The School of Software of the Open University of China (OUC), jointly set up by the OUC and the China Software Industry Association, offers both degree and non-degree continuing education to software-industry employees. It is an important part of the OUC system at a variety of levels. The School was officially established in November 2013.
At the same time as "internet+" and traditional manufacturing have become integrated in recent years, the software and information-technology industry has sustained a stable growth, with a steady increase in employment that has led to 15% annual growth in demand for workers. Despite increasing numbers of IT graduates from domestic universities, colleges, and technical secondary schools in recent years, the demand for workers in the industry remains unsatisfied. The School’s aim is to provide systematic training in new software to industry employees, convenient and flexible training in the use of software to workers in other industries, and deepen integration of the industry with information technology.
1. The Situation of Majors and Study Centre Construction
According to the unified requirements of the OUC, the School of Software currently offers three majors: Information Management, Mobile Internet Application Technology, and Mechatronics Integration Technology. Starting from 2018, the enrolment has been focused on the Information Management and Mobile Internet Application Technology majors, which are more industry-oriented.
The Mobile Internet Application Technology major is a characteristic programme of the School of Software, which aims to closely serve enterprises and industries. It is jointly established with Neusoft Group as a specialized associate degree program. The major aims to cultivate practical talents who master the basic theories and skills of mobile internet and software programming, possess team collaboration ability and certain technical innovation ability, and can engage in front-line work in the fields of mobile intelligent application development, mobile game development, and mobile website construction.
In 2018, the School of Software completed the application and review process for the Credit Bank, and was officially approved as a member of the Learning Achievement Mutual Recognition Alliance. According to the Credit Bank qualification framework, the School of Software conducted a review of the industry's occupational structure and selected four typical professional certificates, including Network Management Engineer, Web Front-end Development Engineer, Mobile Application Development Engineer, and Graphic Designer. The school organized the compilation of corresponding certification unit learning achievements and evaluation standards, compared the academic education learning achievements with the certification unit, compared the non-academic education learning achievements with the certification unit, and initially designed two types of learning achievement correspondence. In 2018, the School of Software also conducted a pilot project for the mutual recognition and exchange of academic credits and non-academic certificates within the system. Some students successfully obtained industry technical qualification certificates through achievement recognition after completing relevant credit courses.
2. Mission and Construction Objective
The OUC School of Software will fully leverage the advantages of the national modern distance education platform and software industry associations, which are close to enterprises, understand enterprises, and serve enterprises, and will build the school into a modern distance education platform that combines academic continuing education, vocational and technical education, and lifelong education. The school is committed to:
- Provide an integrated solution for the combination of degree and non-degree education, online and offline education, practical training, and employment for students majoring in computer-related disciplines across the country.
- Provide a systematic continuing education and software new technology learning system for software industry practitioners.
- Provide convenient and flexible learning paths for software users in other industries to learn software application technology, and promote the deep integration of industry and information technology.