by Ran Hongyin

When the body is confined， the mind wanders. When trapped in a small space， you may find interest in things you wouldnt have otherwise. This is how I began learning programming.

I enrolled in an online class， and when I logged in， the first thing out of the teachers mouth was： “With the evolution of technology， simple and repetitive tasks are gradually being replaced by machines. So how should we change our way of working and thinking？ How can we become more competitive with the help of technology？”

I pressed the “Enter”key. Multiple choices， pictures， charts， comics， exercises in class… At each step， I never got bored at all. Instead， I joyously welcomed this new world. Interaction has always been a key component of education， which is now practiced in an unprecedented way.

However， I was the only person participating in the class. The teacher， “Wu Feng，”was just a program， and everything he said was predetermined. The person responsible for his wisdom was probably drinking coffee somewhere.

When I first heard online education over a decade ago， it mostly involved prerecorded video classes. I considered online education nothing more than a complement to face-toface teaching. Many people can access it at once， but the depth of information is lacking. However， my opinion has turned around 180 degrees.

During the epidemic， I subscribed to several online courses including formal courses from higher education institutions， public lectures by research institutes， and promotional activities organized by publishers of cultural materials. The lecturers were all experts and professors， most of whom were new to working online. Their unfamiliarity with this new method of teaching made them uncomfortable about talking to a machine at first. Moreover， none were very familiar with the software. However， students from across the country asked questions， expressed opinions， sent messages of gratitude， posted virtual flowers， and clicked “l(fā)ike.” Assistants choose questions submitted by students， and the teacher wont be bothered by seeing distracted students.

The tasks of online teachers have also changed. Alongside teaching， they are also orators in this new era， influencing the public with their expertise. They are salespeople for cultural industries， hawking cultural products with their wisdom. They are new online celebrities as well， enriching online culture with some scholarly charm.

What other changes can we expect？ Who knows！ However， due to the epidemic， new currents are surging. Everyone will probably feel it.