Google Inc yesterday unveiled a Chinese-language version of its new service YouTube EDU, which allows Internet users to access videotaped courses from three local universities.
The search giant said National Taiwan University, National Tsing Hua University and National Chiao Tung University had uploaded more than 140 video courses about math, literature and science to the YouTube EDU Web site since the beginning of the year.
“The courses allow Internet users to learn not only academic knowledge, but also cultural aspects. They also provide great opportunities for foreign students to learn Taiwanese culture,” Angela Lin (林永函), manager of YouTube’s strategic partnerships division, said at a press conference.
Photo: Chen Ping-hung, Taipei Times
YouTube EDU is an open platform where users from around the world can access courses offered by 400 primary and secondary schools, as well as universities in countries including the US, South Korea, Japan, India, Malaysia and Hong Kong, Lin said.
Established in 2009, YouTube EDU has since seen its number of channels grow three fold to more than 1,000, Lin said, saying that as of last year, about 850,000 video courses were available online for users.
“YouTube EDU is a global classroom that provides localized educational resources to everyone with Internet access,” Lin said.
“In today’s world, video is an incredibly engaging way to teach students and to engage students ... This is really a new age in terms of technology enabling us to learn and to educate each other. We are entering a new age,” she added.
Google Taiwan said it was seeking to collaborate with more educational institutions in Taiwan this year to increase the size of its YouTube EDU services and further diversify content.
The company also intends to invite more academic institutions in Chinese and Arabic-speaking countries to upload their courses to YouTube EDU to meet the rising demand for online education courses, Lin said.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
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The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
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