On 12 June 2020, the Open University of China (OUC) held a meeting on (expanded) collective theoretical learning for the central group of the OUC Party Committee, where Lu Xin, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, former vice minister of the Ministry of Education (MOE), and president of the Chinese Society for Technical and Vocational Education (CSTVE), was invited to give a special lecture titled Artificial Intelligence: A Major Opportunity for Educational Reform and Innovation.
Members of the OUC Party Committee and leadership team, secretaries of the Party branches (general branch), middle-level cadres, and persons in charge of the school run businesses of the OUC attended the meeting, which was presided over by Jing Degang, secretary of the OUC Party Committee and president of the OUC.
The lecture discussed three aspects: the historical path of and national strategy for Artificial Intelligence (AI), the practice and development trends of AI in China, and the integration of AI with education and reform and the innovation of AI. As a technology, AI is leading revolutionary changes, an important strategy for winning the initiative in global technology competitions, and an important strategic resource for the development of science and technology, industrial optimisation and upgrading, and an overall leap of productivity. Lu Xin, guided by general secretary Xi Jinping's important thoughts on AI, explained that AI is an important driving force for the next round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, and is having an extremely profound impact on economic development, social progress, and international political and economic structure. In 2020, along with the arrival of commercial application of 5G technology and a new round of industrial digital transformation driven by the coronavirus epidemic, the application of AI in vertical industries has been accelerated. The contactless economy, a new economic format based on new technology and new demands, has played an important role in epidemic prevention and control, securing residents' livelihoods, and offsetting the economic impact of the epidemic, becoming an important development direction for the digital economy. The power of the "nuclear fusion" of big data, cloud computing, AI, 5G technology, the Internet of Things, and other intelligent technology groups is giving impetus to the change from the interconnection of all things to the intelligent connection of all things, and leading to the birth of the "intelligence+" era.
Lu Xin believes that in 2020, a decisive year for building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way and overcoming poverty, various goals will be achieved under the firm leadership of the Party Central Committee headed by general secretary Xi Jinping. Looking forward to the future, the historical task of building a modern powerful country is our new starting point. In order to achieve the goal of realising the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, the new generation of information technology is both strategic and critical, and education must adapt to, serve, and support the development of new technology. The new generation of information technologies like AI is driving educational reform and bringing about ten changes, including the transformation of the educational ecology from flat to three-dimensional, the change of the thought model from one dimension to multidimensional, the change of the knowledge system from single to cross-disciplines, the change of teachers’ abilities from one-directional to diverse, the change of educational technology from simple to complex, the change in the presentation of teaching materials from paper to digital, the change from single-level teaching scenarios to multi-level interaction, the change static to dynamic learning models, the change from a traditional to an intelligence-based management model, and the change from extensive to intensive teaching evaluation. Since its establishment, the OUC system has made outstanding historical contributions to China's economic and social development and solved the historical problem of the two “left behind” generations. It has developed the human resources required for reform and opening up and accumulated human capital at the primary stage. It has provided a new learning path for higher education and trained a contingent of teachers for continuing education. In addition, it has created an educational foundation for lifelong learning, reshaped the concept and process of lifelong education, and laid a technology foundation for education in an information society. In the era of the digital economy, the OUC should stand at the peak of history, carry out structural innovation, and improve the quality of its school running and it social influence. In compliance with the demand for human resources from the 39 professions and seven fields of "new infrastructure construction" released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS) in April 2019, the OUC system should focus on the transformation and upgrading of relevant courses and make overall plans for the training of digital professionals.
Jing Degang thanked Lu Xin for his lecture. He stressed that president Lu's trust in and affirmation of the OUC gave encouragement to all of the members of the OUC. At the same time, facing the future, Jing Degang said that he felt more pressure to reform education driven by the intelligent age. President Lu's lecture embodies his loyalty to the Communist Party of China, passion for the country, and love for the OUC. His spirit of learning and professionalism are examples for every comrade to learn from. In the future, we should put the lecture content into practice through the reform, development, and transformation of the OUC. To be specific, we need to implement eight tasks: First, launch basic AI courses. Second, launch an accounting course for engineering students. Third, set up a big data centre. Fourth, study and implement a talent training program integrating junior college, undergraduate, and master’s degree level education. Fifth, unify the OUC System logo. Sixth, focus on the seven areas of "new infrastructure construction,” including 5G, big data, and AI, and the 39 new occupations announced by MHRSS. Seventh, transform and upgrade informatisation and digitalisation. Eighth, innovate education structure. The OUC should engage in structural innovation as a means to continuously improve the quality of school running, integrate its work with national strategy, and improve its influence in the process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
By Dong Lichao,OUC