From 1st to 14th December 2024, a 23-member delegation from the “Digital Education Application Innovation and Educational Quality Enhancement” programme of the Open University of China (OUC) system completed a two-week training programme at the Open University (OU) in the United Kingdom.

Fan Xianrui, a member of the Party Committee and vice president of the OUC, attended the closing ceremony of the training programme via remote video. Staff from OU’s International Affairs Department participated in the closing discussions.

Fan Xianrui expressed her gratitude to the OU for their support in organising the training programme. She noted that the training delegation marked the first in-person cooperation project between the two universities post-pandemic, signifying a crucial step in deepening their collaboration and a vivid practice of promoting integrated and coordinated development within the OUC System. Fan Xianrui emphasised that the delegation members should transform their training insights into tangible work outcomes, engage in mutual learning and exchange, and jointly contribute to the high-quality development of the OUC system.

The head of OU’s International Affairs Department expressed her delight in hosting the OUC training delegation, highlighting the close cooperation and exchanges that have always characterised the relationship between the two universities. She looked forward to using this training as an opportunity to foster more cooperation and exchanges in the future.

In collaboration with the Institute of Educational Technology, OU’s International Affairs Department provided high-quality training services to the OUC System teachers. The training encompassed a range of topics, including the history of OU, instructional design, quality assurance, examination and assessment, micro-credential design, learning analytics, generative AI, and open educational resources. Throughout the programme, the delegation visited and inspected the laboratories, libraries, and archives of OU's Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM), experiencing the university's digital technology applications and explorations firsthand. Additionally, the delegation toured the Milton Keynes Smart City Experience Centre and Milton Keynes College, located at OU’s headquarters, to gain insights into the UK's initiatives in digitalisation, intelligent innovation, and application.

The members of the training delegation unanimously agreed that the programme was rich in content and innovative in format, yielding substantial learning outcomes. They pledged to apply their learning outcomes to their work, enhance their digital literacy, improve the quality of education and teaching, and serve the integrated and coordinated development of the OUC System with practical actions, aiming to contribute to the establishment of a world-class open university.

Written by Hou Songyan and Xu Jinhai, photos by Zhang Tong, OUC