In order to study and implement the spirit of the important speech delivered by General Secretary Xi Jinping at the eighteenth collective learning conference of the Central Political Bureau on the development of blockchain technology, deepen the learning achievements of education under the theme of "Never Forget the Original Intention and Keep in Mind One’s Mission", guide the staff of the Open University of China (OUC) to further study and understand the development and application of blockchain technology in the educational field, and promote the reform and development of the OUC, the OUC convened a meeting for all of its faculty and staff to learn about blockchain on the morning of 2 December 2019.
Jing Degang, secretary of the Party Committee and president of the OUC, said that inviting experts from the university to give reports is an important form of learning and that the OUC will continue to explore innovative forms of learning in the future.
Jing Degang put forward four requirements for the learning and application of blockchain technology. Firstly, we should regard blockchain technology as a breakthrough in the reform and innovation of open education, focus on online construction, establish thought patterns influenced by the internet and new technology, and promote the realisation of information construction. Secondly, we should regard blockchain technology as an important carrier of the “Internet + University” model and apply important internet information technology and cutting-edge technologies to teaching and education practices and create a national team for Internet + education. Thirdly, we should use blockchain technology as an important technological tool for education and teaching, and effectively promote the application of new technology in education and teaching. Fourthly, blockchain technology embodies the improvement of the level and capability of governance, so we should keep pace with the process of national modernisation and strive to become a pacesetter in promoting the governance system and capacity in the field of open education.
Jing Degang stressed that high degree of attention paid to blockchain technology in China is a major opportunity for the OUC to carry out information construction and education and teaching reform. Blockchain technology points to new prospects for the future development of the OUC. It is necessary to look at the OUC from a macroscopic and future-oriented point of view, continuously promote reform, innovation, and technological progress, and inject new impetus into the high-quality development of the OUC.
Mr. Hu Suwang gave a special lecture entitled Research on the Application of Blockchain in the Field of Education. Starting from what blockchain is and the core technology of blockchain, he explained the development status and application prospects of blockchain technology in the field of education, as well as the important role of blockchain technology in the construction of the credit bank. He pointed out that the construction and application of the learning bank chain is an important part of the national credit bank alliance for vocational education and proposed key supporting elements for the learning bank chain and the basic ideology of the construction of the learning bank chain. Finally, he noted that the OUC has been actively exploring the application of blockchain, considering both its advantages and existing problems. In the future, the OUC should give full play to its advantages, seize the opportunities created by technological innovation, and actively boost the development of open education with blockchain technology.
By Wu Yaqi,OUC