Guided by the Department of Vocational and Adult Education of the Ministry of Education (MOE), organised by the Open University of China (OUC) and Shanghai Open University (OU), and co-organised by the MOE Vocational Education Development Centre, East China Normal University, and the China Adult Education Association, on 30 January, this parallel session convened approximately 240 representatives from education departments, universities, and research institutions across 35 countries and regions to discuss advancements in digital education and the construction of learning societies.
Wu Yan, China's Vice Minister of Education, emphasised that building a learning society is a national strategy established by the Chinese government. In recent years, the MOE has initiated a strategic action plan for the digitalisation of education. Significant efforts have been invested in developing a national smart education platform, namely Smart Education of China, to lay a digital foundation for a learning society. The MOE has actively advocated for the development of learning-oriented cities, communities, and enterprises, encouraging everyone to embrace and cultivate a passion for learning. Boasting the largest scale of digital education in the world, it serves the highest number of learners globally, sharing China's insights and methods for building a learning-oriented society.
Wu Yan stated that digitalisation, networking, and intelligence are profoundly transforming people's ways of production, communication, and learning. Technologies like generative artificial intelligence are significantly boosting the learning society's capabilities. The vision where "everyone can learn whenever and wherever they want" is increasingly becoming a reality. He mentioned that the Chinese government is prepared to enhance dialogue and cooperation with governments of all countries and international organisations in the realm of building a learning society. The goal is to create a round-the-clock digital learning platform for uninterrupted support to global learners; to establish a comprehensive digital learning space to aid the development of smarter and more portable learning devices; and to construct an extensive digital education community. This involves developing mechanisms for certifying, accumulating, and transferring digital learning achievements, improving data security, digital ethics, and privacy protection, and building a digital education community.
At the meeting, the Report on the Development of a Learning-Oriented Society in China during the Digitalisation Process was released. The report highlights China's strategies, experiences, and initiatives in advancing the creation of a learning-oriented society enhanced by digitalisation in recent years. It also offers a forecast for future directions in digital learning.
Education Ministers from countries like Gabon and New Zealand, along with representatives from international organisations such as UNESCO and the African Union Commission (AUC), leaders of the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE), the Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU), and the African Council for Distance Education (ACDE), as well as experts and scholars from both domestic and international cities, universities, open universities, and research institutions, came together to explore the theme of “Digital Education: Application, Sharing, and Innovation”. They discussed theoretical and practical aspects of establishing a learning society in the digital age from diverse perspectives. Participants concurred that building a learning-oriented society necessitates comprehensive empowerment through digital technology and introduces wider application scenarios in the digital era. The conference further unified the consensus on creating a learning-oriented society in the digital age, proposed new initiatives for forming a digital education community in this era, and is poised to herald a new chapter for the learning society.
Reprinted by the OUC News Network from Xinhua Net