The Development History, Characteristics and Trends of Educational Technology in China

After a century of exploration, China's educational technology has forged a unique development path, transforming from electronic education to digital and intelligent education. This article systematically reviews its development history, stage characteristics, and future trends. Historically, the period from the 1920s to 1985 was the exploratory phase of electronic education; the period from 1986 to 2017 was the formation of the educational technology discipline system and the development of educational informatization; since 2018, marked by the "Education Informatization 2.0 Action Plan," it has entered a new 2.0 era. The National Education Digitalization Strategy Action was launched in 2022, and the "Outline of the Plan for Building a Strong Education Nation (2024-2035)" further places educational digitalization in a key position for opening up new development tracks. In terms of development characteristics, China's educational technology exhibits a distinct policy-driven nature, currently undergoing four major transformations: from localized scarcity of resources to nationwide sharing; from standardized teaching to personalized learning; from tool-assisted learning to scenario integration; and from experience-based governance to data-driven approaches.