When AI moves beyond concepts and is genuinely used in classrooms and everyday life, learning itself begins to change.
As AI continues to enter classrooms, one key question has become increasingly relevant: how can it be meaningfully used in real learning contexts?
Recently, the Xiehe Cup AI Talent Challenge, jointly hosted by the Xiehe Education Center and the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, was held at the SUIS Shangyin Campus. Our Pudong Campus participated alongside sister schools from across the Xiehe Education Group, exploring how AI can support teaching, learning, and problem-solving in practice.
The competition was structured around three divisions: Teacher, Senior High, and Junior High, encouraging participants to explore AI not only as a concept, but as a practical tool in authentic educational contexts.
Teacher Division｜From “No Coding Background” to Classroom Application
Under the theme “AI Empowering Teaching,” the Teacher Division invited educators to design teaching or research-based intelligent agents using the Tiangong Kaiwu JIMO Intelligent Agent Base Platform.
At the Pudong Campus, dozens of Chinese and international teachers signed up during the preliminary stage. After training and project refinement, five teachers submitted complete proposals. Among them, Ms. Echo Wang, a Chinese language teacher in the A Level programme, was selected to represent the campus with her project “Revitalizing Cultural Relics.”
Based on selected ceramics, calligraphy, paintings, and ethnic minority handicrafts from the Shanghai Museum, and aligned with the IGCSE Chinese curriculum, her intelligent agent guides students to explore cultural artifacts through AI-supported inquiry.
In the final round, Ms. Wang delivered a clear and engaging presentation, earning the Innovation Award, along with a one-year JIMO platform license and a visit opportunity organized by the AI Research Institute.
In her acceptance speech, she shared:
“As AI rapidly enters education, the school’s learning opportunities came at just the right time. As a Chinese language teacher with no programming background, I was initially unsure, but the course design was approachable and practical. Even creating a simple Q&A-based agent allowed me to see how AI could meaningfully support teaching.”
Senior High Division｜Letting Technology Solve Real Problems
In the Senior High Division, Bella Zhou, Shawn Chen, and Kimball Wang, A1 students enrolled in Computer Science electives, formed a three-member team and secured the Sustainable Development Award.
Their project, “Smart Garbage Sorting Assistant,” uses AI-powered image recognition to identify waste types from user-uploaded photos. To enhance engagement, the app also integrates game-based quizzes, turning environmental education into an interactive learning experience.Preparation spanned several weeks and involved problem identification, AI model training, programming, and repeated testing. Due to the winter holiday, most collaboration took place online, with the team refining prototypes and troubleshooting remotely.
On competition day, their booth attracted a steady flow of visitors, including fellow competitors, who explored the prototype and exchanged ideas. Despite the pressure, the team demonstrated adaptability, technical confidence, and teamwork to earn well-deserved recognition on the podium.
Junior High Division｜Skills, Teamwork, and Responsibility in Action
In the Junior High Division, Luis Liu and William Guo from Grade 7, together with Seed Su, Noah Gu, Ehtan He, and Ken Jiang from Grade 8 formed three two-member teams to compete in the Low-Altitude Exploration Drone Challenge. Participants navigated obstacle-filled courses to complete material transport and flight missions.
The Pudong No. 9 Team, composed of Ethan He and Ken Jiang, stood out through steady performance, strong coordination, and persistence, ultimately winning the Junior High Championship and a brand-new DJI AVATA 2 drone.
Beyond competition results, other participants developed unexpected skills in drone maintenance during preparation and on-site troubleshooting. One student, Seed Su, voluntarily assisted teams from other campuses with equipment repairs—demonstrating responsibility, openness, and collaborative spirit beyond the scoreboard.
Looking Ahead
From classrooms to competition arenas, this year’s AI Talent Challenge offered teachers and students a valuable opportunity to apply AI in meaningful, real-world contexts. More than a contest, it marked a starting point—one that invites deeper exploration of how technology can support learning, creativity, and problem-solving in the years ahead.