The 2019 AUA Online Education Conference was held at Tsinghua University from the 5th to 6th of July. More than 20 delegates from Chulalongkorn University, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, National University of Singapore, Nazarbayev University, Tsinghua University, United Arab Emirates University, Universitas Indonesia, University of Colombo and University of Malaya attended the conference.
All delegates at the opening of the AUA Online Education Conference
On July 5th, YANG Bin, Vice President and Provost of Tsinghua University, welcomed all the representatives from AUA members to the meeting on behalf of QIU Yong, AUA President and President of Tsinghua University. Drawing on the importance of the rapid development of the Internet and information technology, Yang emphasized that as university education administrators and teachers, we need to fully recognize the advantages and challenges of technology, and deeply integrate technology within education and teaching to promote the reform and improvement of teaching methodologies.
YANG Bin, Vice President & Provost, Tsinghua University
Prof. Shijie Yu, Deputy Director of the Online Education Research Center of the Ministry of Education, and Director of Tsinghua University's Online Education Office, delivered the first keynote speech on the development of online education at Tsinghua University. Sharing the development status and trend of online education of the university, he mentioned that in 2013, Tsinghua University established an online education office and launched its online MOOC platform – xuetangX, by releasing the first five MOOCs. So far, Tsinghua University has built more than 250 MOOCs with a wide range of courses, attracting about 11 million learners from more than 200 countries and regions.
Professor Shijie Yu, Tsinghua University
Professor Sridahar Iyer of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay delivered his keynote speech on the topic "Online Education Practice at IITB". He introduced India's 2009 national mission to promote the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in education, which invested US $1 billion to promote the development of more than 100 projects from over 20 institutions. Following this, he shared the current situation of online education platforms in India and the credit recognition between online courses and universities.
Professor Sridahar Iyer, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Professor Ting Chuen Pong from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) gave a keynote speech on "Online Education Practice at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology". He introduced the general situation of education and technology in the digital age, the MOOC construction, application and education innovation of HKUST and so on. Focusing on sharing the application experience of MOOCs from blended learning, experiential learning and fully online learning, he compared the teaching concept proposed by Confucius in ancient China with MOOCs to promote the concept of "making no social distinctions in teaching". He emphasized that blended learning and experiential learning have achieved the effect of "teaching students in accordance with their aptitude".
Professor Ting Chuen Pong, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Associate Professor Fang Yang from the Language Center and Associate Professor Yuchun Ma from the Department of Computer Science and Technology, both of Tsinghua University, respectively delivered workshops on "How to do Blended Learning". By taking their own courses as examples, they demonstrated how to use "RainClassroom" as a way to design the whole learning process. They also demonstrated how to teach students according to their aptitude by using the learning behavior data of students.
Associate Professor Fang Yang (left) and Associate Professor Yuchun Ma (right), Tsinghua University
On the morning of July 6th, in the round table discussion, experts and scholars from various universities conducted group discussions on different topics. In the group discussion on "Policy and Implementation of MOOCs", Professor Lee Yew Kong of the University of Malaya introduced the MOOC policy, practical experience and achievements of the University of Malaya as well as the national MOOC strategy of Malaysia. Professor Aiman Khamitova from Nazarbayev University introduced the school's efforts to promote blended learning by strengthening the space construction for active learning. In the round-table discussion on "How to Enhance Student-Centered Teaching", Professor Khamitova also introduced the implementation process of training courses. During the round-table on "New Pedagogical Approaches with Information Technology", the COO of xuetangX, Shuaiguo Wang introduced how the sophisticated education tool "RainClassroom" enhances the interaction between teachers and students, improves teaching efficiency and collects large data on students' learning behavior. In the round-table discussion on "The Future Direction of University Education", Dr. Gatot F. Hertono from Universitas Indonesia introduced the MOOC development in Indonesia, the current situation of Universitas Indonesia's online education platforms, as well as the experience and achievements of the university's Office for Learning Resources.
Round-table Discussion
Professor Kiruthika Ragupathi from the National University of Singapore said that the conference provided a great opportunity for delegates to share their practices, as well as their challenges, in the field of online education, adding that the conference laid a good foundation for the future cooperation. Professor Sahana Murthy from IIT Bombay stated that online education is playing an important role in promoting education equity and improving education quality. Professor Murthy added that this conference strengthened exploration and practice, and clarified the innovative and leading role of university. The delegates agreed that in the future, AUA members should explore the integration and innovation of IT and education, strengthen the course exchange between universities, innovate blended learning programs and have more cooperation on new education technology, to support the talent cultivation of Asian universities.
Closing the conference, AUA Secretary and Associate Dean of Tsinghua University's Office of International Cooperation and Exchange Prof. ZHANG Chuanjie reinforced the mission of AUA to continue to build long term collaboration among all AUA members, and to deepen cooperation in the area of online education.
During the conference, the delegates had the opportunity to visit xuetangX and aixuetang online education platforms, as well as to listen to talks from experts of enterprises related to online education. Attendees increased their knowledge of the latest developments in Chinese online education and education innovation.
Conference delegates visiting xuetangX
