Brief Introduction:
The Lifelong Education Platform of the Open University of China (OUC) is a brand-new leaning platform developed on the foundation of its existing systems, aiming at promoting educational equity and bridging the digital divide. It is committed to meeting the diverse and individualised learning needs of the public, as well as empowering lifelong education through digitalisation.
The OUC Lifelong Education Platform, with over 6.8 million registered users, has served nearly 60 million visits from lifelong learners across over 200 countries and regions worldwide since its launch in May 2022. This platform has achieved significant results in contributing to the development of a learning-oriented society through digitalisation.
The OUC Lifelong Education Platform now boasts over 1.03 million resources, accumulating more than 1.1 million learning hours. Special programmes such as "Lectures by Competent People" and "Smart Elderly Assistance" have been launched, making available around 80,000 high-quality electronic micro-lectures. An online learning special zone for the "National Reading Campaign" has released over 10,000 electronic books. Additionally, the platform has undergone age-friendly and accessibility upgrades to meet the diverse learning needs of all users, creating a more inclusive and user-friendly learning environment.
Ten Major Actions:
On 20 May 2024, the Open University of China (OUC) celebrated the two-year anniversary of its Lifelong Education Platform online. This platform is designed to serve the lifelong learning needs of all and to promote the development of a learning society. In 2023, the OUC implemented 10 major initiatives centred around "Empowering Lifelong Education through Digitalisation." These initiatives aim to facilitate the joint contribution and sharing of high-quality resources, promote technological innovation and application, and foster the realisation that "everyone can learn anytime and anywhere." They also actively support the comprehensive development of individuals and the creation of a country committed to lifelong learning for all.
I. AI Technology Empowering Personalised, Targeted, and Flexible Learning
Action One: Developing the Smart Learning Companion "Bai Ze"
With AI large language models as the foundational capability, the smart learning companion "Bai Ze" on the Lifelong Education Platform can engage in interactive conversations with learners. It answers learners' questions based on course content and accurately indicates the source of the information and corresponding video clips. This facilitates convenient, in-depth study of relevant knowledge points for learners.
So far, the smart learning companion "Bai Ze" has covered over 100 courses on the platform, providing AI-assisted learning features such as course summaries, knowledge point summaries, knowledge Q&A, and recommendations for courses suitable for lifelong learning scenarios. In the future, it will also support intelligent Q&A customer service with more courses being deployed.
Action Two: Generative AI Assisting Lifelong Learning
The platform has launched an "AI+" course analysis and intelligent learning navigation engine. This system leverages generative AI capabilities to extract knowledge points and intelligently summarise videos, enabling quick identification of key knowledge points and one-click navigation to relevant video clips. In the near future, it will also introduce features such as intelligent course voice recognition, automatic generation of video subtitles, and intelligent multilingual translation, and will deploy these across all courses.
II. Massive High-Quality Themed Resources Supporting All-Round Development
Action Three: Serving Rural Revitalisation
To implement the rural revitalisation strategy and accelerate the modernization of the agricultural sector and rural areas, the Lifelong Education Platform has launched the Rural Revitalisation Channel. This initiative aims to enhance agriculture, improve rural areas, and advance the development of rural people in every aspect. The channel features four major sections: Current Affairs Tracking, Learning and Growth, Practice Base, and Achievement Showcase. Over the past year, it has uploaded 1038 high-quality resources, hosted 5 online lectures, and organised one themed event. This initiative supports the revitalization of rural talent and contributes the OUC's strength to the high-quality training of local talent for rural revitalisation efforts.
Action Four: Supporting Innovation and Entrepreneurship
To further expand the social influence of the OUC’s innovation and entrepreneurship education and fulfill its social responsibility, the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Channel has been launched on the Lifelong Education Platform. This initiative aims to cultivate more talent with innovative spirit and practical capabilities for society.
The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Channel is divided into four main sections: education, competition, charm, and a digital library for innovation and entrepreneurship. The education section offers 1238 specialised courses and 98 books, forming a foundational resource for learning professional entrepreneurial knowledge and skills. The competition section focuses on specialised training for "Internet+" competitions and innovation and entrepreneurship competitions in emerging business fields. It includes pre-competition live broadcast guidance, competition-related announcements, and introductions to winning projects and teams, providing users with comprehensive pre-competition support. The charm section highlights innovative projects and practical achievements, serving as a platform for exchange and sharing. Finally, the digital library section provides e-books on industry information, helping users stay informed about the latest developments, market trends, and future directions of various industries.
Action Five: Empowering Female Growth
To better serve the lifelong learning needs of women and enhance their access to continuing education, the platform has partnered with the OUC and the All-China Women's Federation to launch "Brilliant Life, A Lifelong Learning Plan for Women." This initiative includes the creation of a women's channel, facilitating the integration and alignment of resources between the "Learning Enjoyment Bar for Females" and the Lifelong Education Platform, all aimed at empowering women's growth through digitalisation.
The "Women's Channel" has launched 500 specialised course resources covering topics such as Smart Women, Happy Families, Healthy Living, Emotional & Intelligence Cultivation, and Makeup Art Classes. These courses feature unique characteristics designed to meet the varied learning needs of women in different fields.
Education experts, psychologists, and distinguished teachers are invited to participate in live broadcasts on the platform, focusing on family education. These sessions aim to share concepts, techniques, and methods of family education, helping women to better understand parenting knowledge, enhance their educational skills, and more effectively guide their children's development, thereby contributing to family growth.
Action Six: Enhancing Aesthetic Education for All
As society evolves, the pursuit of spiritual and cultural enrichment intensifies. Art, a vital component of human culture, plays an essential role in elevating individual literacy and fostering social harmony. To cater to the growing demand for art education, the platform has introduced "Art Master Lectures," meticulously crafted by the OUC School of Arts. Through top-notch art education resources, it supports national aesthetic education and boosts the artistic literacy and aesthetic abilities of the community.
Over the past year, the platform has launched ten "Art Master Lectures," featuring renowned artists as lead lecturers. These sessions are delivered through live online broadcasts and recorded formats, enabling the artists to share their knowledge, experiences, and achievements with a wide audience. The lectures cover a range of topics, including Chinese freehand brushwork painting, seal script, freehand flower-and-bird painting, clerical script, cultural aesthetics, regular script techniques, landscape painting creation, the study of running script, and detailed discussions of cursive script.
Action Seven: Promoting Lifelong Learning in Communities
Building on the success of creating a learning society through digital empowerment, the OUC harnesses its research expertise in lifelong learning within communities. It has introduced the Community Lifelong Learning Capacity Enhancement Channel on its lifelong education platform, accessible to all community members.
The Community Lifelong Learning Capacity Enhancement Channel comprises four major sections: Lectures by Competent People, Ten Thousand Open Courses for Community and Elderly Education, Livestream Series on Lifelong Learning for All, and County Learning Centres. In the "Lectures by Competent People" section, approximately 10,000 resources are offered online, covering 10 learning topics such as scientific literacy, internet learning, intelligent technology application for the elderly, and community governance and emergency management. The "Ten Thousand Open Courses for Community and Elderly Education" section features nearly 100,000 online resources, subdivided into over 50 learning topics tailored for lifelong learners of all ages. The "Livestream Series on Lifelong Learning for All" section presents 16 livestream sessions. In the "County Learning Centres" section, brand cases and courses collected from various counties are showcased, providing a platform for publicity and display for community learning centres in each county, and offering high-quality resources to serve communities.
III. Innovative Interconnection Establishes a New Pattern of Lifelong Learning
Action Eight: Sustaining Interconnection
Over the past year, the Lifelong Education Platform has actively engaged in deep collaboration with provincial-level lifelong education platforms, aiming to facilitate data docking and the exchange of courses and related information between the OUC Lifelong Education Platform and other platforms. So far, preliminary interconnection has been achieved with 13 provinces and municipalities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Jilin, Hebei, Qingdao, Shandong, Zhejiang, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Hubei, Chengdu, and Chongqing. In-depth integration has been successfully completed with Hubei. Moving forward, further interconnection will be pursued with additional provinces and municipalities to achieve user interconnection, data linkage, mutual recognition of achievements, and resource sharing.
Action Nine: Establishing lifelong Learning Records
The platform has established connectivity with the National Credit Bank for Vocational Education, providing users with lifelong learning records. These records document and retain all learning achievements of users on the Lifelong Education Platform. The platform has launched graduation certificates, which thoroughly accredit users' learning outcomes, enhancing their sense of self-identity and accomplishment, and stimulating their motivation to learn.
Moving forward, plans are in place to establish a comprehensive link between lifelong learning records initiatives and the credit bank. This integration will provide users with lifelong learning records that encompass both formal degree-based and informal non-degree education throughout their lives.
Action Ten: Developing Exquisite Courses
The platform has further enhanced its commitment to lifelong learning and internet connectivity. It has upgraded its course offerings, teaching designs, visual styles, content presentation, and learning support across the board, creating a series of high-quality courses. Over the past year, courses like Official Document Writing and Ten Lectures on Aesthetic Medicine have been introduced, spanning the fields of the workplace and medicine. These high-quality digital resources have been pivotal in the platform's transformation and upgrade.
In the future, the OUC Lifelong Education Platform will continue to develop and gather high-quality learning resources in a variety of formats and fields. It will introduce AI-assisted learning features tailored for lifelong learning scenarios, promote collaborative contributions, and the sharing and interconnection of high-quality digital resources, and enhance digital management capabilities. Upholding the goal of "service for all, flexible methods, abundant resources, and easy accessibility," the platform aims to create an always-online classroom and provide lifelong education that is comprehensive, in-depth, and heartwarming.