At 9 p.m. on March 17th,a total number of 253 students from Grade 2016 of College of Humanities and Law waited in their dormitories for their first grade assembly in 2017 to start. Some sat or lay on the bed, while others were covered with quilts. However, they all clicked the same live webcast app on their smart phones or computers and selected the same anchor, their counselor, Li Shun, who soon showed up on the live screen and announced the beginning of the grade assembly.

The live webcast grade assembly lasted as long as an hour. When it came to an end, Li Shun was surprised to notice that it was visited by 34000 times.

In the Conference on Ideological and Political Work in Universities,General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that innovative media and new technology should be utilized to invigorate work so as to combine the traditional advantages of ideological and political work with information technology and intensify modernity and attraction. This live webcast has not only broken the barriers between teachers and students, but brought about many unexpected results. Li Shun is called “Brother Shun” instead of Mr. Li by the students.

Original Reason for the Live Webcast Grade Assembly: Concern and Love

Li Shun expressed frankly that as a counselor who was born in the 1980s, it was the first time for him to webcast. Prior to this, he knew little about it and even resisted it. However, his attitude towards webcast was changed by the students.

At the beginning of his work as a counselor, Li Shun preferred being called Mr. Li. Nevertheless, with the increase of experience, he found that there was a gap between the two titles “teacher” and “student”. Even in the face-to-face individual conversations, students still found it hard to view him as a friend rather than a teacher. Therefore, in order to know what they need and help them to cope with the difficulties in life and study, the barrier between the two titles must be broken.

Li Shun has recognized that the class schedules of the four majors of College of Humanities and Law are different and the three grade assemblies for every term are often scheduled at noon or after 8.30 p.m., which often makes some students have little time for lunch or supper. Harbin is extremely cold in winter. Attending the assembly with an empty stomach would be more terrible. Therefore, in such case, no one could be active in the interaction.

Li Shun has also been aware that the number of “phubbing”, smart phone addicts, is on the rise. The same is true in NEFU. Since live webcast is quite appealing among university students, he decides to hold the grade assembly in the innovative manner so as to make it enjoyable rather than boring.

Writing Winter Vacation Homework by Hand & Conveying Chicken Soup for the Soul via Live Webcast in Dialects

Once the decision has been made, Li Shun started to make a thorough and comprehensive preparation for the assembly. With the content well prepared, Li Shun consulted a variety of webcast platforms and cautiously averted the platforms awash with negative topics. He informed the students of the mode and time of the assembly in various ways several days in advance. The ID of the webcast was also posted in his Wechat group chatting and circle of friends. Parents were also welcomed to participate.

With the elaborate preparation, the live webcast started in a bustling manner.

The assembly consisted of three parts. The first part was to summarize the achievements of last term and illustrated the fulfillment of the winter vacation homework. The winter vacation homework was to write an essay by hand. The topic was on future plans with the word limit of 5000. Li Shun stated that this homework was not assigned at random but had two objectives: one was to practice writing skills since writing competence was central for students of liberal arts; the other was to motivate the freshmen who felt perplexed to think about their future.

The second part involved some issues that were appealing to students, such as relevant policies about study in NEFU as well as hot topics on campus love and interpersonal relationship etc.

The third part was for Q & A, students raising questions while Li Shun answering. On live webcast, students used their nicknames, which could not only eliminate the embarrassment in face-to-face communication, but broke the ice between teachers and students. Some students asked questions about computer games, while others complained about the difficulty of finding boyfriends and frankly expressed their curiosity and yearning for campus love.

The private topics that are embarrassing to talk about in face-to-face communication can be directly presented to the teacher and others for help and advice on the live webcast platform that conceal their real identities, which not only contributes to narrowing the gap between teachers and students, but to eliminating the barrier between them.

Questions ranging from “What should we do if someone does not flush the toilet?” to “What are the new variations on postgraduate recommendation?” were raised by students. Li Shun replied more than 30 of them, referring to some motivational experiences in Liaoning dialect. These elaborately selected “Chicken Soup for the Soul” did not arouse any dislike, but were regarded as classic topics by the students.

“Mr. Li” Became “Brother Shun”

During the live webcast, a netizen flooded the screen. The students from College of Humanities and Law demanded that he should not disturb the assembly in a polite but serious manner, which made Li Shun feel extremely concerned. Fortunately, this incident did not become severe. At the end of the live webcast, the netizen personally contacted Li Shun to apologize and explain that he was a university student in Shanghai and felt envious of such a wonderful grade assembly. However, he only expressed his extreme hatred instead of envy and admiration.

Li Shun has gained great confidence to continue this practice, since he has some unexpected acquisitions.

The live webcast attracted more than 100 alumni of College of Humanities and Law, who communicated passionately with their juniors. A senior sister who works in a law office directly said that “juniors who have passed the National Judicial Examination can come to work in my office.” The bridge between alumni and current students has been established, which can effectively facilitate the employment of current students.

After the live webcast, some parents of the students got in touch with Li Shun and said that they were exceedingly concerned about the webcast topics and felt grateful to Mr. Li. They hoped that there would be more live webcast for parents to participate as the participation of parents can be conducive to conducting student work.

Li Shun said that this live webcast helped him to establish his work pattern “1+3+N”: 1 traditional grade assembly every term cannot be replaced by live webcast ones; 3 modes of face-to-face communication with students; N times of live webcast, the content of which is not confined to grade assembly. Parents’ meetings via live webcast will be organized on an irregular basis. Crucial campus activities, like “Welcome Party for Freshmen” that are generally concerned by students, will also be live webcasted.

A grade assembly webcasted by a teacher with 253 students has received a record of 34000 visits. Someone claimed that Mr. Li would soon become an instant online celebrity. However, Li Shun disliked it and clearly stated that: “I am not an instant online celebrity and never desire to become one. We should fulfill more meaningful and positive tasks, giving priority to our goal and continent rather than means or platforms. We should make the best of this platform so that live webcast will have a positive tendency in its development.” He also said: “his original purpose of live webcast is to bridge the gap between teachers and students and fulfill all the work as a consultant. What he values most is that he is greeted as “Brother Shun” in the affectionate and pleasing voices when he walks on campus.