HANGZHOU, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Smart sports systems, virtual-reality (VR) language labs and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered learning devices are among a growing range of digital technologies reshaping education in China while also helping narrow the gap between rural and urban schools.
Every Monday at noon, mini stages in the corridors of Chongwen Century City Experimental School in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, attract crowds of students eager to record stories. AI converts their speech into text and automatically edits video clips.
"In the past, after we told our stories, they could not be saved," said Liu Qipeng, a fifth-grader at the school. "Now AI helps preserve our stories and gradually compiles our own version of One Thousand and One Nights."
On the school's playground and in its stadium, smart sports systems track students' fitness data. Their step counts, heart rates and body movements during breaks are collected and analyzed in real time to generate personalized health profiles, according to Xie Ying, the school's research director.
At the No. 13 High School in Beijing, intelligent agents analyze classroom participation and homework, generate customized questions and personalized homework, and create real-life teaching scenarios.
At Xiong'an Shijia Primary School in Xiong'an New Area in north China's Hebei Province, about 105 km southwest of Beijing, AI applications extend from classrooms to sports grounds.
In mathematics classes, animated videos help explain complex concepts, while smart sports facilities record data from activities such as rope skipping and long jump to help students improve posture and performance.
China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) calls for the use of AI to transform education models, while the Ministry of Education has urged schools to integrate AI into all aspects of education.
Digital technologies are also being used to reduce disparities in educational resources between rural and urban areas.
At Qixi Township Central School in Kaihua County, a mountainous area in Zhejiang Province, students sit in a reading corner using tablet computers, absorbed in stories as notification chimes mix with the sound of loud reading.
Through smart devices, these children interact with an AI-powered assistant called "Qian Xiaowa," which helps them read classics, recite poems and access learning materials tailored to their abilities and interests.
Located about an hour's drive from the Kaihua county seat, the Qixi Township school has only 72 students, 45 of whom are "left-behind children" raised by grandparents while their parents work elsewhere.
The school benefits from a pilot program launched in November 2025 to digitally empower small rural schools in Zhejiang, which provides intelligent terminals to schools with fewer than 100 students.
"If there are knowledge points that I do not understand in class, I can watch micro-lectures on the smart device afterward to improve my understanding," said Yu Nuo, a sixth-grader at the Qixi school.
The devices also help students create personalized study plans, including schedules for previewing and reviewing lessons.
Wu Zhangde, principal of the Qixi school, said digital technologies have helped place rural students on a more equal footing with their urban peers.
The school's smart devices are supplied by iFLYTEK, one of China's leading AI education technology service providers.
Nie Xiaolin, co-founder and senior vice president of iFLYTEK, said the company serves over 60,000 schools across China and has helped build national and regional smart education platforms to improve access to quality educational resources in underdeveloped areas.
"Thanks to powerful AI, classrooms will no longer limit students' learning pace," said Tang Caibin, Party chief of Hangzhou Qian Xuesen School. "With dedicated intelligent agents, every student can learn at their own speed."
Sheng Qunli, a professor at the College of Education, Zhejiang University, said that in classrooms AI has evolved beyond simply an advanced teaching tool.
"For schools in county-level areas, the significance is even greater," Sheng said. "Once widely adopted across a region, it can lay a new foundation for the digital transformation of local education."
AI is also transforming higher education through the introduction of AI courses and the use of smart models and devices.
At Zhejiang University, visitors can interact in real time with intelligent agents developed by faculty and students. In the university's Intelligent Agriculture Innovation Lab, students operate agricultural robots to pick fruits, while VR devices and smart terminals enable language learners to practice in highly immersive, simulated environments.
"Without AI, we would struggle to move forward," said Wu Fei, dean of the Undergraduate School, Zhejiang University. The university has launched 220 interdisciplinary AI courses, such as intelligent communication, smart agriculture and brain-computer integration.
"Digital technologies and artificial intelligence are reshaping the way we teach, the way we learn and the way we connect," Catherine Russell, executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund, said in a video address to a digital education conference in Hangzhou earlier this month.
Russell said China would play a "critical role" in shaping the future of digital learning, citing the country's widespread internet access and expanding use of interactive and customized education tools. ■
