From 10th to 12th December, the “2024 Teaching and Research Activities for the Huaqiao College, Open Learning Centre, and Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (TCSOL) Major of the Open University of China (OUC) took place at Chengdu Open University.
The event saw the participation of over 120 delegates from the Open University of China's (OUC) headquarters and its 37 branches. Yang Dong, Party secretary and chairman of the Sichuan Provincial Returned Overseas Chinese Federation; Li Guang, member of the Party Committee and deputy director of the Sichuan Tianfu New Area Administrative Committee, as well as secretary of the Education, Health, and Healthcare Work Committee; and Fan Xianrui, member of the Party Committee and vice president of the OUC, graced the opening ceremony with their presence and delivered addresses.
Fan Xianrui delivered a speech.
In her address, Fan Xianrui highlighted that General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed at the National Conference on Education that we should improve the strategy of educational opening up, put equal emphasis on introducing overseas educational resources and going global, and continuously enhance China's education to be more influential, competitive, and to have a greater say in the world. She urged the coordination and advancement of the three interconnected endeavours: OUC’s Huaqiao College, Open Learning Centre, and International Chinese Language Education. She encouraged participants to seize this event as an opportunity for in-depth discussions, mutual inspiration, and collaborative efforts to further enhance the internationalisation capabilities of the Open University system. By adopting a strategy of incremental yet swift progress, she called for a collective push to elevate the internationalisation of open education to new peaks and to forge a new pattern for the global development of open education, thereby contributing to the construction of a leading country in education.
Huang Xingguo delivered a report.
Huang Xingguo, president of Chengdu Open University and dean of the OUC’s Huaqiao College, presented a keynote report titled "Reflections and Visions on the Digital Advancement of International Chinese Language Education." In his comprehensive review of the inception and progress of OUC's Huaqiao College, he outlined the institution's commitment to advancing the innovative applications and collaborative development of digital and intelligent Chinese education (international Chinese language education). He emphasised the college's intentions to establish and refine a mechanism for the mutual recognition of digital learning achievements and to develop technical standards and ethical guidelines for the field of digital and intelligent Chinese language education.
During the opening ceremony, the OUC launched an AI-empowered dual-teacher collaborative teaching scenario for Huaqiao College. This innovative initiative helps alleviate the time differences in overseas teaching and effectively improves the quality and efficiency of immersive learning experiences for international learners.
At the opening ceremony, more than 20 distinguished guests came together to inaugurate the "Digital and Intelligent Chinese Language Education Alliance." The alliance is dedicated to establishing a network of digital and intelligent Chinese language education that includes the Open University system, conventional universities, and both domestic and international partner institutions. It is designed to foster communication and mutual inspiration among educators from these diverse entities, as well as to enhance their capabilities in interdisciplinary and cross-cultural teaching.
Liang Chimin, the inaugural president of the Sino-Zambia Vocational College of Science and Technology, presented a keynote address titled "Exploring and Implementing the Internationalisation of 'Chinese Plus Vocational Skills': Zambia Learning Centre of the OUC.”
Throughout the event, a succession of activities took place, including a symposium on the work of Huaqiao College and international exchange cooperation, as well as exchange and study sessions on the construction projects of the Open Learning Centre, and the development of the TCSOL major. The event showcased a range of achievements in international Chinese education, featuring textbooks, publications, and digital resources such as "Chinese for Industries," "Access to Vocational Chinese," and "Exploration and Practice in the International Chinese Language Education of the Digital and Intelligent Era: A Collection of Achievements from OUC's Huaqiao College."
The conduct of these teaching and research activities not only clarified the direction and facilitated the exchange of experiences for the construction of the OUC's Huaqiao College and its Open Learning Centre, but also infused new dynamism and momentum into the Open University's international Chinese language education endeavours. It has established a new pattern for the international development of the Open University system, with a central theme of "unifying efforts and forging a shared future."
By College of International Education