The Work Plan for Promoting Artificial Intelligence Education in Primary and Secondary Schools, issued by the Shenzhen Municipal Education Bureau on July 14, 2023, proposes that by 2025, a smart education system that integrates artificial intelligence and education will be basically formed. An artificial intelligence education curriculum system with Shenzhen characteristics will be established, the professional level of artificial intelligence education teachers will be comprehensively improved, a service pattern for social resources to support artificial intelligence education will be constructed, a batch of typical applications of artificial intelligence scenarios in schools will be built, a batch of demonstration schools for artificial intelligence education will be created, and artificial intelligence education will be basically popularized in all primary and secondary schools across the city. This will further enhance the artificial intelligence literacy of primary and secondary school students, play a positive role in promoting the all-round development of students, and contribute to building a strong city in education.

Building a specialized artificial intelligence education curriculum system

1.Comprehensive implementation of foundational courses. In accordance with the Shenzhen Compulsory Education Artificial Intelligence Curriculum Outline, artificial intelligence courses have been integrated into the local curriculum for the compulsory education stage in Shenzhen. In terms of class hours, these courses are primarily integrated into existing subjects such as Information Technology, Science, and Comprehensive Practical Activities. For grades 1-2, at least six class hours are allocated per academic year, while for grades 3-8, at least eight class hours are allocated. For grade 9, the opening of AI courses is flexible, depending on the actual situation of each school.

Regarding course implementation, schools should refer to the curriculum outline and select appropriate teaching content. Schools are encouraged to collaborate with AI experts from all sectors of society to develop popular courses based on task-based, project-based, and problem-based learning, and to conduct joint teaching. For course evaluation, schools should incorporate AI education into academic assessments based on the academic quality standards outlined in the Compulsory Education Information Technology Curriculum Standards (2022 Edition).

2. Proactively develop and expand curriculum. Schools should independently establish extracurricular courses focusing on practical applications of artificial intelligence. They should organize club activities, cross-disciplinary thematic learning, and other personalized learning experiences. A regular mechanism should be established for city, district, and school collaboration in conducting AI lectures and courses. By fully leveraging Shenzhen's advantages in AI technological innovation, the city should collaborate with AI companies, universities, research institutions, and industry associations to develop a series of AI educational extension courses. A mechanism for third-party organizations to enter schools should be perfected, incorporating AI education into after-school programs to attract student participation.

3. Develop a series of advanced courses. By leveraging the resources of universities, research institutions, and leading enterprises, such as their AI laboratories, curricula, and faculty, the education bureau will conduct specialized learning and practical activities for outstanding innovative talent in the field of artificial intelligence through summer camps, research projects, and other means. This will involve collaboration among cities, districts, and schools. The education bureau will explore an AI education industry ecosystem driven by education, with enterprises serving as innovation chain leaders, and with the goal of cultivating outstanding innovative talent. This will foster a research-oriented education model where students can engage in real-world problem exploration in actual "AI+" enterprise scenarios. The education bureau will explore the establishment of a joint cultivation system for outstanding innovative AI talent involving "first-class universities + first-class enterprises + first-class middle schools." This will encourage universities to collaborate with middle schools to offer AI talent training classes, develop a series of "AI+" advanced courses for the early cultivation of outstanding innovative talent, and promote in-depth exchanges and cooperation in the cultivation of outstanding innovative "AI+" talent among Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macao.

Building an intelligent AI education platform and equipment

4. Develop a supporting platform for AI education in primary and secondary schools. Each district will coordinate the construction and application of its own learning platform, while the city will provide a basic resource package and a backup learning platform. By collaborating with various sectors of society, the education bureau will develop AI education expansion resource packages, model libraries, and toolkits, fostering a new ecosystem where high-quality resources are co-created and schools can select and pay for resources based on their needs and effectiveness. Based on the city's "unified management" platform, the education bureau will build a special project on AI education services to support decision-making analysis and command and dispatch for AI education across all regions and at all times.

5. Comprehensively enhance network and computing power support. Expand the bandwidth of interconnected networks between the city level, districts, and directly affiliated schools, and improve the service capabilities of the backbone network. Each district will provide centralized exit bandwidth and computing resources for its affiliated schools, and implement a flexible mechanism to ensure that the concurrent volume during peak class times is met. All schools should promptly conduct inventory and testing of computers, multimedia terminals, and campus local area networks, and update or repurchase equipment as necessary. The city and district schools should divide the work to ensure network security protection, strengthen information confidentiality, and govern artificial intelligence ethics. Encourage enterprises to provide integrated cloud services such as "computing power + applications" and "computing power + courses."

6. Strengthen the construction of artificial intelligence education laboratories. Develop and implement standardized guidelines to guide regions in the coordinated development of diversified, high-level artificial intelligence education laboratories. Schools can either build new artificial intelligence education laboratories or utilize existing maker spaces and laboratories to construct physical environments integrating curriculum resources, experimental hardware, and network platforms, providing students with a space for experiencing, learning, and practicing artificial intelligence. Actively mobilize various universities, enterprises, and especially those closely related to artificial intelligence technology, to donate, co-build, or sponsor artificial intelligence education laboratories for schools through funding, sponsorship, and naming rights.

Building a diverse artificial intelligence education faculty system

7. Strengthen the training of AI-specialized teaching staff. Select outstanding teachers from subjects such as Information Technology, Comprehensive Practice, and Science to form a dedicated team of artificial intelligence education teachers. Encourage districts and schools with the necessary conditions to enrich the artificial intelligence education teaching staff through open recruitment, talent introduction, and job transfer training. Municipal and district educational research departments should include artificial intelligence education in their routine research scope and actively carry out research activities in artificial intelligence teaching. Develop a special training plan for artificial intelligence education teachers and conduct training for all staff members in a differentiated manner. Schools should cooperate with artificial intelligence enterprises or universities to enhance teachers' professional abilities in various aspects such as human-computer collaboration and dual-teacher collaboration under new technological conditions. Encourage universities to offer artificial intelligence majors and support vocational schools in jointly establishing artificial intelligence colleges with leading artificial intelligence enterprises to cultivate a future generation of artificial intelligence education teachers.

8. Leverage AI expertise from across society. Establish a citywide, multi-tiered pool of AI experts, comprising scientists, academicians, professors, doctors, and engineers. Both the city and district levels should develop programs to send these experts into schools as "AI Instructors." Through lectures, project guidance, mentorship, and joint training programs, students will have direct, hands-on exposure to AI, even starting from scratch. This will spark their interest in AI and foster a solid foundation in AI literacy. Implement a system that enables AI professionals from various sectors, including universities, research institutions, and science museums, to teach or provide services in schools, and to explore the establishment of AI expert mentorship programs.

Promote the construction and application of three-dimensional artificial intelligence education scenarios

9. Vigorously promote the construction of AI educational scenarios in schools. Centered around AI technology empowering high-quality educational development, organize schools to explore scenario needs in various fields including teaching, management, and campus life. Establish an educational application scenario supply and demand platform to facilitate communication and cooperation among universities, research institutes, enterprises, and primary and secondary schools, and realize the unified collection and publication of educational scenario information, the discovery and display of scenario solutions, and the effective matching between scenario supply and demand. Promote the application of typical scenarios such as intelligent spaces, smart classrooms, intelligent research and training, and intelligent evaluation to create an immersive campus AI educational application field characterized by personalized teaching, refined governance, and convenient life. Advocate for "intelligent + all-round development," create typical intelligent scenario applications for students' artistic accomplishment, academic achievement, labor skills, and physical and mental health, realize data-assisted quality evaluation, and promote the transformation of the education model.

10. Innovatively push for the opening up of social AI education scenes. To integrate the city's scientific and technological innovation resources, the education bureau will promote the opening of exhibition halls, laboratories, and other venues in universities, research institutes, and AI enterprises to primary and secondary schools. A city-wide AI venue open alliance will be established, and a batch of AI education research and practice bases for primary and secondary school students will be established, forming a mechanism for opening up socialized AI application scenarios to the education field. Active research and study activities will be carried out. Schools can organize visits and research studies for students through comprehensive practical courses and after-school extended services, thereby forming a region-wide, socialized collaborative education scenario.