ABSTRACT
Tsinghua did not spring into formal emergency online education in a vacuum, without resources or without an eye to the future. This context chapter steps back to discuss contexts relevant to framing the Tsinghua case. The first two sections of this chapter frame fundamental conceptual issues pertaining to innovation in Chinese higher education and to unpacking the experimental online or hybrid education space. The final two sections explore Chinese government policies regarding online learning and global developments. Combined, the chapter articulates research frontiers addressed in subsequent chapters.
