In the mountains of Wanfoshan Town, Tongdao Dong Autonomous County, Huaihua City, Hunan Province, the drum tower of Mu Jiao Village and the rice fields create a picturesque summer scene. Recently, the “Dream Building • Encountering the Future” practice team, consisting of 18 students led by Jiang Ying, the Youth League Secretary of the College of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics at Hunan University, and Peng Xinyu, the Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, conducted a 7-day practical activity here with a dual-track model of “Technology Enlightenment + Livelihood Research.” They established AI classrooms, conducted local interviews, and built a long-term support system, delivering a total of 112 hours of classes, reaching over 80 students, and visiting more than 30 households, allowing youthful wisdom to take root in the Dong village.
AI Enlightenment Classroom: Letting Technology Take Root in the Soil
To stimulate children’s interest in artificial intelligence, the practice team designed engaging AI courses tailored to different age groups and cognitive levels, incorporating the college’s unique characteristics. Through animated demonstrations and real-life examples, team members explained AI concepts and applications, while also conducting knowledge quizzes and advanced learning activities to broaden children’s horizons and cultivate their interest in technology. At the end of the course, 32 pieces of “Mu Jiao Village AI Blueprints” created by the children were posted on the bulletin board, becoming a beautiful sight.
To continue the knowledge transfer, the team also established a WeChat follow-up Q&A group called “Dong Heart Pursuing Dreams” to answer learning questions at any time and interact with parents to understand students’ situations, addressing difficulties as needed. During the nightly “AI Q&A,” the children were always eager to ask questions, and team members responded one by one using voice and hand-drawn illustrations. “Now the kids are always asking if various objects at home count as AI, more engaged than when watching TV,” said villager Aunt Wu, which is the best interpretation of the course.
Local Research: Listening to Voices by the Drum Tower
In addition to teaching, the team focused on “focusing on livelihood needs and perceiving rural changes,” conducting in-depth visits and interviews with farmers through field observations, researching the elderly, left-behind children, and the results of rural revitalization, forming a report that combines warmth and depth.
Focusing on the “Silver-haired Group”: Decoding the Lives of Rural Elders
The practice team discovered through visits to four elderly households that the elders in Mu Jiao Village are generally “physically robust and open-minded”: most can participate in light labor such as vegetable planting and chicken raising, with a diet mainly consisting of self-grown vegetables and fruits, and a regular lifestyle; neighbors often gather at the elderly activity center for leisure, enjoying rich social interactions; they express high satisfaction with village development, recognizing benefits such as free health check-ups and holiday visits provided by the village committee, stating that “life is solid.”
This state stems from threefold support: long-term labor has fostered healthy habits, with the consensus that “going out to the fields every day” is common; although children work away from home, they still maintain regular contact, and neighbors help each other; the activity facilities provided by the village committee serve as a spiritual support. The research also found that some elders face a “digital divide,” experiencing difficulties with smartphone use and online payments; a few families face significant economic pressure due to children balancing childcare and work. Elders generally look forward to communicating with college students to learn new knowledge and understand the outside world.
Caring for the “Rising Sun Power”: Listening to the Voices of Left-Behind Children
The research on 13 left-behind children showed that they exhibit characteristics of “independence and desire coexisting”: most live with their grandparents, and guardians can ensure basic living needs, but there is a lack of learning guidance and psychological care; some children are proactive in learning and have strong self-care abilities, sharing household chores; their personalities range from lively and cheerful to introverted due to the absence of parental companionship.
Emotional needs are the most prominent demand of left-behind children: they often express “missing their parents” and desire more video communication; they are curious about the outside world, especially urban life and technology knowledge. The research also found that a few children, lacking parental guidance, easily become discouraged when facing learning difficulties, spending most of their time watching TV or playing on their phones, lacking beneficial activities.
Suggestions and Strategies: Using Youth Wisdom to Support Rural Development
Based on the research, the team engaged in in-depth discussions with the village committee and the stationed work team, offering suggestions in three areas:
Optimize elderly services: conduct “digital assistance for the elderly” activities, where college students or returning youth teach elders how to use smartphones; increase health lectures and handicraft activities at the elderly activity center;
Support children’s growth: establish “after-school care stations” in village classrooms to provide homework assistance and interest expansion; coordinate with parents to set a “weekly parent-child video day” to guide attention to emotional needs; extend the WeChat group functions to invite school psychological office teachers to join for support;
Deepen rural governance: leverage the pioneering role of party members to form volunteer service teams for elderly care and children’s companionship, doing practical work for those in special need and seeking benefits.
During the research, the team deeply felt the revitalization changes in Mu Jiao Village: characteristic agricultural tourism is thriving, living environments are improving, and villagers’ happiness is increasing. This not only provided a good sample for the research but also made team members more aware of the truth that “rural revitalization requires youth participation.”
Long-term Answers: Letting the Seeds Continue to Grow
In addition to teaching, the team focused on “focusing on livelihood needs” and at the end of the activity, Wu Jufeng, the secretary of the village party branch, presented a banner to the teaching and research team, stating “Art Creates a New Chapter for Rural Areas, Innovatively Building a Revitalization Platform.” This not only affirms the practice team’s efforts in empowering education with AI and supporting revitalization but also reflects recognition of Hunan University’s participation in rural revitalization, showcasing the results of school-local collaboration. Additionally, this teaching and research activity was reported by various media outlets, including People’s Daily, China Women’s Daily, Hunan Daily, and Huaihua Daily, in both text and images, allowing youthful wisdom to take root and grow in the Dong village.
As the bus departed from the village, the drum tower in the rearview mirror gradually became a small dot, but the team members knew: the story of Mu Jiao Village is not over. Just like the “iteration” concept the children learned in the AI class, this youthful practice is not the end, but the beginning of continuous growth—the seeds of technology have been planted in the Dong village soil and will eventually grow into a bridge connecting the mountains and the world over time!
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Reposted from the People’s Daily New Media Platform “People’s Number”
Huaihua People’s Broadcasting Station
Correspondents: Jiang Ying, Zhao Qinghua, Peng Xinyu
