On March 19, Beijing Experimental School of the Open University of China (OUC) held their 2016 Spring Opening Ceremony and the launch ceremony for their Mobile Learning Pilot.
Beijing Wontone Automotive Study Centre received synchronous live broadcast of the ceremony via two-way video, and handed out mobile terminals to students participating in the mobile learning pilot. The OUC Vice President Liu Chen, along with other leaders of relevant departments, all new students and some in-school students, and the teaching staff of Beijing Experimental School attended the opening ceremony. President Guo Qingqing of Beijing Experimental School presided over the ceremony.
According to Liu Chen, the OUC is a new type of borderless university open to all members of society, and Beijing Experimental School is an OUC educational entity. It is a special zone for the OUC to explore their“six-network integration”model of learner development and to advance their teaching reform pilot project, and it is absolutely right for students to choose to study at Beijing Experimental School. Liu Chen is confident that students shall not only obtain diplomas but also form the habit of autonomous learning, and comprehensively improve their ability to analyze and solve problems, their professionalism and information literacy. He also hopes that in their future studies students will be ambitious, keep working hard, quickly adapt to new roles, and establish an outlook of autonomous and lifelong learning, whilst also promoting their relationship with their school and tutors, studying hard, making progress, and repaying their alma mater and society with outstanding achievements.
Xie Jun, a teacher representative, introduced the teaching characteristics of open universities and their internet-based learning advantages. Wang Shufang, the representative of the students paid tribute and expressed thanks to the school and tutors, and shared her learning experience and gains. Cheng Lijuan, the representative of new students expressed their wishes to strictly observe discipline, to learn cultural knowledge, and learn how to conduct themselves with integrity.
Liu Chen also read out the OUC’s Announcement on Carrying out the Pilot Project of Application Mode for Mobile Learning to initiate their mobile learning pilot and made three proposals. First, Beijing Experimental School is the specific organizer and implementer of the mobile learning pilot project and those teaching and management departments relevant to the project must mutually support and coordinate each other. During the pilot project, relevant management departments should cooperate where necessary to make breakthroughs in the original system. Second, tutors participating in the pilot should seriously study the features and requirements of the course, strengthen tutor-student exchanges, explore tutoring models and methods for the course, and accumulate tutoring experience for mobile learning. Third, it is hoped that students will be actively involved, quickly adapt to the pilot learning requirements, and improve their ability to apply technology and capacity to learn through mobile learning.
At the launch ceremony, the mobile learning terminal equipment was also handed out to students. After that, Beijing Experimental School organized training for the mobile learning pilot and a class meeting for new students.
By Dong Lichao, OUC