From 21st to 23rd May 2024, a delegation from Universitas Terbuka (UT) in Indonesia visited the Open University of China (OUC).

The delegation was received by OUC's Vice President, Fan Xianrui, who is also a member of the university’s Party Committee. The visit included an interactive session involving representatives from various departments, such as Digitalisation, Student Affairs and Teacher Development, Quality Assurance, and Academic Affairs.

In her address, Vice President Fan Xianrui highlighted the longstanding friendly ties between the OUC and UT, noting fruitful collaborations in scholarly exchanges, teacher visits, and academic research. She expressed her hope that both institutions could intensify innovative research and practice in areas such as educational technology, models, and management within the framework of the ASEAN-China Digital Education Alliance. The aim is to explore the co-construction and sharing of high-quality educational resources, providing valuable experiences and models for the advancement of open and distance education across Asia and globally.

The UT delegation members expressed their pride in visiting the OUC and recognised the university's operational experiences as valuable references for UT. They hoped that this visit would allow them to learn from OUC’s advanced practices in information technology, student support, quality assurance, and examination systems. This visit lays a solid foundation for future exchanges and collaborations, including teacher-student visits and academic research.

During their visit, the UT delegation engaged in detailed discussions with OUC departments responsible for digital education, examinations, and quality assurance. They expressed their anticipation of future deep collaborations with OUC in these areas. The delegation also toured the Weigongcun Campus, visiting the Experimental School and the Engineering Research Centre for Technology Integration and Application of E-Learning of the Ministry of Education. They met with relevant personnel to discuss the research and application of educational digital technology in teaching and participated in a symposium with students studying Indonesian at the Experimental School.

Additionally, the UT delegation toured Tianjin Open University and iFLYTEK Co., Ltd.

Written by Zhang Yi, photo by Zhang Jun, OUC