To support and promote the construction of digital learning resources, create new institutional mechanisms, and promote the joint construction and sharing of quality educational resources, the Open University of China (OUC) recently established the Digital Learning Resource Centre (hereinafter referred to as the Centre). The Centre will use cloud technology to build a digital learning resource bank and develop web-based learning platforms for various industries.
On April 27, classes began at "Prosperity Night School", a school jointly established by Guangxi Radio and TV University (Guangxi RTVU) and Jintang Village in Daxin County.
Jintang Village is a poor village in the autonomous region along the China-Vietnam border. Recently, a communist official from Guangxi RTVU was assigned to Jintang to serve as the first secretary of the village party committee. Guangxi RTVU and Jintang Village used this opportunity to establish a new form of poverty relief, leveraging Guangxi RTVU's expertise in distance education to establish "Prosperity Night School". By providing technical training and information on agriculture and raising livestock, the school seeks to eliminate poverty through education, address the villagers' longstanding lack of agricultural know-how and help the village progress towards prosperity.
On the eve of the inauguration of the school, Guangxi RTVU delivered 10 sets of computers and desks to the school and sent technicians to install the computers and connect them to the Internet. The school will offer courses appropriate to the needs of the local economy and will teach villagers to use appropriate policies and technologies through diverse methods such as distance teaching, book rooms and inviting agricultural experts for on-site lectures. Villagers can make use of their spare time in the evenings to study without neglecting farm work.
There are plans to expand "Prosperity Night School" to cover 37 poor villages in the county within two years, and gradually expand further to all townships and villages.
By Guangxi RTVU
On the morning of April 19, the 2011 "Hand in Hand—A Reading Movement among Rural Youth" Award Ceremony and Launch Ceremony for 2012 was held at the Open University of China (OUC). 44 provincial radio and TV universities around the country participated in the meeting via video conferencing or software networking. The "Hand in Hand" movement was initiated by the Library Association of China and the Open University of China to promote reading among youths in rural areas. Since the launch of the movement
On April 5, the 13th OUC Conference of Scientific Research was held under the theme of "Improving teaching, scientific research, and the overall quality of open and distance education". More than 230 teaching and administrative staff attended the meeting.
Director Sun Fuwan of the OUC Research Institute of Open and Distance Education began with a review of the scientific research work done
At the 40th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva concluded recently, submissions from Nantong Radio and TV University (Nantong RTVU) won a total of three medals—one gold, one silver and one bronze.
The 40th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva opened on April 18, 2012. More than 1000 new technological inventions from 46 countries were on display.
On April 1, 2012, the third "Forum for Teachers in Chinese Distance Education" was held in Beijing under the theme of "Practical Teaching in Distance Education: Exploration and Reflection". Based on innovative exploration and reflection by teachers at radio and TV universities (RTVUs) around the country, the forum aimed to further discuss rules, common problems and solutions related to distance teaching at the Open University of China (OUC).
On March 20, 2012, 154 trainees completed the WIDE World online professional development programme named "Teaching for Understanding 1", jointly operated by Beijing Open University (Beijing OU) and Harvard Graduate School of Education.
WIDE World (Wide-scale Interactive Development for Educators) is a programme based at the Harvard Graduate School of Education that converts the results of academic research by Gardner and other experts into web-based training courses for instructors.
The 5th National Chinese Language Conference, sponsored by China's Hanban (Confucius Institute Headquarters), The US College Board, and The Asia Society, was held from April 12th to the 14th, 2012, in Washington, DC. More than 1300 Educational administrators, presidents and teachers from secondary and primary schools, as well the presidents of various Confucius institutes, attended the conference. The Chinese Language Center of the Open University of China （OUC） participated