hong and Lin Fan represented NetDragon - strategizing with national ministry leaders plus figures from groups including UNESCO, the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). They provided in-depth overviews of NetDragon's growing suite of smart learning products and solutions revolutionizing classrooms worldwide.

 

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Glimpse the Technologies Transforming Classrooms as NetDragon Unveils Smart Learning Lineup

Another highlight of this year's conference was NetDragon showcasing some of its most advanced edtech tools at the 2023 GSE Expo. The lineup included EDA, NCET Vlab, Future Lab and Rokid Glasses smart specs.

NCET Vlab, developed under guidance from the Center for Educational Technology and Resource Development, Ministry of Education (National Center for Educational Technology, NCET), integrates AI, 3D and VR to realistically simulate lab experiments in subjects from biology to chemistry and physics. Validated by education experts, the platform has engaged over 700,000 students across 20,000+ schools in 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions — logging more than 7 million virtual sessions to advance digital learning goals.

Future Lab, crafted for middle and high schoolers, lets users customize avatars and explore complex math and science through interactive, gamified, scenario-based exploration. The app also incorporates NetDragon's "AI Learning Partner" for deep yet engaging guidance.

NetDragon has made clear impacts globally, with its edu-products in 192+ nations, including over 20 Belt and Road countries, serving over 150 million users and 2 million classrooms. The company recently announced plans to list its international arm on the NYSE via merger deal.

Speaking at the expo, Emil Chen said NetDragon will continue pioneering advanced tech's role in smart learning through platforms like EDA. Their commitment is digitally transforming the future of education worldwide.