"Why does this video from the internet not have any audio?" "How can I synchronise audio and animation in PPT?" "Can the format and size of an image be adjusted together?" "Why does the software always fail to install?"

Shanghai’s primary and secondary schools start online education on 2 March 2020. However, different teachers have different levels of ability when it comes to using software. The Shanghai Branch of the Open University of China (OUC) therefore established a group to provide teachers with technical assistance. It has 25 members trained in education software, course planning, media production, art design, and so on.

The group helps teachers in Shanghai with PPT courseware production, media-recording technology, the technical aspect of course recording, encoding-format conversions, and other problems.

The team is scheduled to work from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., but time is tight, and there are many tasks. Online training helps teachers master the basic operations of online-course-production software, but specific problems remain, and grow with the number of teachers. Therefore the team often starts at 8 a.m., and sometimes works until the next morning. As of 19 February, the group has provided technical support to more than 500 teachers.

This is the first time Teacher Zhang, who teaches grade-five English, has had to use online-course-production software; she did not know how to separate video and audio, and use the software for post-production. The service team provided guidance, with member Gu Fangyu simulating a few steps of the operation on her own computer, then sending a video of what she had done to Teacher Zhang, who was grateful for her help.

Dealing with photos is also a headache for teachers. Teacher Wu, who teaches Ethics and the Rule of Law to grade five, wanted to capture colour pictures from textbooks and put them into the courseware. She found a suitable picture online, and requested an image copy from the service group. Zhao Yucai, an art designer, immediately helped; however, the resolution of the captured picture was too low. Zhao Yucai searched again, and this time was able to find a high-definition version of it.

This group at the OUC Shanghai branch has provided strong technical support for the online-course preparation of primary- and secondary-school teachers in Shanghai.

By Dong Chuanfeng, Shanghai Branch