From 14th to 16th April 2018, China Association for Educational Technology (CAET) Higher Education University Distance Education Specialised Commission (hereinafter referred to as "CAET Distance Education Commission") held its 2018 annual academic conference in Guangzhou. Meanwhile, a distance teaching innovation forum was also held. This event coincided with the CAET annual meeting and shared academic resources which enabled the achievements made in the distance education field to be more widely spread.
OUC vice president and director of CAET Distance Education Commission, Prof. Yang Xiaotang, delivered a keynote speech entitled Innovation-driven Open Education at the distance teaching innovation forum. He pointed out that innovation-driven is a national strategy and that innovation in education has aroused great attention and expectation. Under the background of pushing forward the development of open education in the new era, the goal of open education has to focus on four dimensions: education concept, education system, education elements, and education resources, and also strive to lead the research, provide the theoretical guidance, technical support, and model reconstruction. According to Yang Xiaotang, open education that is driven by educational innovation is a continuous process. The goals and levels for its development do not have a constant standard and we need to make progress with ceaseless creative practice. As the essential subject of the open education, the OUC system needs to build a dialectical education reform thinking way with education reform and education innovation interaction as the core to deal well with the relationship between innovation and reform. During the process of cultivation and training of the practitioners in open education, we should strengthen the scientific training of education innovation and improve their innovation capability and level. He further pointed out that we should further leverage the platform function and the organisational advantages of CAET Distance Education Commission to promote the constant innovation in the theory and practice of open education, pushing forward the in-depth development of distance teaching reform. Party secretary of the Open University of Guangdong, Li Haiyan, and executive deputy chairman of CAET, Zhang Shaogang, were present at the forum and also delivered speeches. The forum was presided over by general-secretary of CAET Distance Education Commission, Chen Shougang.
Based on White Paper on Internet-based Learning, Prof. Li Yushun, of the Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, shared his opinions on the current status of China's Internet learning development and provided his thoughts on further research in this respect. Prof. Lu Xiaozhong of the School of Education, South China Normal University (SCNU) and Prof. Xiao Junhong of Shantou RTVU, reported on the future-oriented education teaching thought reform and the "Snakes and Ladders" problem encountered in distance teaching innovation. Director Ju Feng from Ministry of Education (MOE) Higher Education Teaching Research Centre, and Dr. Wang Li from the OUC headquarters, shared their views on the MOOC platform construction of the universities in China, its future development and a MOOC teaching case on Android Smartphone Programming.
In the Practice Innovation section of the forum, director of the CAET Distance Education Commission, Prof. Chen Zhiping, shared Inner Mongolia RTVU's practices in pushing the comprehensive reform and his thoughts on its transformational development towards an open university. Director of National E-learning Resource Centre (NERO), Shan Congkai, Party secretary of Community College of Changning District, Shanghai Song Yifang, director of Big Data Centre of Open Edutainment, Gong Yaxun, and director of Beijing Xinxuedao Education Technology Ltd., Chen Hui, each delivered speeches on digital resources, informatisation of community education, big data and AI, recorded video and live broadcast technology development, respectively. In the summary, Chen Shougang said that to carry out teaching reform, first, we should emancipate our minds to some extent. This forum provides several points of view, promoting exchanges and collisions of thoughts. The forum is designed to provide a cognitive basis and action orientation for distance teaching innovation.
Some commission members and academic members of CAET Distance Education Commission also held meetings to discuss the work plan for the 7th Council and the work focus for 2018.
By Chen Min, OUC