In recent years, China has seen a growing trend of lifelong learning, with more people willing to invest in their personal and professional growth. For China’s more than 875 million labor force, their growing learning needs are diverse. Some seek to acquire new skills and knowledge to better their career prospects, while others want to learn for leisure, social interaction, and to enrich their retirement.
This growing trend compounding with the acceleration of digitization made online continuing education in China a new growth area. According to a report by Frost & Sullivan in September 2022, the market size of China’s adult learning industry has grown rapidly from RMB 383.3 billion in 2017 to RMB 566.4 billion ($56 billion to $82 billion) in 2021, with a compound annual growth rate of 10.3%. The market is expected to reach RMB 994.7 billion by 2026.
QuantaSing Group (NASDAQ: QSG), a leading Chinese company providing online adult learning courses, has developed a comprehensive and innovative platform that caters to the diverse needs of learners, who come from various ages and backgrounds. QuantaSing offers a wide range of adult learning courses, such as those that give users a basic understanding of financial concepts, to Chinese calligraphy, piano, and short video production.
To enhance learning results, QuantaSing also provides a dual-instructor learning mode, offering students both expert instructors’ courses and off-class tutor communication. QuantaSing’s sub-brands, JiangZhen and QianChi, offer personal interest courses that address China’s seismic economic and social shifts by empowering individuals to re-skill and explore hobbies. These courses are priced at a more affordable level than formal education providers, yet with a level of personalized guidance that is unavailable from free online courses. As a result, these courses have become a popular choice for working adults and retirees who are seeking to expand their knowledge and skills outside of traditional classroom settings.
Dual-instructor learning experience
One major pain point of online learning is that not all students are focused and engaged in a virtual classroom, making it difficult for teachers to target and reach those students that need more support. To address this problem, QuantaSing uses a unique dual-instructor learning system. Each course is first taught by an expert instructor in a large-class setting via livestreamed lessons and then supported by off-class tutors in the form of online study groups. The tutors provide individual guidance and daily support, such as responding to students’ inquiries, overseeing learning progress, coordinating course-related activities, assessing learners’ performance, and collecting feedback.
The benefits of a dual-instructor system primarily lie in its ability to help students achieve the best learning results. For one, the effectiveness of livestream lessons might not work to accommodate the learning needs of all students, which is why off-class tutors are essential. For example, students learning fine arts and calligraphy may need to show teachers detailed hand movements to improve, tutors can help facilitate that process more attentively than an expert instructor. Secondly, tutors can monitor learning progress at any time and respond to questions about the content of the online teacher’s classes. Both the expert instructor and the tutor must coordinate lesson planning in advance to ensure students internalize and use the learned knowledge.
In the two years of teaching millions of students across China, QuantaSing has proved that the dual-instructor system is an effective way to enhance the learning experience. For example, at QuantaSing’s Qianchi piano courses, learner Ms. Ge explored her passion for music. Ms. Ge has no prior piano experience, but under the guidance of the course and daily practice, she gradually gained confidence and developed a newfound love for music. Expert instructors and off-class tutors were crucial in her journey, providing personalized feedback and encouragement to keep her motivated.
In another instance, QuantaSing’s painting course has inspired learners like Ms. Li, a 55-year-old novice in painting from Hebei province, to discover a newfound passion for life. She registered as a user on JiangZhen and fell in love with the painting classes. Today, she proudly displays her artwork in her courtyard, which is a testament to the transformative power of the arts.
The dual-instructor system has allowed QuantaSing to provide a comprehensive learning experience that combines the expertise of top-notch experts with the personalized attention of off-class tutors, making it possible for users like Ms. Ge and Ms. Li to achieve their full potential in their chosen hobbies.