The UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education prepared the Report in partnership with Shanghai Open University and East China Normal University to document the emergency response and innovative experience accumulated by Shanghai, a large metropolis in China with a population of over 24 million, including about 2.2 million students at different levels, during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure education continuity.
The Report presents an overview and summary of actions taken by local government, schools, universities, and public engagement, focusing on different levels of education in Shanghai. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education was extrapolated to outline recommendations for enhancing the resilience of education in the future from experts’ perspectives.
The aim is to describe the immediate and systematic actions of the local government, the innovative and inspiring practices of teachers, students, parents and education administrators, and the active and passionate engagement of the public, both learners and learning supporters.
As the world is still in the pandemic crisis, we hope that this Report would be helpful to municipal authorities and all other education stakeholders, including administrators, school and university teachers, students, parents, and general public, facing similar challenges all over the world. We hope that the innovative experience and lessons learned in Shanghai will promote online and open education when the pandemic is over and contribute to the development of more resilient education systems.
Tao Zhan, Director of UNESCO IITE
The Report contains 18 case study examples collected from preschool, primary, secondary and higher education, vocational education, and technical training, formal and informal learning for parents, the elderly and the public. It reflects approaches to ensure education continuity in different situations and for different groups of learners, including rural areas, students with special needs, and psychological issues in the times when classes disrupted.
Download Online and Open Education in Shanghai: Emergency Response and Innovative Practice during COVID-19 Pandemic here or visit our Publications page to other publications as well.
Additionally, Online and Open Education in Shanghai: Emergency Response and Innovative Practice during COVID-19 Pandemic in Chinese is available.