On 30th March 2023, the Open University of China (OUC) hosted the second lecture of the "Enhancing Teachers' Digital Competence" training series. Shang Junjie, associate professor, researcher, doctoral supervisor, and committee member of the Higher Education Teaching Technology Guidance Subcommittee of the Ministry of Education, who is also the dean of the Faculty of Education at Peking University, gave a keynote speech.

Nearly 200 teachers from the OUC headquarters participated in the training.

Vice president Li Song of the OUC attended the training session and gave an opening speech. He pointed out that the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly stated the long-term development goals of "promoting digitalisation of education, building a learning society and country where lifelong learning is pursued by all ".

He emphasised that teachers are the implementers of the digital transformation in education and the core force in the construction of digital universities. Teachers at the OUC need to have digital literacy to better live, work, learn, and develop in an increasingly digital world. Li Song expressed several expectations for the teachers at the university, hoping that they could change their teaching thinking, enhance their own digital awareness, actively embrace new technologies, learn digital technology knowledge and skills, restrict their own online behavior, enhance their digital social responsibility, cultivate problem awareness, and conduct research on digital teaching.

Professor Shang Junjie's lecture was fascinating and engaging. He introduced the history of the development of artificial intelligence, starting from an interesting application of ChatGPT. He analysed the threats and impacts that ChatGPT brings to human development, and particularly delved into its value in the fields of education and management services. This allowed teachers to see the possibility of achieving personalized adaptive learning in the field of massive online education. Professor Shang emphasised the profound impact and influence that ChatGPT brings to education, especially in terms of demands for revolutionary changes in professional settings, curriculum settings, and teaching methods. Finally, Professor Shang pointed out that ChatGPT also faces certain difficulties and obstacles, and proposed future development strategies and ideas for the application of artificial intelligence in education.

The “Teachers’ Digital Competence Enhancement” training series aims to implement the requirements of the "Teacher Digital Literacy" education industry standards, effectively transform teachers' education and teaching concepts, guide teachers to establish a consciousness of "using new information technology to promote educational change", promote the digitization of the teaching process, enhance teachers' digital literacy and abilities, and help the construction of digital universities.

Written by Yu Jing and photographed by Zhuge Huanyu, OUC