An executive order targeting the popular video-sharing app TikTok made doing business with its Chinese parent company, Bytedance, illegal starting on Sept 20, 2020. — Dreamstime/TNS
Christa Kacer-Reynolds wakes up in darkness at her home in northeast Iowa most mornings, setting her alarm for 3.30am so she has time to prep for class. A little before 5am, she opens her laptop, signs onto a service called GoGoKid, and waits for her first student of the day to log on from their home on the other side of the world.
For the next three hours, she teaches young children in China how to speak English, playing and singing with them through the computer screen. The youngest students learn the basics: colours, foods, mom and dad. The older kids – her oldest regular student is eight, though students into their teens use the platform – learn geography and feelings, stringing together simple conversations.
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