On April 16, 2024, the "Academic Event on Digitalization and the Innovative Reform of University Teaching" of the 61st China Higher Education Expo was held in Fuzhou.
This event was sponsored by the China Association of Higher Education and co-hosted by Xiamen University, Fujian Normal University, North China Electric Power University, and Sinopharm Exhibition Co., Ltd. Researcher Jiang Enlai, Vice President of the China Association of Higher Education; Professor Fang Ying, Vice President of Xiamen University; and Professor Bie Dunrong, Dean of the Institute of Education at Xiamen University, attended the event and delivered speeches. Professor Liu Zhentian, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Institute of Education at Xiamen University and Director of Center for Higher Education Development of Xiamen University, presided over the opening ceremony.
More than 200 guests and representatives from over 100 universities (including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, Harbin Institute of Technology, Lanzhou University, Beijing Institute of Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Minzu University of China, Central China Normal University, Beijing Jiaotong University, and Zhengzhou University), as well as a number of publishing houses and artificial intelligence technology companies, participated in the conference. An online live broadcast was launched for this forum, providing an opportunity for thousands of experts and scholars to share the forum's achievements.
In his speech, Jiang Enlai pointed out that digital technology connects the future and innovation drives development, and the digitalization of higher education is an inevitable trend of the times, a demand for development, and a direction for reform.
The digitalization and innovative reform of university teaching should be promoted from four aspects: firstly, accurately understand the general trend of digital development and scientifically grasp the future direction of education; secondly, promote the digitalization of teaching models and innovate educational and teaching models; thirdly, improve the digital literacy of teachers and students and avoid information ethics and security issues; fourthly, innovate the application models of digital education to promote the improvement of digital education quality and educational equity.
He hoped that the experts and scholars present would conduct in-depth discussions, speak freely, and offer suggestions for the development of digital higher education and teaching reform in China.
In his speech, Fang Ying stated that digitalization is an important support for achieving high-quality development of higher education, and digital education is a specific practice to advance the Digital China strategy. With the rise of digital technology, the digital transformation of higher education is imperative. Universities urgently need to seize the development opportunities brought by digital empowerment and accelerate the digital transformation and upgrading of all links in the entire process of higher education and teaching.
In recent years, Xiamen University has actively promoted research on digital higher education and made many beneficial attempts in the reform of digital education and teaching. It has actively participated in the compilation of Boundless Possibilities: World Higher Education Digital Development Report and World Higher Education Digital Development Index; used digital technology to strengthen internal teaching quality assurance; and actively advanced reform and innovation in flipped classrooms, blended teaching, and other areas. He expressed the expectation that this academic seminar would contribute to the all-round construction of a digital teaching reform system and the building of a powerful country in higher education.
In his speech, Bie Dunrong pointed out that the development of educational technology has gone through multiple stages, including a technology-deficient stage, a service-represented technology stage, an audio-visual teaching technology stage, a radio and television technology stage, an internet technology stage, a big data technology stage, and a stage centered on artificial intelligence (AI). Digitalization is closely connected with higher education, and large AI models have been playing and will continue to play an increasingly important role in the field of higher education.
He believes that artificial intelligence (AI) technology will change the traditional university teaching method, which mainly aims at knowledge impartment. Universities need to reform how teachers teach and how students learn, and provide corresponding teaching support and services. He pointed out that digitalization provides unlimited development space for global higher education, and universities should actively respond to digital reform and participate in higher education digitalization initiatives.
During the keynote speech session, Professor Xu Xiaofei (former Vice President of Harbin Institute of Technology), Professor Liu Yunpeng (Vice President of North China Electric Power University), Professor Li Yan (Vice Dean of the School of Education at Zhejiang University), Qin Botao (General Manager of Chaoxing Fanya Group and Dean of Chaoxing Research Institute), Professor Guo Jianpeng (Vice Dean of the Institute of Education at Xiamen University), Professor Han Xibin (Vice Dean of the Institute of Education at Tsinghua University), Professor Qian Zheng (Director of the Academic Affairs Department at Beihang University), Professor Luo Xiong (Director of the Academic Affairs Office at University of Science and Technology Beijing), Professor Wang Qiong (from the School of Education at Peking University), Qian Hai (General Manager of the Knowledge Graph Business Department at Wisdom Tree Network), and Hu Jiangyuan (Vice President of Higher Education Talent Development at iFLYTEK) shared their latest research findings and development achievements around the theme of "Digitalization and the Innovative Reform of University Teaching". The speeches were hosted by Professor Liu Chongru (Director of the Academic Affairs Office at North China Electric Power University) and Professor Yin Shidong (Vice Dean of the School of Education at Fujian Normal University) respectively.
During the roundtable discussion session, Professor Liu Zhentian (Secretary of the Party Committee of the Institute of Education at Xiamen University), Professor Wu Di (Deputy Director of the National Engineering Research Center for Digital Learning and Education at Central China Normal University), Professor Qian Zheng (Director of the Academic Affairs Department at Beihang University), Zhai Xuesong (Distinguished Research Fellow of the School of Education at Zhejiang University), Associate Professor Guo Yirong (of the Institute of Education at Xiamen University), General Manager Qin Botao, Professor Qian Zheng, Professor Li Yan, and General Manager Qian Hai exchanged views and discussed around the theme of "Digitalization and the Innovative Reform of University Teaching". The roundtable discussion was hosted by Professor Bie Dunrong (Dean of the Institute of Education at Xiamen University) and Professor Wu Wei (Deputy Director of Center for Higher Education Development of Xiamen University) respectively.
This forum featured a significant theme, saw enthusiastic participation from guests and representatives, yielded productive exchanges and discussions, and had thorough service support. It was highly praised by all participants, achieved its expected goals, and will exert an important and far-reaching impact on promoting digitalization and the innovative reform of university teaching.
