In a bid to get students to pay attention in online classes, a college professor in Shanghai has been transforming himself into different digital avatars for live-streamed and recorded lessons, according to Chinese news site The Paper.
Jiang Fei, a digital art professor at Shanghai University’s Fine Arts College, told The Paper that he noticed some students missed his online classes. So Jiang created a piece of software that transforms himself into anime avatars in virtual classrooms, hoping it would make his classes more fun for his students. Jiang said that he found his students were more active with his avatars, with an anime girl being the most popular option.
Schools in China have embraced online classes as the Covid-19 pandemic had confined people at home. Exams, PE classes and even flag raising ceremonies have moved online. But online classes also face disruptions related to censorship, app crashes and a digital divide that leaves disadvantaged students struggling. Most schools still haven’t resumed in-person classes even as the spread of the virus has slowed in China.