To help implement the guiding principles of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech on building a leading country in education, Gu Xiaosong, academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), member of the Standing Committee of the Medicine and Health Engineering Division and chief consultant at the Engineering Centre, visited the Engineering Research Centre with his team on 4 July, 2023.
During the visit, he offered his professional guidance and expertise.
The visit was part of efforts to promote the integration and application of digital learning technology, and drive the high-quality development of talent in the Engineering Research Centre for Technology Integration and the Application of E-Learning, part of the Ministry of Education (also known as the Engineering Research Centre). Fan Xianrui, a member of the Party Committee, vice president of the Open University of China (OUC) and director of the Engineering Research Centre, also attended the event. Leaders and teachers from the Faculty of Science and Engineering, the Faculty of Agroforestry and Medicine, the Experimental School, the Engineering Research Centre, the Information Technology Department, the Office of Scientific Research Management and the OUC Online Education & Information Technology Company, also participated in the meeting.
Fan extended a warm welcome to Gu and his team, expressing gratitude for his long-term concern and support for the Engineering Research Centre. In face of the new situation, and the tasks and requirements to build a leading country in education, she said the OUC would continue to implement the national digital education strategy by taking the initiative to help build a learning society and country. In future, she said both parties will cooperate across three key areas. The first task is to improve the integration of medical knowledge and intelligent technology, focusing on the careful cultivation of intelligent medical engineering. The profound medical attainments of Gu, and the application of digital technology in the OUC, will be relied upon to achieve this aim. The second task involves dovetailing its massive online education and services to provide high-quality, low-cost and personalised education services for teachers and students. The third task is to guarantee the connection between the resources of the platform and people’s lives so as to provide the elderly with scientific and correct approaches, and help students realize the desire of “proactive health” based on the existing platform of the OUC (the Seniors University of China, SUC).
In light of the national strategy to become a leading country in education, the OUC, the Engineering Research Centre and Gu laid out a series of proposals. Gu first proposed to give full play to the role of the OUC’s online education platform, and continue to leverage the advantages of artificial intelligence to empower online education. His second proposal was to make good use of the platform of the SUC, along with the platform of Lifelong Learning Education to implement the "Healthy China" development strategy by making courses that ordinary people can afford, benefit society and improve the people's happiness index. The third proposal was to take advantage of the integration of digital technology with the building of disciplines related to “intelligent medical engineering”. His fourth proposal was to plan the content of the online course “TCM Masters” to build high-quality online resources. His fifth proposal was to take advantage of the cooperation and exchange platform of the Open University to initiate a new model of “online education + offline short-term training” in China and to help build a global digital university. Finally, the sixth proposal was to integrate the digital education and health industries, by relying on the advantages of the Open University education system.
Li Jing, deputy director of the Engineering Research Centre, introduced the overall situation of the centre and the plan for its next steps. Gu’s team were also shown around the construction of the smart campus at the OUC’s Weigongcun Campus, where he experienced the smart classroom, holographic recording room and other equipment and facilities.
By Engineering Research Centre