To further study and implement the thematic education campaign on Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the Information Technology Department of the Open University of China (OUC) has conducted research on the school’s data sharing capacities. The research highlights challenges in the construction of a digital university.
Fan Xianrui, member of the Party Committee and vice president of the OUC, led an inspection team to Sichuan RTVU.
In March 2023, the OUC became a pilot for the Ministry of Education's data sharing platform for universities. The OUC’s Information Technology Department then conducted research on the system of data sharing between the Ministry of Education and universities, cooperating with the Credit Bank, the Human Resource Department and the Reform and Development Department. Together they identified application procedures, such as the verification of outcome level certificates, student ID verification and research project enquiries, which were innovatively applied to data sharing in the OUC system.
"Smart Learning Platform" work promotion and exchanges seminar for the Spring Semester of 2023.
From April to May, under the leadership of Fan Xianrui, member of the Party Committee and vice president of the OUC, the Information Technology Department also conducted four "Smart Learning Platform" sessions to promote the school system. Fan Xianrui stressed the need to mobilise all the resources of the school system, break down business barriers through the flow of data, and jointly promote the construction of a digital university. Participants from the OUC headquarters and various branches exchanged views on the data sharing experience, proposing solutions. The team also conducted field trips to branches in Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Chongqing, Tianjin, Hubei, Hunan and Chengdu to conduct research. They visited student support centres to learn more about the needs and difficulties of data sharing, collecting their requests and setting up a checklist of problems for review.
To accelerate the process of data sharing, the OUC headquarters instructed the technical team to innovate its system of data management, bringing it into better coordination with the overall technical architecture. This has meant unifying rules on teaching affairs, carrying out data governance and sharing, accumulating open and shared data resources, and launching a regional pilot to build an eco-system at the headquarters which would promote data sharing and exchanges across different schools. Thanks to their efforts, the OUC headquarters has successfully completed data sharing with five branches in Sichuan, Ningbo, Fujian, Beijing and Gansu. The data covers seven key areas, including students, classes, majors, the rules of majors, course selection, examination applications and results. This has not only allowed data to flow back to the grassroots, but also allowed data to be shared across different regions, levels and institutions. This has consequently helped branches, schools and study centres to integrate data resources, bringing into play the effectiveness of grassroots services and providing better and more convenient student services. The Sichuan branch took the lead in joining the ecosystem of data sharing and exchanges. It carried out pilot work on data sharing and applied data to teaching, management and services, setting an example for the school system.
The Information Technology Department has said it will continue to improve the efficiency of data sharing, respond more widely to the needs of branches, start the second batch of pilots as soon as possible, and strive to achieve data sharing in all branches this year. It will also promote the common construction, sharing and governance of data in the school system, boost the high-quality development of data-driven open education, and accelerate the building of a digital university.
By Information Technology Department