On 17 April 2020, UNESCO IITE participated in the International Webinar “Futures of Education: How to Assure Quality Higher Education during University Closures” organized by the Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University (SLIBNU), UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (UNESCO IITE), the UNESCO International Research and Training Centre for Rural Education (UNESCO INRULED) and International Centre for Higher Education Innovation under the auspices of UNESCO (UNESCO ICHEI).
Several experts, scholars and policy-makers from China, United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, Russia and Japan were invited to share their experiences and discuss the topics on global education, higher education and smart education, trying to seek prompt educational responses to COVID-19 and develop innovative smart education.
During his presentation of the Guidance on Flexible Learning during Campus Closures: Ensuring Course Quality of Higher Education in COVID-19 Outbreak, Dr. Ronghuai Huang, Dean of SLIBNU, emphasized that the Guidance is not merely for university responses during the pandemic caused closure; but more importantly, it shares experience, that can be useful for the “Futures of Education” initiative. During school closures, this large-scale online learning practice in higher education has basically “maintained” the continuity of learning, and has also ensured the quality of courses via a variety of innovative methods. Prof. Huang highlighted that the discussion on the futures of education would never stop here, but would become a long-term issue in education.
Two guidance handbooks are available on the UNESCO IITE website: Handbook on Facilitating Flexible Learning During Educational Disruption: The Chinese Experience in Maintaining Undisrupted Learning in COVID-19 Outbreak, and Guidance on Active Learning at Home during Educational Disruption: Promoting Student’s Self-regulation Skills during COVID-19 Outbreak.
More detailed information about the webinar is available on the Beijing Normal University website.