The outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 has posed an unprecedented global challenge. Nearly 1.2 billion students in over 160 countries and regions have had to suspend their studies to some extent.
With the gradual implementation of COVID-19 prevention measures, such as the suspension of classes and campus shutdowns, people have become part of the longest and the most large-scale online learning experiment in history as a solution to the problems created by the shutdown of schools. Online and open education has played an unprecedented role in society over the past year, creating a new landscape for global education. The Open University of China (OUC), as a leader of the open education system, has taken the initiative to practice online education as part of this online learning experiment. The OUC has worked together with the leaders of 14 open universities and international organisations from around there world, as well as two traditional universities. All parties discussed and shared the strategic conception of and predictions for global online education practices, written articles, and released the blockbuster book Beyond Distance Education: Cutting-Edge Perspectives on the Future of Global Open Universities.
Starting from the perspective of supporting education around the world with online education during COVID-19, the book shows the influence of open universities worldwide over human educational cause by analysing the functions of open education in promoting economic development, meeting the professional needs of learners, expanding education groups and increasing educational opportunities for higher education, boosting the reform of higher education systems, and committing to digital transformational development.
I. The impact of COVID-19 on online education
The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced global politics and economics, which has had a huge impact on the global landscape and international order. Against this background, the position and role of education as part of the development and future of the nation have become more prominent. In the face of the huge number of students influenced by class suspensions worldwide, many countries have broken their original education patterns and learning methods. Online education has become a top choice for many countries in response to the pandemic. It has broken through the boundaries of time and space and realised globalised and digital education without national borders. This is representative of the opportunity information technology creates for education, and it is also an inevitable future education development trend.
China was the first to start a large-scale online experiment in response to the pandemic, known as “Disrupted Classes, Undisrupted Learning; Disrupted Classes, Undisrupted Teaching.” This was a pioneering historical initiative, the first of its kind in the world. In the 2020 spring term, there were 1.08 million teachers offering 1.1 million online courses in Chinese colleges and universities. 22.59 million college and university students participated in online learning and the rate of student satisfaction with online teaching reached 85%, demonstrating that online and face-to-face teaching basically achieved the same quality. China's education industry raised RMB 116.4 billion in 2020, of which online education financing amounted to RMB 103.4 billion, accounting for 89%. The book introduces the continuous evolution of online education based on the innovative new teaching models, updated teaching approaches, and reform teaching methods introduced by open universities and online education institutions around the world with the industrial development and the progress of science and technology under the influence of the pandemic.
II. The role of open education during the pandemic
Open universities, as a product of socio-economic development, play an irreplaceable role in higher education. Important issues include how open universities, which mainly depends on open education and online teaching, can give assistance to post-pandemic online education with modern information technology, how they can maintain core competitive advantages during crucial periods of the great adjustments and changes to traditional institutions of higher learning, and how they can constantly increase the attractiveness of flexible learning methods and massive learning resources.
The book highlights the education and teaching innovations made by open universities in several countries during the pandemic by making use of their own online education experience and resources, as well as their outstanding achievements. For example, by making full use of its ICT and digital learning resources, the OUC offered more than 20,000 online courses, 37,000 micro online courses, and 68,000 digital learning resources for free to elementary and middle schools, vocational colleges, traditional universities, educational agencies, and training organisations, serving 7,582 institutions. The Open University of Hong Kong offered students quality online education when face-to-face tutorials were suspended during the pandemic by giving digital classes using online media and conducting simulated teaching in virtual laboratories. Korea National Open University found solutions to the extensive and urgent need for education due to outbreak of COVID-19 by establishing the new learning content platform “U-KNOU Campus,” building a test bank and online test system, and other innovative practices.
The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified changes in the higher education ecosystem. The book focuses on introducing the continuous innovation of open universities in all countries and their great efforts in seeking new technologies to support new teaching practices with the aim of finding the best opportunities to lead the development of higher education.
III. The significance of the book to the future development of online education and open education
This book closely follows international trends and is of great practical significance. It fully embodies China's responsibility as a major country in encouraging prominent global leaders, theorists, and practitioners in the field of online education and open education to pull together their wisdom. It offers ideas and forecasts for the future strategic development of online education and the reform of traditional education systems. It serves as a good reference and is of great research value.
As the first academic work that gathers the voices of leaders in the field of global open education, this book boasts clear arguments and novel views. By sharing and discussing the best practical experience of online education during the pandemic, it is an expression of the historical mission shouldered by existing open universities around the world and their development orientation. It will serve as a guide for all open universities to consider a strategic plan for the future of distance education and contribute their wisdom to building an educational system serving lifelong learning for all.
The COVID-19 pandemic has taught a serious lesson to universities worldwide and promoted changes to and the restructuring of universities. Higher education will enter a period of reform and development, which inevitably requires surpassing existing development concepts and models. Although the international COVID-19 situation is still grim, it can be predicted that mankind will eventually win this battle, and the tide of large-scale online education transformation caused by the pandemic will eventually slow down. After the pandemic, when the vast majority of schools return to normal, it is imperative that open universities constantly evaluate and examine their own characteristics and role in higher education, formulate new strategic plans, and maintain their leading and unique advantages in the field of online education.
By Liu Jie，OUC