Policy Intensification, AI Breakthrough: Comprehensive Advancement of Smart Education in the First Half of 2025
Policy Reinforcement: A Comprehensive Push from National Strategy to Regional Implementation
In the first half of 2025, the domestic smart education industry witnessed a period of intensive policy release. During this time, nine departments including the Ministry of Education jointly issued the "Opinions on Accelerating the Digitalization of Education", clearly proposing to "integrate artificial intelligence technology into all elements of the education and teaching process". It also required the acceleration of the construction of large AI education models to promote the intelligent upgrading of the curriculum system, teaching material system, and teaching system. This document is regarded as an in - depth version of the national education digitalization strategy, and for the first time, it systematically defines the technical path and implementation framework for the integration of AI and education.
Guided by national - level policies, local governments have introduced detailed implementation rules. In April, Guangdong Province released the "Two Competencies and One Outline" plan, stipulating that primary school students in grades 1 - 4 should have no less than 6 class hours of AI courses per academic year, and junior high school students should have at least 1 class hour every two weeks. It also constructed the first provincial - level AI competency framework for teachers and students in the country. Nanjing launched the "Action Plan for Artificial Intelligence Education in Primary and Secondary Schools (2025 - 2027)" in April, planning to have 100% of primary and secondary schools in the city offer AI courses within three years, build 100 innovative AI application scenarios, and invest 23 million yuan to equip 625 schools with standardized experimental instruments. It has become the first city in China to achieve full - coverage of AI education experimental instruments.
Driven by policies, the digital transformation of regional education shows different characteristics. The Education and Sports Bureau of Zunyi City cooperated with iFlytek to build a new paradigm of "artificial intelligence + education", focusing on the precise classroom teaching system and the improvement of teachers' digital literacy. Laoshan District in Qingdao achieved the popularization of AI education for teenagers in the whole district through the AI hardware and curriculum system of New Oriental Smart Education. Meanwhile, Minhang District in Shanghai relied on the "Smart Pen and Paper + AI" system of 17zuoye to accumulate more than billions of teaching scenario data, forming a complete closed - loop from data collection to intelligent analysis.
In addition, as of the first half of the year, the intelligent version 2.0 of the National Smart Education Platform was launched, and it has integrated content and applications such as Tencent Hunyuan large - model courses and iFlytek AI Job - hunting Assistant.
Technological Breakthroughs: Large Models Reconstruct the Underlying Logic of the Education Ecosystem
In the first half of 2025, large AI models became the core engine for the technological iteration of smart education. Yuanfudao Group released its first education AI paradigm, "Xiaoyuan AI", in April. Its four - layer technical architecture (data layer, model layer, logic layer, and scenario layer) realizes the in - depth integration of large models in the education vertical and general large models. This system is equipped with the self - developed Yuanli large model and the DeepSeek - R1 model matrix. It trains the teaching logic chain through more than 5 million hours of course videos. In the homework correction scenario, it can achieve "five - fold analysis of error causes", with an accuracy rate of 98.7% in identifying knowledge loopholes, and the efficiency is 40% higher than that of traditional systems.
iFlytek's Spark large model continued to make breakthroughs in education scenario applications. The summer upgraded version of its AI learning machine in June added the "AI one - on - one interactive consultation" function, which can generate personalized learning paths through dialogue - based diagnosis. Its composition correction system can analyze from 12 dimensions such as logical structure and emotional expression, and is known as the "large model that understands exams best".
The in - depth integration of hardware and AI has led to the innovation of education terminal forms. Huawei's AI Self - study Room solution, centered around the C5e commercial tablet, realizes device interconnection and real - time analysis of learning data through the HarmonyOS. The combination of its Rheinland - certified eye - protection screen and the AI learning engine helps students improve their concentration. The Xiaoyuan AI learning machine pioneered the dual - form design of "tablet + intelligent base", equipped with 20 kinds of AI expressions and dynamic tone adjustment, to create an emotional interaction experience similar to that of a real - life teacher, helping to improve students' after - school self - learning efficiency.
The breakthrough of multi - modal interaction technology has broken the traditional teaching boundaries. New Oriental Smart Education's "Tian Gong Qihang" aerospace interaction system enables students to experience first - person aerospace missions through VR technology. Students can simulate the assembly and docking of spacecraft, and this immersive learning method improves the efficiency of cultivating students' engineering thinking. The digital avatar technology launched by iFlytek Zhizuo can generate a virtual teacher image with just one photo. Teachers from universities such as Tianjin University and Qinghai University have used this technology to produce more than 100,000 course videos, improving the efficiency of online course production.
Enterprise Competition: Strategic Upgrade from Product Competition to Ecosystem Construction
Leading enterprises carried out all - round layouts in the first half of 2025, forming a differentiated competition pattern. New Oriental Smart Education continued its "education + technology" strategy and launched the Dongfang Chuangke AI Development Board 2.0, which is equipped with the Espressif ESP32 - S3 chip, supports neural networks and voice recognition models. The supporting AI creative courses have been implemented in primary and secondary schools in China. Its STEAM creative course sets and science treasure box series are targeted at children, using teaching aids such as color - changing glasses and magnetic levitation devices to stimulate children's interest in science.
Yuanfudao Group is driven by both "technology" and "content". In addition to releasing the Xiaoyuan AI series of products, its Feixiang AI general knowledge courses have covered more than 1,000 schools in 25 provinces and cities. 150,000 students have been exposed to cutting - edge technologies such as generative AI and large language models through models such as "dual - expert R & D + project - based learning". Yuanfudao's quality - oriented courses introduced the DeepSeek large model. In the teaching of "Journey to the West", it transformed the classic text into a tool for critical thinking through situational tasks such as "recruitment in the Western Paradise Amusement Park", helping to improve the effect of interdisciplinary thinking cultivation.
Hardware manufacturers are accelerating their penetration into education scenarios. CVTE (the parent company of Seewo) submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June. Its education interactive smart tablets led the global market with a 17.5% share in 2024. The Seewo teaching large model launched in 2025 was trained based on 220 billion token education corpora and has generated more than 180,000 student situation reports in 2,000 schools. Huawei Qingyun built an AI computing power network platform at Southeast University through its "1 + 3" full - scenario solution, helping to improve the efficiency of scientific research computing power. It also built 300 HarmonyOS smart classrooms at Ningxia University, realizing the integration of remote interactive teaching and regular recording and broadcasting.
Internet companies are expanding the boundaries of education based on their technological ecosystems. Tencent Education launched practical courses on the application of the Hunyuan large model in the first half of the year and jointly developed the "General Knowledge Course on Artificial Intelligence" with Tsinghua University. Its "AI + X" youth scientific literacy project covers four major sectors such as astronomy and life sciences. By combining virtual experiments with real - life scenarios, it improves the efficiency of understanding abstract scientific concepts. Huawei provides comprehensive solutions such as AI training platforms for universities. It built a digital economy industry - education integration base at Gannan University of Science and Technology, integrating 72 ICT certification courses into six majors to cultivate digital - intelligent talents.
Enterprise competition is shifting from single - product competition to ecosystem construction. In the first half of the year, leading enterprises are accelerating the formation of competitive advantages that are difficult to replicate through technology patent layout, data barrier construction, and ecological partner cooperation.
Scenario Implementation: Practical Exploration from Single - Point Breakthrough to Full - Chain Intelligence
The intelligent transformation of the classroom teaching scenario has become the focus of implementation. The upgraded "Smart Pen and Paper + AI" system of 17zuoye has been used regularly in 143 primary and secondary schools in Minhang District. By silently collecting writing trajectories and homework time, it improves teachers' correction efficiency and the accuracy of generating personalized wrong - question notebooks for students. The campus large - and - small - screen AI learning system launched by Jiuzhang Aixue (under TAL Education Group) enables real - time classroom interaction and hierarchical targeted teaching through the linkage of classroom large screens and students' tablets, improving students' efficiency in mastering knowledge points.
The penetration of AI in after - school learning scenarios shows diversification. The Xiaoyuan AI App covers more than 100 learning scenarios with a minimalist interactive interface. Its "five - fold analysis of error causes" function can diagnose learning problems from dimensions such as knowledge loopholes and thinking paths. Combined with AI question - answering, it can "explain where students don't understand", shortening the time for students to complete their homework. The iFlytek learning machine added the "Stress - Relief Oasis" function, which helps students relieve anxiety through voice emotion recognition and breathing training games.
The digital transformation of regional education governance is accelerating. For example, the "Songhui Homework" project in Songjiang District, Shanghai, realizes the equalization of regional education resources through data - driven methods, helping to narrow the gap in the average mathematics scores between urban and rural schools.
Technology companies are helping to promote the intelligent transformation of higher education. East China University of Science and Technology cooperated with Tencent Cloud to upgrade 300 intelligent broadcasting classrooms. Through AI analysis of classroom interaction data, it improves the efficiency of teaching evaluation. In the field of scientific research, Huawei helped Southeast University build an AI computing power network platform, supporting more than 50 scientific research projects and promoting the application of the new AI for Science paradigm in disciplines such as materials and biology.
Future Outlook: A New Development Situation under the Coordination of Technological Ethics and Industrial Synergy
In the second half of 2025, the smart education industry will face dual challenges of technological ethics and large - scale application. With the in - depth application of large AI models in teaching, data privacy protection and algorithm fairness have become key issues. The Ministry of Education specifically emphasized in the "Opinions" to "strengthen the security barrier for education digitalization" and required the establishment of a security review mechanism for AI education applications. At the enterprise level, Yuanfudao formulated the group standard of "Basic Requirements for Content Review of Intelligent Learning Terminals", and iFlytek set content security boundaries for its AI learning machines, blocking game - related content to guide students' learning focus.
The synergy between industry - education integration and technological innovation will be the key to solving the problems. Huawei Qingyun jointly built a HarmonyOS training laboratory with universities to cultivate operating system development talents. This model of "enterprises posing questions and universities solving them" is becoming a new paradigm for cultivating digital - intelligent talents. Industry - education integration projects are expected to fill the market gap for AI - related professional talents.
International layout has become the strategic direction of leading enterprises. CVTE achieved a 16.83% growth in its overseas business through its subsidiaries in India and the United States. Its MAXHUB brand provided digital solutions for the French medical group GBNA Santé. Smart classroom solution providers such as Huawei and New Oriental can expand overseas to markets in Southeast Asia by providing services for overseas schools, promoting the internationalization of domestic education technology standards.
Looking back at the mid - point of 2025, the domestic smart education industry has completed the leap from the technology introduction period to the application deepening period. The continuous release of policy dividends, the accelerated iteration of technological innovation, the comprehensive layout of enterprises, and the obvious achievements in scenario implementation together constitute the four - dimensional driving force for the industry's development. However, behind the technological frenzy, how to balance efficiency and fairness, innovation and ethics, scale and quality remains a proposition that the entire industry needs to continuously explore.
This article is from the WeChat public account "Edu Guide" (ID: EduZhiNan). Author: Edu Guide. Republished by 36Kr with permission.