On the afternoon of August 29, 2014, a group of 3 delegates from Korea National Open University (KNOU) headed by Cho Namchul, President of KNOU, visited the Open University of China (OUC). Yang Zhijian, President of the OUC and Zhang Shaogang, Vice President of the OUC participated in the meeting.
Cho Namchul and his delegation visited the university history exhibition themed "Deep Integration of Information Technology and Education — From RTVU to the OUC", automatic high-definition recording and broadcasting rooms, cloud classrooms with multi-terminal applications, digital libraries, international collaborative research centre, and resources for teaching Chinese as a foreign language (TCFL). They showed a strong interest in the exhibition.
During the discussions, Yang Zhijian said that after President Xi Jinping paid an official visit to Korea, China and South Korea reached a strategic partnership. The cooperation between the two countries is deepening and expanding to various fields. The desire was expressed for KNOU and the OUC to keep up with these developments, to implement collaboration between both leaders in the field of education, and promote and deepen the partnership in a comprehensive way.
Yang Zhijian introduced the achievements made by the OUC since its establishment, especially the progress made in the Five-Minute Lectures, Credit Bank, and University for the Elderly. Yang Zhijian pointed out that the OUC could benefit from KNOU's experience in terms of credit bank building.
Cho Namchul said that through this visit he witnessed the achievements made by the OUC in recent years, and that the development of the OUC was amazing. In his opinion, both KNOU and the OUC are facing many common challenges, such as the problem of an aging population. In particular, since the South Korean government proposed the "100-year old Education Age" in 2012, KNOU has been entrusted with the task of implementing lifelong education. Similar to the mission of the OUC, KNOU is currently working on national education of all ages. Therefore there is much to be gained by KNOU and the OUC in benefiting from each others' experience.
Cho Namchul said that the time-space interactive experiential system of the OUC provides advanced concepts and direction for carrying out experimental network-based teaching, making up for the deficiencies of the remote practical teaching of engineering. In this respect, the OUC is ahead of KNOU. Cho Namchul further expressed his hope to have the chance to dispatch full-time teaching and research staff to the OUC to conduct an on-site inspection. He also proposed to implement scholar exchange programmes by reference to that of Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) to carry out personnel exchanges and cooperation research projects between the two universities.
Yang Zhijian applauded President Cho Namchul’s proposal, and on behalf of the OUC, Mr. Yang confirmed the partnership with KNOU again. Yang Zhijian pointed out that both sides should take full advantage of the opportunity of friendly cooperation between the two countries created by their national leaders, make a breakthrough in the existing level of cooperation between the two universities, and promote cooperation in the field of distance education in all aspects.
Enjoying the OUC Rhapsody
Visiting the university's history exhibition
Reading e-books
Watching five-minute lectures
Experiencing cloud classroom with multi-terminal applications
Experiencing automatic HD recording and broadcasting system
Visiting the digital library
Learning about the resources of TCFL
By Chen Haishan, the OUC