(A Shanghai school is mentioned by Tim Cook at the annual Apple spring event. [Photo/Xinmin.cn])

A public school in Shanghai has been mentioned by Apple's Tim Cook at the IT giant’s spring 2018 event at Lane Tech High School in Chicago, U.S.A.

Every spring, Apple hosts a keynote to unveil its new products and software updates, but this year it was focused on education. The company’s CEO, Tim Cook, announced a cheaper version of the iPad and used a Shanghai school as an example to showcase the application of technology in teaching and learning.

“Whether in history, art or other fields, information technology will help inspire children’s talents and provide teachers with more personalized teaching programs," said Cook in his speech.

The school is a primary school in Shanghai’s Huangpu District. Last December, Cook paid a visit to the school, where he was treated to a charming vision of the future of education. As the school’s head teacher recalls, the school band used their iPads to play virtual versions of the zither, violin, flute and wooden fish in front of the tech CEO. In a fine arts class, the kids made short video clips using animation apps and created original electronic greeting cards. In a Chinese literature class, they learned ancient poetry with the help of their iPads.

Back in 2011, the primary school became one of the first schools in Shanghai to use tablets in teaching. It started the exploration of “cloud classrooms” to help teachers understand students’ learning and thinking processes in a real-time manner, so as to improve the pertinence and methods of their teaching. As the head teacher puts it,“the digitalization of education has become an inevitable trend.” By creating a virtual space for children to learn what, when and where they want, teachers are enabled to produce cloud classroom-based activities around the key points of their teaching, and children who are unstimulated by a traditional classroom teaching approach can find a method of learning that better suits them.