Why are people in China using Zoom?
- Zoom has found appeal among students, bankers and others in China seeking to connect with the rest of the world
- Competition is limited as communication apps from Google and others remain blocked by China’s Great Firewall
When the coronavirus outbreak prompted one university to cancel classes in Jiangsu province, administrators had to act quickly to keep the spring semester going.
Duke Kunshan University, a partnership between Duke University in the US and Wuhan University in China, hosts some 700 Chinese and foreign students from roughly 30 countries. With most of them staying home as the epidemic spread, they had to find a solution that worked for everyone – students and faculty alike, wherever they may be.
Eventually, they settled on Zoom.
“In the three weeks it took for us to move teaching and learning entirely online, we looked at several videoconferencing systems but felt that Zoom best suited our needs, as it was widely available and did not involve too much of a learning curve for faculty, staff and students,” said Scott MacEachern, the university’s vice chancellor for academic affairs.
“Given that our faculty and students were spread around the world, availability and ease of use were essential.”
