On December 17th, the establishment conference of the Yangtze River Delta Higher Continuing Education Alliance, initiated by the continuing education industry organizations and related universities was held at Shanghai Open University. More than 200 participants, including leaders from universities such as Shanghai Open University, Anhui Open University, Fudan University, Shanghai Second Polytechnic University, Jiangsu Open University, Zhejiang Open University, Anhui Normal University, and representatives from the educational administrative departments of Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Anhui, attended the meeting. Jia Wei, President of Shanghai Open University, attended the meeting and delivered a speech.Jia Wei pointed out in his speech that the establishment of the Yangtze River Delta Higher Continuing Education Alliance aims to promote the sharing of regional educational resources, complementary advantages, and collaborative innovation. It is an important measure to comply with the national strategy of integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta and the high-quality development needs of regional higher continuing education. As the vice-chair institution, Shanghai Open University will actively share its experiences and achievements in AI-enabled online education, the construction of a credit bank, and the integration of industry and education. It will work closely with member institutions to promote breakthroughs in higher continuing education in the Yangtze River Delta region.  At the meeting, the leadership composition of the Yangtze River Delta Higher Continuing Education Alliance was officially announced. Zheng Yihui, vice president of Shanghai Open University, and representatives from one city and three provinces, jointly launched the establishment of the alliance and witnessed the alliance's signing of cooperation agreements. The meeting also released the Yangtze River Delta Industrial Continuing Education Needs Report, which proposed constructive development strategies and suggestions for the development status and trends of industrial continuing education in the Yangtze River Delta region. Professor Huang Jian, Deputy Dean of the Talent Development Strategy Research Institute at East China Normal University, gave a report. Heads of continuing education colleges from Fudan University, Soochow University, Zhejiang University, and Hefei University of Technology exchanged opinions on how university continuing education can help achieve high-quality integrated development in the Yangtze River Delta region.After the meeting, the representatives visited the G60 Science and Technology Innovation Corridor and Chint Group in Songjiang District, Shanghai, to gain a deeper understanding of the latest achievements and practical experiences in industry-education integration and technological innovation in the Yangtze River Delta region.The establishment of the Yangtze River Delta Higher Continuing Education Alliance is not only a positive response to the requirements of educational power construction but also an important outcome of the implementation of the national strategy for the integration of the Yangtze River Delta. Shanghai Open University will provide strong talent support and intellectual support for promoting the high-quality development of higher continuing education and the integrated development of the modern industrial system in the Yangtze River Delta through the alliance platform.

During 3-5 December, the 6th International Conference on Learning Cities (ICLC 6), themed Learning Cities at the Forefront of Climate Action, was held in Jubail, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Zheng Yihui, Vice President of Shanghai Open University, was invited to deliver a keynote speech titled Digital Inclusion, Wisdom for the Aged: Shanghai's Promotion of an Elderly-Friendly Society through the Digitalization of Elderly Education at the conference's session on Bridging the Digital Divide in Learning Cities.This conference gathered representatives from learning cities around the world, policymakers, experts in adult education and lifelong learning, as well as researchers from non-governmental organizations to discuss strategies for addressing climate challenges and promoting cooperation in lifelong learning. Zheng Yihui, starting from the unique perspective of elderly education, mentioned about the urgency and importance of building a digitally inclusive aging society at the intersection of the digital age and an aging society, emphasizing that the elderly should have equal opportunities and capabilities to master and use digital technology. He pointed out that with the changing population structure and the increasing demand for personalized education among the elderly, elderly education has become a key pathway to achieve this goal. Shanghai has taken a number of innovative measures, such as building an educational network that covers the whole city, using multi-terminal and multi-dimensional digital educational resources to meet the differentiated learning needs of the elderly; creating characteristic learning projects, building real scene experience venues, and providing community-based educational services; encouraging social elderly care institutions and social organizations to participate, and jointly creating a rich learning space for the elderly.  In his speech, Zheng Yihui looked forward to the future of elderly education in Shanghai, especially the application prospects of generative AI in elderly education. He emphasized that the application of digital technology in elderly education will bring innovation to the supply of open educational resources, organizational structure, and evaluation methods.

During 15-17 October, at the 37th Annual Conference of the Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) held at Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) in Islamabad, Pakistan, a paper co-authored by Professor Sun Chuanyuan from College of Humanities of our university and Dr. Chulani Herath, Director of the Quality Assurance Center of the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL), titled Pathways to Impowering the Quality of Open Online Courses towards Deep Learning—— Taking OUSL as an Example”, won the “Best Paper Award” Gold Medal. The conference's paper exchange was conducted through online presentations and discussions, and selected one gold medal, two silver medals, and three best papers.  Previously, Professor Sun Chuanyuan was the visiting scholar of OUSL. During his visit, he conducted in-depth research with Dr. Chulani Herath and other visiting scholars on the current status of open online courses at OUSL and the perceptions of teachers and students on the quality of teaching and learning. They actively sought feasible paths to enhance the quality of international open online courses. By participating in the visiting scholar program, faculties of SOU have further broadened their horizons and strengthened international academic exchanges with other open universities in Asia.

From 31 October to 1 November, the Human Resource Department, Academic Education Department, and School of Public Administration jointly organized a training session on AI empowered courses and teaching research.The training covered a wide range of content and was conducted in a variety of formats. Experts and scholars from universities and institutions such as East China Normal University were invited to give lectures such as Introduction to Generative AI and Prompt Engineering, Advanced Prompt Engineering and Practical Applications, and Compliant Application of AI in Teaching and Prospects for Exploration.The training not only allowed teachers to learn the basic knowledge and application skills of AI technology but also provided a clear direction for teachers to deeply understand how technology can empower teaching research and teaching practice. More than 30 teachers participated in this training.

In the global education sector, digital technology and artificial intelligence are reshaping the educational landscape with unprecedented power, leading a profound educational transformation. Promoting the digital transformation of education, empowering the development of a learning society, and strengthening the supporting measures of lifelong learning are significant strategies for the development of lifelong education in China at present. To promote innovation and development in the field of lifelong learning, the 2024 Digital Transformation and Lifelong Learning International Conference kicked off in Shanghai on October 24-25. The conference was co-hosted by Shanghai Open University, UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, and UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education.With open, intelligent, and creative as its core concepts, the conference focused on the integration and application of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and the metaverse in the field of lifelong learning. It attracted hundreds of experts and industry leaders from 24 countries and regions around the world to discuss the grand plan for the digital transformation of education and to enhance the fairness and sustainability of global education.At the conference, Ping Wang, Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, delivered an address. He first congratulated the successful holding of the conference and the establishment of the Global Network for Digital Lifelong Learning, believing that the conference is an important continuation and deepening of the World Digital Education Conference. It will further promote digital empowerment for lifelong learning development. He stated that Shanghai will continue to explore new models and paths for lifelong learning in the digital age, focus on high-quality balance, bridge the digital divide, further deepen the construction of a learning city, promote the digital popularization of high-quality educational resources, and look forward to deeper cooperation with UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning and the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education in the future, through the Global Network for Digital Lifelong Learning, they aim to jointly build an interconnected, inclusive, and diverse global digital lifelong learning ecosystem.Hui Min, Vice Chair of the University Council of Shanghai Open University, delivered an address on behalf of the host, stating that lifelong learning is an important choice for the world to cope with social and economic changes and promote sustainable development. The digital age has brought new opportunities and challenges for educational development. Shanghai Open University will continue to promote digital lifelong learning from three aspects: building a ubiquitous and accessible digital learning environment, improving citizens' digital literacy, and creating a diverse and collaborative smart education ecosystem.Tao Zhan, Director of the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, said in his address that the two major themes of the conference, digital transformation and lifelong learning, are self-evident in the importance of global educational change. The establishment of the Global Network for Digital Lifelong Learning is crucial for promoting the application of artificial intelligence and digital literacy in open education and enhancing the importance of digital technology in lifelong education.Isabel Kempf, Director of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, said in her address that while digital technology provides great potential for educational reform, it also exacerbates the digital divide. She looks forward to fully unleashing the potential of digital technology while focusing on building a truly fair, inclusive, and sustainable lifelong learning system.In the keynote speech session, many education experts and scholars discussed how digital technology and artificial intelligence can drive the transformation of lifelong education. Wei Jia, President of the Shanghai Open University, gave a keynote speech titled Open, Intelligent, and Creative—The Era’s Proposition for Digital Transformation and Lifelong Learning. Wei Jia believes that the digital intelligence era requires openness in thinking, concepts, and organizations, achieving an idea and approach from one-way to two-way, and then to all-round openness. He shared the new changes of intelligent technology in promoting high-level educational equity, human-computer integration, and innovation in educational models, and introduced the new viewpoint of AI empowerment of curious, competitive, and strong.During the conference, the Global Network for Digital Lifelong Learning was officially launched, marking a new stage in global educational cooperation. Eighteen network members from around the world will work closely and share resources to jointly promote the widespread application and innovative development of open education and lifelong learning, contributing to the enhancement of educational equity and inclusiveness worldwide, and striving to narrow the digital divide.Additionally, Shanghai Open University released Metaverse Scenario for Open Learning and AI-based Teaching Application AI Assistants. The Open Learning Metaverse covers five metaverse teaching scenarios including art teaching, emergency management training, intelligent finance, artificial intelligence courses, and elderly cognitive impairment teaching, constructing experiential, game-based, and training-based teaching methods to provide students with a more immersive environment. The AI Teaching Assistants released at the conference include adult English AI assistants and thesis guidance AI assistants. By deeply integrating with AI agents, they achieve human-machine collaboration, can customize personalized learning paths and content recommendations for each learner, and achieve a more companionable, and guided teaching experience.

On 18 September, a delegation led by Praweena Ausayo，the official from the Ministry of Education of Thailand and Chaiyosh Imsuwan，who is a lifelong education expert visited SOU.   During the symposium, leaders from Shanghai University for the Elderly warmly welcomed the delegation and introduced the current status and development of senior education in Shanghai. Praweena Ausayo fully affirmed the achievements Shanghai University for the Elderly has made and shared the experience of Thailand in open education. Both sides also had an in-depth discussion on future cooperation and exchange in senior education.  The delegation visited the Silver Hair e-Classroom on campus, observed and experienced themed courses such as tea culture and calligraphy, and went to the Qinzhou Academy of Shanghai University for the Elderly to gain a deeper understanding of the development of senior education and the construction of smart teaching environments.

Caroline Omulando, Vice Chancellor of the Kenya Open University (KOU), Josphat Igadwa Mwasiagi, Programs Director of KOU, and Masibo Lumala, Dean of the Institue of Open and Distance Learning at Moi University (MU), visited Shanghai Open University (SOU) on September 9. Ms. Zhang Jin, Vice President of SOU, and the relevant colleagues of Information Office and Institute of International Exchange attended the discussion and exchange activities.On behalf of SOU, Ms. Zhang warmly welcomed the visit of the delegation and shared the achievements and experiences of SOU in its 64 years of existence. She said that SOU is willing to work hand in hand with KOU and MU to promote the modernization of education in China and Kenya, and to contribute to the high-quality construction of a community with a shared future for China and Africa.  Caroline highly appreciated the achievements of SOU. She pointed out that the running experience of SOU provides valuable reference and inspiration for KOU, and expected that both sides can carry out closer and deeper cooperation in the future.  The two sides had in-depth exchanges on topics of common concern, such as professional discipline construction, exchange programs, international Chinese language education, and how to use artificial intelligence and digital education innovation to promote the improvement of teachers' ability. The delegation also visited the Smart Learning Center of SOU, experienced the digital teaching environment and the application of educational technology, and further deepened their knowledge and understanding of SOU's educational innovation practice.

Recently, the delegation of Singapore's Happy School, led by Mr. Huang Mingde, president of Singapore's Happy School visited Shanghai University for the Elderly.The meeting was chaired by Peng Haihong, Vice President of Shanghai University for the Elderly. She welcomed the arrival of the Happy School from Singapore and introduced the basic situation of the university. She mentioned about the history of cooperation between the two institutions and was looking forward for further collaboration. The Happy School shared its development achievements in recent years, emphasizing the efforts made to enhance society's positive perception of aging issues. They stated that the school is committed to transforming the role of the elderly from beneficiaries to active contributors to the community. They hope that through cooperation, they can create a more diverse learning environment for the elderly, helping them to enjoy a high-quality life in the new era. The meeting also had in-depth discussions on how to effectively share distance education resources and deepen international educational exchanges and cooperation.Before the meeting, accompanied by the leadership team of Shanghai University for the Elderly, the delegation visited the smart life experience classrooms. They highly praised the innovative practices of Shanghai University for the Elderly in empowering elderly education with digital technology.  

Recently, a delegation led by Han Wei, Vice Chairman of the Elderly Affairs Committee of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China and Director of the Social Work Bureau, visited the Shanghai University for The Elderly. The delegation was accompanied by staff from the Shanghai Municipal Government's Hong Kong and Macao Office, the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau's Scientific Research and International Exchange Center, and the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan Affairs Office. The leaders of the Shanghai University for The Elderly and relevant personnel participated in the visit.The meeting was chaired by Zheng Yihui, Vice President of SOU and President of Shanghai University for The Elderly. He welcomed the delegation and expressed anticipation for future cooperation and exchange in elderly services, especially in the field of digital empowerment for senior education. Han Wei introduced the overview of elderly services in Macao, and he hopes that both sides can further cooperate in the fields of remote education resources and research on the needs of the elderly.Before the meeting, the delegation also visited the Qinzhou Academy to gain a deeper understanding of the teaching environment of Shanghai University for The Elderly.  

Shanghai Open University has been approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education to add two new undergraduate majors：Human Resource Management and Elderly Care Service Management.

The 2024 Immersion Hub International Student Short-term Program commenced at Guoshun Road campus of Shanghai Open University (SOU) on June 24. Ms. Zhang Jin, SOU's Vice President, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech.In her speech, Zhang Jin, on behalf of SOU, stated that the Immersion Hub International Student Program aims to promote global cultural understanding and friendship. It is a significant initiative of SOU to practice lifelong learning and advance educational internationalization. She encouraged students to cherish the learning opportunity, actively engage in studies, and deeply exchange ideas, contributing to future inter-university cooperation and cultural exchanges.At the opening ceremony, participating international students shared their thoughts, expressing strong interest in the Chinese language, Chinese culture, and the fashion industry.Officials from the overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government and Shanghai International Fashion Education Center (SIFEC), and relevant staff from the three organizers attended the opening ceremony. The ceremony was hosted by Weng Zhuhua, Dean of the Institute of International Exchange.Since its inception, the Immersion Hub International Student Short-term Program has been held ten times, attracting over 800 students from more than 50 countries. It has become a flagship activity in SOU's international exchange and cooperation program. This year's program, themed Chinese + Fashion, is jointly organized by SOU, the overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, and SIFEC. A total of 29 international students from 14 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, and Namibia, are participating. For the first time, students from Japan, Moldova, and Panama are also taking part.

“The China-Southeast Asia Capacity Building Workshop: Transforming TVET and Adult Education for Sustainable Rural Development” was held by UNESCO International Research and Training Centre for Rural Education (UNESCO INRULED) on 13 June at Beijing Normal University.SOU was invited to attend the workshop and share the practice and experience of learning village development in Shanghai. Ms. WANG Yifan, Chief at the Community Education Department of SOU delivered a presentation titled “The Learning Village Development and the Exploration of Digital Empowerment in Shanghai”, which highlighted SOU’s efforts in integrating digital technologies to enhance learning in rural communities.UNESCO INRULED, a UNESCO Category II centre, was established by UNESCO and the Chinese government in 1994 with a mandate to promote sustainable socio-economic development in rural areas. This year, the centre conducted a research programme on “Learning Villages in a Digital Era (LVDE)”, where SOU provided experience and practice through a case study of learning villages in Shanghai.As the coordinator of UNESCO UNITWIN Network in Distance and Open Learning (East-Asia), SOU has maintained active cooperations with the UNESCO Category I and II centres. INRULED and SOU have together engaged in various initiatives and programmes, including workshops, lectures, case studies, and partnerships with international organizations. All these efforts aim to better share China’s stories, and provide China’s solutions on an international scale.

On June 19th, the Overseas Chinese Language Center, a collaborative effort between Shanghai Open University (SOU), the Open University of Sri Lanka, and the Bank of China's Colombo Branch, was officially launched at the Colombo Campus of the Open University of Sri Lanka. Zhang Jin, the Vice President of SOU, P.M.C. Thilakarathne, the President of the Open University of Sri Lanka, and Gao Xiang, the Deputy Branch Manager of the Bank of China's Colombo Branch, attended the launch ceremony and delivered speeches.Zhang Jin, representing the SOU, expressed in her speech that the establishment of the Overseas Chinese Language Center is an important initiative for Shanghai Open University to serve the development of Belt and Road and promote cultural exchanges between China and Sri Lanka. She hoped that the center would become a multi-functional service platform integrating Chinese language classrooms, a window for Sri Lankan people to understand China, and a bridge for the younger generation of both countries to strengthen friendship, wishing the center to thrive and prosper. P.M.C. Thilakarathne stated in his speech that the teaching resources provided by SOU would benefit the students of the Colombo Campus and are expected to extend to the nine regional branches of the Open University of Sri Lanka. He encouraged students to explore more possibilities through language learning, to understand different cultures with an open mind and curiosity, and looked forward to the joint efforts of the three parties to build a more perfect Overseas Chinese Language Center.  Gao Xiang expressed in his speech that the Bank of China's Colombo Branch would assist the university in communicating with the Sri Lankan Embassy in China, the Chamber of Commerce, and local Chinese-funded enterprises, and provide internships and employment opportunities for outstanding students. He said that the joint development of the Overseas Chinese Language Center would help further promote exchanges and cooperation in the fields of economy and culture between the two countries and deepen the integrated development of various fields.  The launch ceremony also included an oil lamp lighting ceremony symbolizing good wishes and a student dance performance. After the ceremony, the first Chinese class of the Overseas Chinese Language Center started immediately, with students learning Chinese through a combination of online and offline methods.  The heads of the SOU’s Institute of International Exchange and the College of Humanities, along with some teachers, attended the launch ceremony online, while teachers and students from the College of Humanities of the Open University of Sri Lanka and some staff members of the Bank of China's Colombo Branch participated in the ceremony on-site.

From May 21st to 24th, a delegation of Universitas Terbuka（UT）in Indonesia visited Shanghai Open University (SOU). Relevant personnel from the Institute of International Exchange and departments including the Information Construction and Management Office, the Department of Academic Education, the Quality Assurance and Evaluation Center, and the Learning Resources Center of SOU participated in the exchange activities. The five delegates are from Information Science Department. Multimedia Learning Material Production Center, Accounting Department, Agri-business Department, and Management Department of UT. During the 3-day activities, they have a further communication and discussion with faculties of SOU on the application of AI, immersive learning, quality assurance, student support services, learning resource development and examination systems.UT (also known as the Open University of Indonesia) was established in 1984 and is the 45th national higher education institution in Indonesia. It specializes in providing distance open education and has been effective in expanding educational opportunities and enabling people from all walks of life to receive higher education. UT is committed to becoming a leading institution in the field of open and distance higher education, cultivating high-quality graduates with global competitiveness, and is also the host institution of the Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU). The cooperation between UT and SOU can be traced back to more than 10 years ago, at least 5 scholars and 10 students from UT have been sponsored to attend SOU’s Immersion Hub Programs for international scholars and students.

On May 17, 2024, an advisory group meeting was held for UIL-SOU research project on ‘the benefits of lifelong learning for older adults.The research project is one of the projects carried out by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) and Shanghai Open University (SOU). In 2020, UIL and SOU initiated the first collaborative research project on ‘the role of higher education institutions in promoting lifelong learning.’ Based on the previous study, the institutions have continued their exploration on ‘the benefits of lifelong learning for older adults’. The new research started last year, focusing on the response of higher education institutions to the learning needs of aging societies, especially on reskilling and upskilling, intergenerational learning, and digital learning for older adults.Ms Isabelle Kempf, director of UIL, attended the meeting and delivered a welcome remark. She emphasised that lifelong learning is a fundamental human right. The research today, is very important for promoting active ageing and lifelong learning for older adults. Isabelle expressed her sincere gratitude to SOU for its great support and valuable contributions.Mr Wei Jia, president of SOU, also made a welcome remark in the meeting. He highlighted that Shanghai is the first city in China entering into an aging society, and also the city facing the highest degree of aging. Shanghai has implemented a comprehensive long-term strategy for active aging. Committed to providing lifelong learning services to all citizens in Shanghai, SOU plays an irreplaceable role in shaping the development of Shanghai learning city, and particularly for older adults.The meeting featured participation from over ten experts representing different countries. Among them, Mr Yihui Zheng, vice president of SOU and president of Shanghai University of the Elderly, also participated as a member of the advisory group. The experts engaged in discussions covering various aspects of lifelong learning for older adults, including social integration, digital gap, intergenerational learning, and considering the socio-economic status of older adults.During the meeting, the UIL project team presented a roadmap for the ongoing research project, including the basic literature research that has been completed, and the case studies that will be carried out in the upcoming year. Upon completion, a research report will be released as the outcome of the project, which will provide policy references for promoting lifelong learning for countries globally.The meeting was also attended by the dean of the Institute of International Exchange, Ms Weng Zhuhua, and staff from the UIL-SOU Cooperation Office.

On 24 May, Shanghai Open University successfully passed the evaluation of UNESCO, and continued to serve as the host institution of the UNESCO UNITWIN Network in Distance and Open Learning (East-Asia) for an additional period of four years. JIA Wei, Secretary of the Party Committee and President of Shanghai Open University is the Network Coordinator.Launched in 1992 with the aim of promoting international inter-university cooperation, to share knowledge and develop collaborative work, there are now some 950 UNESCO Chairs and 45 UNITWIN networks in 120 countries. In China, there are 30UNESCO Chairs and 2 UNITWIN networks. In 1997, the UNESCO UNITWIN Network in Distance and Open Learning (East-Asia) was approved by UNESCO and then established, Shanghai Open University is the host institution. Up to now, the Network has 26 member institutions, including The Open University UK and The Open University of China. The cooperation programme has went beyond the original East Asia focus with outreach to partner with universities in Africa and South Asia. In the next four years, under the leadership of the Network Coordinator JIA Wei, the Network will contribute to advance UNESCO’s ongoing endeavors to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. The Network will focus on the area of lifelong learning and digital education transformation, strengthen support and cooperation with Africa, strengthen cooperation with UNESCO's Category I and II Institutes and centers, establish a global digital lifelong learning alliance to become an important communication platform for stakeholders in the field of global lifelong learning and open distance education.  

      On April 28th, The Development Report of Shanghai's Digital Partnership Program (2021-2023) was officially released. This report summarizes the significant achievements and innovative models of the Digital Partnership Program in promoting urban digital development and bridging the digital divide in the past three years. The Research Report on the Development of Digital Literacy among Elderly People in Shanghai Under the Background of Digital Transformation by Shanghai University for The Elderly is included and a representative was invited to attend the release event.At the press conference, Wang Min, Vice President of Shanghai University for The Elderly, introduced The Research Report on the Development of Digital Literacy among Elderly People in Shanghai under the Background of Digital Transformation. This project was led by Shanghai University for The Elderly under the guidance of the Shanghai Education Commission and the Shanghai Economic and Information Technology Commission, and jointly completed by the Shanghai Municipal Institute for Lifelong Education and the Shanghai Smart City Development Institute.In recent years, Shanghai University for The Elderly has actively promoted the digital transformation of elderly education, promoted the Digital Partnership Plan, promoted urban digital construction, and strived to build a more inclusive and harmonious digital society. Through measures such as building digital campuses, creating smart learning scenarios, developing digital educational resources, and building diverse and three-dimensional learning channels, schools have achieved innovation in campus management, teaching resources, learning platforms, learning spaces, and teaching modes, continuously improving the digital governance level and intelligent technology application capabilities of elderly education, and promoting the digital transformation of elderly education.

On the occasion of the 29th World Book Day, a digital reading feast for citizens has officially opened in Shanghai. The 2024 Shanghai Citizen Lifelong Learning Digital Reading Activity, hosted by Shanghai Open University and Shanghai Service & Supervision for Learning Society Construction, organized by Shanghai Learning Society Construction Service Guidance Center Office and Shanghai Learning Network, was held online and offline simultaneously, bringing together leaders, teachers, and citizen representatives from numerous community colleges to witness the launch of this brand learning activity.At the opening ceremony, Peng Haihong, Director of the Shanghai Service & Supervision for Learning Society Construction Office and Director of Community Education Department at Shanghai Open University, explained in detail the core concepts and highlights of this event. She stated that this event has achieved innovative breakthroughs in terms of concepts, resources, and modes. She carefully selected a selected book list with the theme of artificial intelligence, metaverse, and technology in life, and supplemented it with rich listening resources to create a new digital book club reading mode, allowing citizens to immerse themselves in it and deeply experience the infinite charm of the perfect integration of digital technology and reading.  The event also invited Li Youxi, a well-known promoter of oracle bone inscriptions and Chinese character culture, and a science popularization blogger with a large fan base, to give a wonderful lecture titled Reading Chinese Classics and Tasting the Beauty of Chinese Characters. This event will continue until October this year, and citizens can participate through the official website and WeChat platform of Shanghai Learning Network.  The lifelong digital reading activity for Shanghai citizens has been successfully held for 13 sessions and has now become a classic reading event in the hearts of citizens. The activity takes Shanghai Learning Network as the platform to build a 1+16 community reading platform network covering the entire city, making reading resources accessible. Over the past 13 years, the influence and participation of the event have been increasing year by year, with a total of over 3.5 million participants and over 1.8 million results released.

On 26 March, Mr. Christoph Stueckelberger, founder and President, and Mr. Fadi Daou, Executive Director of Globethics, visited Shanghai Open University (SOU). Mr. Jia Wei, President, and Ms. Zhang Jin, Vice President of the SOU, welcomed the delegation. Relevant staff from the President’s Office, Information and Technology Department and Institute of International Exchange of the SOU attended the meeting.  President Jia and Vice President Zhang extended a warm welcome to the delegation. The two sides exchanged views on the ethical issues in education brought about by digital and emerging technologies (artificial intelligence) and had in-depth discussions on co-operation in the areas of co-developed and shared courses, e-libraries and publications. Globethics, as the organiser of the 2024 International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) Leadership Summit, invited the SOU to participate in the conference and share Shanghai's experience.  Globethics, Swiss (Geneva) based international NGO with an accredited higher education academy, works internationally for ethical governance and leadership through, on the one hand knowledge production and dissemination (primarily with Higher education institution), and on the other hand, through policy dialogue and engagement. It has seven regional centres across the world based in: Indonesia, India, Kenya, Tunisia, Ghana, South Africa and Argentina.  

  On March 14th, the 9 delegates from Korea National Open University (KNOU), led by Professor Chung KwangSik——Dean of the Department of Computer Science at KNOU visited Shanghai Open University (SOU). Leaders and related staff from the Institute of International Exchange and the Information and Network Management Center of SOU participated in the meeting and exchanges.The meeting was chaired by Dr. Weng Zhuhua, Dean of the Institute ofInternational Exchange. On behalf of SOU, she welcomed the delegation from KNOU and reviewed the long-term cooperation between the KNOU and SOU, and also introduced KNOU’s achievements in the fields of education digitization and the virtual learning platform development over the years. After that, Professor Chung KwangSik shared the latest progress made by the KNOU in the construction of virtual learning contents and platforms, pointing out that the virtual learning content and platform construction project is committed to providing interactive experiential learning to enhance learners’ engagement and to improve learning effectiveness. Professor Chung KwangSi also expressed his intention to cooperate with SOU to jointly establish an open online learning platform, sharing virtual learning contents, and further improve the learning efficiency and experience of students from both universities and other leaners in Open and Distance Learning.In the afternoon, led by Dr. Xiao Jun, the director of SOU's Information and Network Management Center, the KNOU delegation visited SOU’s online learning platform, open learning platform, and OMO smart teaching space, experienced innovative teaching models such as the smart learning metaverse, and gave high praise to these innovative teaching practices.This visit, as an extension of the outcomes of SOU’s International Visiting Scholar Program, not only deepened the consensus between the two universities on educational technology and innovative learning methods, but also explored the possibility of cooperation between the two sides in the development of virtual learning platforms, interactive learning content sharing, and other fields. This visit serves as a starting point for deepening cooperation and exchanges, and we look forward to incubating more research outcomes in the fields of open education, virtual learning platforms, and the resource development between China and South Korea.Professor Chung KwangSik was an international visiting scholar of SOU, and visited our university in November 2016.  

1. Program OverviewImmersion Hub, short term international student program of Shanghai Open University (SOU), is a two-week program that takes you to experience Chinese culture, master the basic Chinese language, appreciate the characteristics of the city of Shanghai, and learn about China's fashion and design industry, and is a great option for you to experience a short-term study abroad. 2024 Immersion Hub is jointly organised by Institute of International Exchange of SOU, The Shanghai Bridge and Shanghai International Fashion Education Center (SIFEC).2. Schedule and Application Period(1) Duration of 2024 Immersion Hub: 24 June – 5 July, 2024 (2 weeks)(2) Language of the program: English and Chinese (3) Application deadline: 15 April, 2024(4) Location of the program: Shanghai Open University Address: 288 Guoshuan Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai, China, 200433(5) Our curriculum consists of 3 modules of learning: * Survival Chinese (for Beginner level)* Chinese culture* Eastern Fashion Insight Workshop3. Eligibility and Application Method(1) The program is open to all non-Chinese citizens with a valid foreign passport, aged 18 and above, and is mainly for students from SOU overseas Chinese learning centers, overseas partner institutions.(2) Please fill out the online application form and submit personal documents through the following website: https://lowcode-0g58tglcc773fde0-1259223015.tcloudbaseapp.com/app-89xew4p5/production/index4. Admission CriteriaSOU will admit 30 international students based on the following principles:(1) No more than 5 students from the same institution. (2) Applicants from countries of “One Belt and One Road” Initiative.(3) Regional and gender balance.5. Contact InformationInstitute of International ExchangeShanghai Open UniversityRoom 404, No.1 Building,288 Guoshun Road, Shanghai 200433, P. R. ChinaTel: 86-21-25653150； Fax: 86-21-25653267 E-mail: iieoffice@sou.edu.cn; gaoyue@sou.edu.cn

Shanghai Open University is pleased to announce that applications for its 2024 International Visiting Scholar Program is now being accepted.Shanghai Open University (SOU), sponsored by the Shanghai Municipal Government, approved by China’s Ministry of Education and subject to the administration of the Shanghai Education Commission, is a new type of higher education institution. It was formerly known as Shanghai TV University, which was founded in 1960. SOU provides open and distance ICT-supported education to adults at undergraduate and junior college level. SOU has had more than 470,000 graduates since its foundation. Adapting to the needs of Shanghai’s economic and social developments, SOU carries out large-scale non-academic education and training programs for about half a million people each year. SOU established several schools with appropriate features for those who have special learning needs. SOU has currently the largest number of college students in Shanghai. It also serves as an important lifelong learning platform in Shanghai. In addition, SOU is the coordinating institution of the UNESCO UNITWIN Network in Open and Distance Learning, and received the UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Alkhalifa Prize for the use of ICT in education. SOU was awarded an “Excellence Group Work Award” by the International Council of Open and Distance Education (ICDE) and an “Excellent Support Organization Award” by the African Council of Distance Education (ACDE). SOU strategically cooperates with the Open Universities of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and ACDE. SOU passed ICDE’s education quality audit.In order to promote global cooperation between universities, institutions and interested scholars through academic exchange and to enhance the quality of teaching and research in the field of open and distance learning, SOU has successfully conducted the International Visiting Scholar Program each spring and/or autumn since 2013, with participation by the member universities and institutes of African Council for Distance Education (ACDE), Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU), as well as other universities and institutes that currently provide or are developing open and distance education all over the world.SizeSOU is offering up to 15 fellowships for the 2024 International Visiting Scholar Program. We have found that offering the program on this scale promotes excellent collaboration and exchange among the visiting scholars and their SOU colleagues, not only for the duration of the on-site program, but for years to follow. Our International Visiting Scholar Program is unique in that we use the same 'blended model' as we do in our courses to combine both face-to-face and mobile distance education to create global communities of scholarship for our Visiting Scholars.Duration of the ProgramOn-site in Shanghai: 2 weeks from 17 to 28 June2024. SOU also maintains Wechat (Weixin) social network groups for Visiting Scholars to foster and maintain professional collaboration and support before, during and after the on-site program.Important DatesDeadline for application: April 30th, 2024Notification of acceptance: May 10th, 2024Requirements for CandidatesThe candidates for the programØMust have relevant teaching and/or research experience in open & distance learning.ØMust possess a post-graduate degree and have held the position of instructor or above in the home institution.ØMust have fluent written and oral English ability (the working language for all official activities is English).ØMust be in good health.ØBesides the above requirements, applicants who have administrative management experience, or who have been engaged in collaborative research with SOU, will be given priority.Required Materials for Application (Written in English)ØCurriculum Vitae (candidates should have advanced English skills and hold a M.A degree or above)ØA research proposal for the fellowship program: it could be a study on SOU practices, a comparative study between SOU and the applicant’s home institution, a proposal for future collaboration, etc. Topics may include but are not restricted to：(1)The application of AI in education(2)Specialty construction and curriculum development in open and distance educationThe specialty includes：preschool education, elderly care, public safety emergency management, art design, international Chinese language education and cultural dissemination.(3)Promoting lifelong learning in higher education(4)Quality assurance and evaluation of open and distance learning (ODL)(5)Teachers’ professional development related to ODL(6)Personalized service design for online learning in open and distance learning(7)The learning analysis in open and distance learning.ØA professional letter of recommendation from the head of the home institution (President, Rector, Chancellor or Vice Chancellor)ØA recent photo (passport size) of the applicant.ØA scanned photo of the passport (for VISA application)Financial InformationSOU will provide the following for the fellowship:ØHotel accommodationØWorkspace with Wi-Fi, telephone and the Internet accessØTransportation for the arranged on-site visit within ShanghaiVisiting scholars or their home institutions will be expected to cover：ØA round-trip air ticket between their home country and Shanghai, ChinaØLiving expense & another related personal expenses in ShanghaiPlease be noticed that all the financial support comes from governmental program funds, and therefore, depends on government’s confirmation.Required Health InsuranceAll fellows are required to show proof of health insurance for the entire length of their stay. This health insurance must meet specified minimum levels of coverage (Please send us the copy via email when you apply or bring it in person when you attend the program). Fellows who bring health insurance from their home country must bring a copy of the complete policy in English. If these conditions are not met, they must purchase health insurance in China.Fellows’ Activities and ResponsibilitiesØThe nominated candidates should keep regular electronic contact with SOU to inform the visa application process and travel plans. SOU reserves the right to cancel any fellowship offer if full visa and travel plans have not been successfully completed. SOU has to be notified of all required details at least two weeks prior to the start date of the program.ØThe fellows will visit and meet with relevant departments and facilities (Shanghai Education Resources Center, SOU Library, Department of Research and Development, Information & Network Management Center, Teaching Affairs Office, Student Affairs Office, SOU branch schools, etc.).ØThe fellows must conduct their proposed research.ØThe fellows are to give a presentation based on their research conducted during their stay at SOU. This presentation will also include an introduction of their own institution.ØThe fellows will submit a final report (minimum 3000 words) on the outcome of the research to SOU within 30 days at the conclusion of the program.ØThe fellows will also be required to complete a feedback form on the quality of the Visiting Scholar Program.How to Apply?Please refer to the following link https://lowcode-0g58tglcc773fde0-1259223015.tcloudbaseapp.com/app-89xew4p5/production/visitor to complete the online application.You can also send the required application documents to the email：tanghf@sou.edu.cnWe very much look forward to hearing from you and would also appreciate you sharing this invitation with others in your professional networks who might be interested in applying. Everyone will receive a warm welcome in Shanghai and at SOU!Contact details:Ms. Dorothy TangEmail:tanghf@sou.edu.cn or tanghf0901@163.comTelephone: +86 21 2565 3412Fax: +86 21 25653267Mobile: +86 13671627400Mail Address: The Institute of International Exchange of SOURoom 402, Building No.1288 Guoshun RoadShanghaiChina, 200433

Guided by the Department of Vocational and Adult Education of the Ministry of Education (MOE), organised by the Open University of China (OUC) and Shanghai Open University (OU), and co-organised by the MOE Vocational Education Development Centre, East China Normal University, and the China Adult Education Association, on 30 January, this parallel session convened approximately 240 representatives from education departments, universities, and research institutions across 35 countries and regions to discuss advancements in digital education and the construction of learning societies.Participants discussed theoretical and practical aspects of establishing a learning society in the digital age from diverse perspectives. At the Conference, LOU Junjiang, Party Secretary of Shanghai Open University, host the session of “Practice and Innovation in Building a Learning Society in the Digital Age”. JIA Wei, Deputy Party Secretary and President of Shanghai Open University, made a keynote speech themed “Digital Empowerment for Elderly Education in Shanghai: Demands, Patterns, and Prospects”.Participants concurred that building a learning-oriented society necessitates comprehensive empowerment through digital technology and introduces wider application scenarios in the digital era. The conference further unified the consensus on creating a learning-oriented society in the digital age, proposed new initiatives for forming a digital education community in this era, and is poised to herald a new chapter for the learning society.

The 2024 World Digital Education Conference (WDEC) is held in Shanghai, China on 29-31 January 2024, co-hosted by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO and Shanghai Municipal People’s Government.The conference aims to work with governments, universities, primary and secondary schools, enterprises, and other stakeholders, relevant international organizations and non-governmental organizations to jointly explore practices and innovations in digital education. It seeks to promote inclusive, equitable, and quality education through digital education transformation, thereby advancing the realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.With the theme of “Digital Education: Application, Sharing, and Innovation”, the conference will focus on topics including Improvement of Digital Literacy and Competency of Teachers, Education Digitalization and Learning Society Construction, Global Trends of Digital Education Development and Evaluation Index, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Ethics, Challenges and Opportunities of Digital Transformation for Basic Education, and Digital Governance in Education.

From October 16th to October 27th, 12 international visiting scholars from 11 countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, Cyprus, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan, Mauritius, Tanzania, South Africa, Papua New Guinea, Jamaica, etc., have successfully completed their research s and exchange at Shanghai Open University. The target of the visiting scholar program still focuses on the the Belt and Road countries, and the program has received extensive attention from overseas scholars. A total of 115 applications from 28 countries have been received. After strict evaluation process, 12 international visiting scholars have been selected, 11 of whom have doctoral degrees, and nearly half are senior professors or administers of overseas universities. At the same time, the program received visiting scholars from Cyprus and Jamaica for the first time, which leads to the expansion of its geographical coverage and influence furtherly.In the past two weeks, the international visiting scholars have had in-depth interaction and exchanges with the Department of Degree Education, Department of Development & Research, Institute of International Exchange, Learning Resource Center, School of Science and Technology, School of Public Administration, School of Humanities, and School of Economics and Management. They have visited the Yangpu and the Qingpu branches of SOU for exchanges. They have participated in the International Conference on Promoting Lifelong Learning in Higher Education Institutions: Strategies and Practices during the program. They have also participated in specialized academic workshops with the themes of Professional Construction and Curriculum Development in Open & Distance Learning (ODL), Application of AI and Information Technology in ODL , and Teaching Quality Assurance in ODL. The visiting scholars also gave brilliant presentations in the workshops.At 1 o'clock on the afternoon of October 25th, the closing ceremony of the 2023 International Visiting Scholar Program was grandly held in the Round Table Hall on the first floor of the International Conference Center. The international visiting scholars gave speeches one by one at the closing ceremony, not only sharing the gains brought by the two-week program, but also expressing gratitude to SOU and the staff involved for organizing the program. Finally, Dr. Weng Zhuhua, Dean of the Institute of International Exchange, issued program certificates to international visiting scholars on the closing ceremony.SOU International Visiting Scholar Program has received 13 batches of visiting scholars from 48 countries, totaling 133 visitors since the initiation of the program in 2013.

The fifth Capacity-building Workshop on ‘Strengthening Education Systems from a Lifelong Learning Perspective’, jointly organized by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning and Shanghai Open University, successfully concluded its in-person phase from 19th to 25th October 2023, in Shanghai.The workshop adopted a hybrid modality for the first time this year. Following an online phase from 11th to 22nd September, 12 representatives from each country team participated in the in-person phase from 19th to 25th October. The representatives included the team leaders, deputy team leaders, and excellent team members from four country teams, namely Malaysia, Republic of Azerbaijan, South Africa, and China.The in-person phase began with the participation of the representatives in the international conference on ‘Promoting lifelong learning in higher education: From institutional strategies to practical implementation’. Ms Suraya Hani Saleh, team leader of Malaysia, joined the Presidents’ Forum of the conference. Mr Collin Pillay, from South Africa, shared the experience of Learning City Durban, in the Session 7 ‘The role of universities in addressing local challenges, engaging communities and promoting learning cities’.The representatives then engaged in interactive discussions, country presentations, and site visits. The discussions were facilitated by workshop experts Mr Sergio Cárdenas-Denham and Ms Katarina Popović, based on the shared themes, priorities, and challenges for structured knowledge exchange. The team leaders of each country team also shared the draft outline of their workshop output documents. The representatives of team Egypt, who could not attend in person, joined the discussions and presentations online.The in-person phase also included visits to Yangpu Branch Campus and Changning Branch Campus of Shanghai Open University.At Yangpu, the representatives visited the Coffee Course for people with disabilities, and learned about other training courses offered by the Yangpu Campus in collaboration with Shanghai Disabled Persons’ Federation, as well as the upskilling training, the employment, and the financial support for people with disabilities. They also experienced the Tea Art Course and Woodcut Printmaking Course, which showcased the lifelong learning programmes with Chinese traditional culture.At Changning, the representatives explored Shanghai Silicon Alley, a neighbourhood for urban renewal and industrial clustering on vocational training, enterprise support and employment promotion, as well as Changning Citizen Learning Centre, a centre for technology-enabled lifelong learning for citizens. They also visited the flagship programme of Changning Branch, the Air Transport Training Centre. This is a customised programme for Honghe in Yunnan province, a remote ethnic minority area. The representatives were impressed by the inclusive and equitable lifelong learning programmes in Shanghai.After the in-person phase, the representatives will return to their countries, to finalize the output documents with their team members. They will continue to develop their national lifelong learning policies, the related implementation strategies, or the targeted action plans. They will further promote lifelong learning in their own countries with insights and reflections in Shanghai.

On 19 October 2023, the International Conference on Promoting the Implementation of Lifelong Learning in Higher Education: From Institutional Strategies to Practical Implementation was successfully opened at the Shanghai Open University. The conference was co-organized by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) and the Shanghai Open University, in partnership with the UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office for East Asia (UNESCO Beijing), the National Commission of the People's Republic of China for UNESCO, the International Association of Universities, and the Chinese Society of Educational Development Strategy, China Association of Higher Education and China Adult Education Association. Mr Zhou Yaming, Director General of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, Mr Borhene Chakroun, Director a.i., UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, and Mr Lou Junjiang, Vice Chairman of Shanghai Open University Council, attended the Opening Ceremony and delivered speeches. The opening ceremony was presided over by Ms Zhang Jin, Vice President of the Shanghai Open University.The three-day conference showcased a rich program with eight Plenary Sessions, two Presidents' Forums and one Round Table Forum. Notably, the conference witnessed the launch of the Chinese edition of UNESCO's renowned publication Making Lifelong Learning a Reality: A Handbook. Furthermore, attendees had the privilege of exploring the Chinese version of the research reports from the UIL-SOU collaborative project, titled “International Trends of Lifelong Learning in Higher Education and Institutional Practices of Implementing Lifelong Learning in Higher Education. The event drew a diverse gathering of 260 participants from 35 countries and regions. The participants consisted of 70 international delegates and 190 national attendees, comprising university leaders, policymakers, experts, scholars and researchers, all converging at the conference to share their insights and expertise.Ms Stephania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education of UNESCO, conveyed her felicitations for the conference through a letter, which was delivered by Mr Borhene Chakroun, Director a.i.,of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, during the opening ceremony. Ms Gianini’s words underscored the urgency of reshaping education in a world characterized by rapid technological advancements, pressing climate crises, and enduring social inequalities. She stressed that the transformation of education, especially in higher education, is now paramount. ‘We must harness the potential of higher education institutions to foster sustainable societies through lifelong learning, empowering them to effectively address the diverse needs of learners and meet the dynamic demands of the modern workforce and sustainability of development,’ Ms Gianini emphasized in her compelling inaugural address.Adding to the chorus of support, Mr Qin Changwei, the Secretary-General of the National Commission for UNESCO, shared his insights and aspirations for a brighter future in a video message to the conference. He noted, “Ensuring inclusive, equitable and high-quality education, along with lifelong learning opportunities for all is a pivotal driving force toward our collective vision for 2030 and the realization of SDG4.” Mr Qin emphasized that achieving this vision is a collaborative endeavor involving all segments of society and necessitates the concerted efforts of various stakeholders. He also highlighted the Chinese government’s profound commitment to creating a learning society, with Shanghai standing as a pioneering and proactive advocate for lifelong learning and learning society development in China. Over the years, Shanghai has forged a distinctive path, incorporating both Chinese and Shanghai-specific characteristics, which has garnered recognition and acclaim, both nationally and internationally.Director Zhou Yaming pointed out in his speech that Shanghai is deepening the construction of the five centres of international economy, finance, trade, shipping, science and innovation, and accelerating its progress towards a global city of excellence. In this process, Shanghai focuses on the leading role of the city's higher education institutions in the implementation of lifelong learning, encourages higher education institutions to provide more flexible learning opportunities, actively reforms the talent cultivation method through the in-depth integration of industry and education, establishes closer partnerships with communities, enterprises, governments and other organizations, pays more attention to and serves the lifelong development of every learner, and leads the way in the development of a fair, high-quality, convenient and diversified lifelong education system, and better serve the lifelong learning needs of nearly 25 million citizens living in this city.In his speech, Director a.i., of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, Mr Borhene Chakroun, hoped that under the guidance of UNESCO, more higher education institutions would implement lifelong learning to ensure that global citizens have access to lifelong learning. In his speech, he also mentioned that with the application of AI technology in open learning, he hopes that there will be more use of technology in higher education to facilitate knowledge sharing and more efficiently engage all parties in society in more inclusive, universal and open learning. He also highlighted the crucial contribution of UNESCO, stating, ‘we support Member States by providing research, resources and technical assistance, as they seek to develop inclusive higher education systems that lay the ground for the equal distribution of opportunities among students.’Mr LOU Junjiang, Vice Chairman of Shanghai Open University Council, said in his opening address that Shanghai is an important testing ground for lifelong learning in China. As a new type of Higher Education Institution (HEI) supported by information technology and tasked to serve the development of a learning society and lifelong learning system, Shanghai Open University should better dedicate itself to the openness, inclusiveness, flexibility and convenience of education in the trend of sustainable social development and educational change, and actively promote the sustainable development of a learning city where everyone learns, learns everywhere, and learns all the time. He hoped that the conference could be a platform for dialogues and colleagues in this field from around the world would jointly promote the implementation of lifelong learning in HEIs.While building on the UIL/SOU research on International trends of lifelong learning in higher education, the conference provided the basis for future research collaboration and joint advocacy to make higher education more inclusive, diverse and sustainable. In particular, concrete common areas of work with higher education institutions and university associations have been established in the fields of older people's learning, education for sustainable development and measuring the impact of lifelong learning, among others.

Shanghai Open University is pleased to announce that applications for its 2023 International Visiting Scholar Program is now being accepted. Shanghai Open University (SOU), sponsored by the Shanghai Municipal Government, approved by China’s Ministry of Education and subject to the administration of the Shanghai Education Commission, is a new type of higher education institution. It was formerly known as Shanghai TV University, which was founded in 1960. SOU provides open and distance ICT-supported education to adults at undergraduate and junior college level. SOU has had more than 470,000 graduates since its foundation. Adapting to the needs of Shanghai’s economic and social developments, SOU carries out large-scale non-academic education and training programs for about half a million people each year. SOU established several schools with appropriate features for those who have special learning needs. SOU has currently the largest number of college students in Shanghai. It also serves as an important lifelong learning platform in Shanghai. In addition, SOU is the coordinating institution of the UNESCO UNITWIN Network in Open and Distance Learning, and received the UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Alkhalifa Prize for the use of ICT in education. SOU was awarded an “Excellence Group Work Award” by the International Council of Open and Distance Education (ICDE) and an “Excellent Support Organization Award” by the African Council of Distance Education (ACDE). SOU strategically cooperates with the Open Universities of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and ACDE. SOU passed ICDE’s education quality audit. In order to promote global cooperation between universities, institutions and interested scholars through academic exchange and to enhance the quality of teaching and research in the field of open and distance learning, SOU has successfully conducted the International Visiting Scholar Program each spring and/or autumn since 2013, with participation by the member universities and institutes of African Council for Distance Education (ACDE),Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU), as well as other universities and institutes that currently provide or are developing open and distance education all over the world.     SizeSOU is offering up to 15 fellowships for the 2023 International Visiting Scholar Program. We have found that offering the program on this scale promotes excellent collaboration and exchange among the visiting scholars and their SOU colleagues, not only for the duration of the on-site program, but for years to follow. Our International Visiting Scholar Program is unique in that we use the same 'blended model' as we do in our courses to combine both face-to-face and mobile distance education to create global communities of scholarship for our Visiting Scholars.  Duration of the ProgramOn-site in Shanghai: 2 weeks from 16 to 27 October2023. SOU also maintains Wechat (Weixin) social network groups for Visiting Scholars to foster and maintain professional collaboration and support before, during and after the on-site program.  Important DatesDeadline for application: September 8th, 2023Notification of acceptance: September 15th, 2023Requirements for CandidatesThe candidates for the programØMust have relevant teaching and/or research experience in open & distance learning. ØMust possess a post-graduate degree and have held the position of instructor or above in the home institution.ØMust have fluent written and oral English ability (the working language for all official activities is English).ØMust be in good health.ØBesides the above requirements, applicants who have administrative management experience, or who have been engaged in collaborative research with SOU, will be given priority.  Required Materials for Application (Written in English)ØCurriculum Vitae (candidates should have advanced English skills and hold a M.A degree or above)ØA research proposal for the fellowship program: it could be a study on SOU practices, a comparative study between SOU and the applicant’s home institution, a proposal for future collaboration, etc. Topics may include but are not restricted to：(1)The new opportunities and challenges in the pandemic era(2)Specialty construction and curriculum development in open and distance educationThe specialty includes：preschool education, elderly care, public safety emergency management, art design, international Chinese language education and cultural dissemination.(3) Promoting lifelong learning in higher education:from institutional strategies to practical implementation(4) The application of AI in education (5) Quality assurance and evaluation of open and distance learning (ODL)(6) Teachers’ professional development related to ODL(7) Personalized service design for online learning in open and distance learning(8) The learning analysis in open and distance learning.ØA professional letter of recommendation from the head of the home institution (President, Rector, Chancellor or Vice Chancellor) ØA recent photo (passport size) of the applicant.ØA scanned photo of the passport (for VISA application)  Financial InformationSOU will provide the following for the fellowship:ØHotel accommodationØLiving expense allowance & transportation within Shanghai (during the two weeks), which is 250 RMB per day for the allowance (before tax). ØWorkspace with Wi-Fi, telephone and internet accessVisiting Scholars or their Home institutions will be expected to cover：ØA round-trip air ticket between their home country and Shanghai, ChinaPlease be noticed that all the financial support comes from governmental program funds, and therefore, depends on government’s confirmation.  Required Health InsuranceAll fellows are required to show proof of health insurance for the entire length of their stay. This health insurance must meet specified minimum levels of coverage (Please send us the copy via email when you apply or bring it in person when you attend the program). Fellows who bring health insurance from their home country must bring a copy of the complete policy in English. If these conditions are not met, they must purchase health insurance in China.  Fellows’ Activities and ResponsibilitiesØThe nominated candidates should keep regular electronic contact with SOU to inform the visa application process and travel plans. SOU reserves the right to cancel any fellowship offer if full visa and travel plans have not been successfully completed. SOU has to be notified of all required details at least two weeks prior to the start date of the program.ØThe fellows will visit and meet with relevant departments and facilities (Shanghai Education Resources Center, SOU Library, Department of Research and Development, Information & Network Management Center, Teaching Affairs Office, Student Affairs Office, SOU branch schools, etc.).ØThe fellows must conduct their proposed research.ØThe fellows are to give a presentation based on their research conducted during their stay at SOU. This presentation will also include an introduction of their own institution.ØThe fellows will submit a final report (minimum 3000 words) on the outcome of the research to SOU within 30 days at the conclusion of the program.ØThe fellows will also be required to complete a feedback form on the quality of the Visiting Scholar Program. How to Apply?Please refer to the following link: https://lowcode-0g0lid1w4bab76d8-1259223015.tcloudbaseapp.com/app-ffhvlait/production/to complete the online application.   We very much look forward to hearing from you and would also appreciate you sharing this invitation with others in your professional networks who might be interested in applying. Everyone will receive a warm welcome in Shanghai and at SOU!Contact details:Ms. Dorothy Tang Email: tanghf@sou.edu.cn, or tanghf0901@163.comTelephone: +86 21 2565 3412Fax: +86 21 25653267Mobile: +86 13671627400Mail Address: The Institute of International Exchange of SOURoom 402, Building No.1 288 Guoshun RoadShanghai China, 200433  

On June 5th, UNESCO Institute of Lifelong learning (UIL) and Shanghai Open University (SOU) launched two publications on the important role of higher education institutions in lifelong learning during an international webinar. Borene Chakrun, Director a.i. of the UIL, and Jia Wei, President of the SOU, delivered welcome messages. Hilligje van't Land, Secretary General of the International Association of Universities (IAU), made a presentation. During the webinar, UIL introduced the main research results of the publications. Representatives from higher education institutions and the university association also shared various institutional practices and perspectives.“To empower learners for the challenges of our times, higher education institutions must become vibrant hubs that radiate knowledge, embracing individuals from every age group and diverse backgrounds and needs. From working individuals in need of upskilling and reskilling to older learners, vulnerable groups and non-traditional learners, including early school leavers, unemployed persons, migrants and refugees, and people with disabilities – targeted learning opportunities are essential for all. While significant progress has been made in the implementation of lifelong learning by higher education institutions worldwide, a more comprehensive and institution-wide approach is needed to fully transform these institutions into lifelong learning hubs,” underlines Borhene Chakroun.“The transformation of higher education institutions into lifelong learning institutions is key to advancing SDG4. Higher education institutions in different countries and regions show richness and diversity in terms of content, approaches and focus areas for promoting lifelong learning. Based on the analysis of the survey data, the reports provide some specific recommendations for action and some cases on how higher education institutions in Member States can effectively promote lifelong learning policies and implementation. We hope that the release of the reports will help higher education institutions transform themselves into lifelong education institutions, provide lifelong learning opportunities for a wider segment of society, and contribute to the realization of a new social contract for education”, added JIA Wei.“In the face of rapid technological advancements, amplified by the acceleration of Generative-AI, the climate crisis, labour market volatility, and dynamic demographic change, a paradigm shift is needed in learning and education systems to equip individuals of all ages with the necessary knowledge and skills for live and work. In this context, higher education institutions must transcend their traditional roles and emerge as unwavering beacons of lifelong learning,” said Hilligje van’t Land.Two publications have been launched as outcomes of an extensive research project conducted by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) and Shanghai Open University (SOU) from 2020-2022, based on a survey among almost 400 universities worldwide. The project explores the role of universities and higher education institutions in lifelong learning through various components, including a literature review, international surveys, case studies, interviews and thematic studies. The publications provide valuable insights into lifelong learning within universities and serve as a resource for policy-makers and educators. The English version could be found on the UNESCO website.Download link:International trends of lifelong learning in higher education（https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000385339）Institutional practices of implementing lifelong learning in higher education（https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000385434）

On the morning of May 17, Mr. Matthias Afting, CEO, Mr. Timo Tekhaus, Director of Academy International and Ms. Chen Liwei, Head of China Office of Cognos International Group, visited SOU. Mr. Jia Wei, President , Ms. Xue Wei, Director of the Personnel Office, Ms. Weng Zhuhua, Director of the Institute of International Exchange, and relevant staff of SOU, attended the meeting.  President Jia extended a warm welcome to the delegation and introduced the current development of the university, the development of specialties, the exploration of dual system in educational programmes and development of the faculty.   Mr. Afting introduced the development of Cognos International Education Group in higher education, vocational education, continuing education and international cooperation. The two sides discussed the further cooperation in the development of industrial colleges, programmes for public well-being, and the opportunities of faculty and staff exchange.  Cognos International Education Group is the largest independent private education institution in Germany, with the largest education network and training institutions in Europe. Since the two sides signed the strategic cooperation agreement in 2015, they have continued to cooperate in the introduction of series of video courses, series of teacher training and the development of Chinese-German Open Online Course (CG-OOC) platform, etc, and carry out collaborative projects together.

From 20 to 21 April 2023, more than 20 Permanent Representatives and officials from different countries to UNESCO, heads of several UNESCO's Category I Institutes, as well as experts and scholars from China and abroad, gathered in Shanghai to participate in the International Seminar on Digital Transformation Reshaping Lifelong Learning for All. In the context of the global education revolution, especially digital transformation, they exchanged on how to develop a more inclusive and fairer mechanism to promote lifelong learning for all with more diversified approaches, richer resources, and more convenient learning, shared first-hand experiences and vivid practices, and discussed future collaboration.This seminar is co-organized by the Secretariat of the National Commission of China for UNESCO, the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education,the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning and Shanghai Open University.Digital technology is rapidly changing the way knowledge is created, acquired, disseminated, verified, and used, enabling people in different scenarios to have equal access to educational resources and channels and expediting the realization of “learning by all, learning at all times and learning everywhere”. The report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposes to “promote educational digitization and nurture a learning-oriented society and nation characterized by learning for all people”. Last year, the United Nations Transforming Education Summit also issued a visionary initiative to promote education transformation, especially emphasizing the essential role of lifelong learning and calling for including thelifelong learning concept in the education system.Chen Jie, Vice Minister of Education of China and Director of the National Commission of China for UNESCO, said in a speech at the opening ceremony that lifelong learning for all is a vital engine for sustainable development. China is actively building and continuously optimizing a lifelong learning system for all andestablishing a national smart education platform, accessible to thewhole society, to provide high-quality digital learning resources. Advocating the cultivation of learning-oriented government organs, enterprises, communities and cities, China has established a national university for the elderly to help them learn and takes an active part ininternational exchange and cooperation on lifelong learning. Chen Jie called on countries to join hands to propel the digital transformation of education and build a learningsociety of lifelong learning for all.Liu Duo, Vice Mayor of Shanghai, pointed out in his speech that Shanghai vigorously participates in international exchange and cooperation in building learning cities. As the coordinating city of the Education for Sustainable Development group, Shanghai actively assists more than 100 cities worldwide to carry out educational practices and research and supports Shanghai Open University as the host of the UNESCO UNITWIN Network in Distance and Open Learning (East Asia) to facilitate knowledge dissemination, resource sharing and academic development in open and distance education.In the view of Zhan Tao, Director of the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, we shall ensure that people in all countries have equal access to the benefits of technology applications. “Technology cannot replace teachers and educators, especially their ability to guide, support and motivate learners. While embracing the benefits of digital learning, we need to ensure that learners also have access to authentic human interaction.”David Atchoarena, Director of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, focused on how to avoid digital technologies exacerbating educational injustices while promoting knowledge sharing. The data he cited showed that 34% of the global population had yet connected to the Internet. In the speech, he said that lifelong learning is undergoing a digital transformation and that we should prioritize on availability of learningtechnologies in the future, focus on the disadvantaged group and support lifelong learning as a common benefit.Qin Changwei, Secretary General of the National Commission of China for UNESCO, moderated the opening ceremony, pointing out that as the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation gains further momentum, the wide application of digital education in various sectors has generated far-reaching impact on global socio-economic development, including education. This seminar is organized to emphasize the importance of lifelong learning, discuss how to drive the development of a comprehensive lifelong learning mechanism in the context of digital education transformation, share effective and practical experiences and explore future cooperation.In the following “Sub-Forum: Policy and planning on reshaping lifelong learning for all through digital”, Permanent Delegates and officials from Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Argentina, Kenya, Palestine, Angola and Senegal shared their visions of lifelong learning for all and their policies and plans for promoting digital education.Chen Ziji, Director-General of the Department of Vocational and Adult Education at the Ministry of Education, pointed out that China will respond to the international initiative and launch the learning society cultivation promotion project in line with the national education digitalization strategy. China will, first, take innovative action indeveloping learning cities; second, expedite the development of the national university for the elderly; third, continuously promote the reform and innovation of continuing education; fourth, carry out diversified lifelong learning activities for all; fifth, actively promotethe construction of digital universities; and sixth, strengthen international exchanges and cooperation.Asha S. Kanwar, President and CEO of the Commonwealth of Learning and Chairman of the Board of the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, said that the differences in the current state of global education are not entirely due to the digital divide but partly due to the gap in the learning power of different groups.According to Jia Wei, President of Shanghai Open University, digital transformation has brought three major challenges to contemporary people: survival skills, life quality improvement and self-development. Through digital transformation, the value of digital learning tools, learning styles, teachers’ roles and certification systems should be reshaped to create a learning community participated by the government, society, educational institutions, market and citizens.In the Sub-Forum: Open education and open educational resources and Sub-Forum: Inclusiveness of lifelong learning for all and ethics and security of digital learning held on the afternoon of April 20, the participants offered their views on how to promote the sharing and exchange of lifelong learning educational resources and achieve equity of lifelong learning education in different countries and regions worldwide.In the “Sub-Forum: International cooperation on lifelong learning for all”held on the morning of April 21, the participants reached a consensus on promoting educational cooperation, equity and opportunities, establishing a wider alliance of open learning communities, strengthening the cultivation of learning cities, providing more programs and training, enhancing the development capacity of teachers and the public, and promoting the development of information technology.During the seminar, Shanghai Open University and UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education launched the jointly developed Data and AI-driven Smart Teaching Design Guide, emphasizing teaching interaction, including teaching motivation, teaching model, teaching design (e.g., pre-course preparation, in-course immersion and post-course enhancement) and teaching evaluation. It links theories to classroom teaching, designs teaching implementation steps andoffers diagnostic methods and suggestions to improve teaching effectiveness.

On 28th February, the seminar on  ChatGPT's Innovative Application in Education, sponsored by SOU Distance Education Engineering Technology Research Center and Intelligent Education Technology Alliance, was held at SOU. Keynote speeches were delivered by experts from Shanghai Open University, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute Chinese Academy of Sciences, East China Normal University, China Telecom, China Unicom, and other universities, organizations and enterprises. The seminar gathered about 300 participants from universities and enterprises online and on-site.   XIAO Jun, Director of the SOU Information Office, shared about teachers' A.I. ability and ChatGPT’s educational applications. He proposed that the education industry should strengthen research and development of generative A.I. tools in the field of education, enhance the ability to integrate tools into teaching, and strengthen the formulation and guidance of relevant education application specifications.  NING Dejun, Director of the Smart City Research Center of the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute Chinese Academy of Sciences focused on some ChatGPT applications such as AI code generation (AI algorithm scientist training course and programmer training course), automatic document generation (literary and artistic creation training course), intelligent judge (legal training course) and so on.  XIAO Qing, Deputy Chief Engineer of China Telecom Shanghai Branch Chief Engineer Office, mentioned how China Telecom supported innovative applications based on ChatGPT. ZHAO Wanpeng, CTO of China Unicom Shanghai Industrial Internet Co., Ltd., noted the solution of ChatGPT enabling smart education.  The seminar gave participants a more rational understanding of ChatGPT's technology and its applying fields, and discussed its innovative application potential and practical prospects in the field of education from multiple perspectives. It provided valuable reference for ChatGPT and other AI technologies in promoting innovation, development and improvement of education.  

On the afternoon of December 5, the UK-China Conference on the Development of Science Literacy for All jointly organized by Shanghai Open University, Shanghai Teacher Institute (The Teaching Research Section of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission) and The Open University, UK，was held in Guoshun Road Campus of Shanghai Open University. The theme of this conference was Development of Science Literacy for All , and two roundtable forums were set up under the framework of the theme: Practice and Development of the Science Literacy System for All, and UK-China Collaboration- Build A High-quality Science Education System at the Basic Education Level in China. The conferencewas held in a hybrid format and lasted for half a day. The conference was chaired by Ms. Zhang Jin, Vice President of Shanghai Open University.Jia Wei, President of Shanghai Open University, delivered a welcome speech on behalf of the organizing institutions. Li Yongzhi, Deputy Director of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, and Andrew McAllister, Acting Consul General of the British Consulate General in Shanghai attended the conference and delivered speeches in the Opening Ceremony.Jia Wei mentioned in his speech that the improvement of science literacy cannot be separated from the power of science education and popularization. As a university within reach for every learner, Shanghai Open University carries the important mission of serving urban development, improving citizens' literacy, and building a learning society 'learning truly happen to every person, at any time and in any place'. He hoped that this conference would become an academic feast for the science education dialogue between China and the UK, deepening mutual learning, strengthening the ties of cooperation, incubating more two-way education exchanges and cooperation projects, and further promoting cultural exchanges between China and the UK.  Li Yongzhi said in his speech that this conference was an important measure of practical cooperation in education between China and the UK. He hoped that the holding of the conference would enrich bilateral exchanges and cooperation in science popularization, build a bilateral dialogue platform for science popularization education expanding from basic education to lifelong education, continuously improve the science literacy for all the citizens in Shanghai, and promote the in-depth development of education cooperation between the two countries.Andrew McAllister mentioned that Shanghai had always been at the forefront of international education cooperation between the UK and China, and he looked forward to seeing the UK-China's communication and cooperation as well as fruitful exchanges in the future.More than 50 representatives from Shanghai Education Commission, British Consulate General in Shanghai, Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, Shanghai Open University, Shanghai Teacher Institute, community colleges in Shanghai, Oxford University Press, Pearson Education Group and other units participated the conference on the site. Nearly 550 participants, including the personnel from Shanghai basic education, Shanghai science education, Shanghai higher education and community education, British primary and secondary school, British science education institutions and other related areas, attended the conference online. Jia Wei made a keynote speech entitled Science Education Empowers the Elderly for A High-quality Life in the conference. In his speech, he released the survey on science literacy and science education of the elderly in the scale of 10,000 people, and found that the overall level of science literacy of the elderly in Shanghai is relatively high, but there are still improving potentials in health knowledge and information technology application ability; the science literacy level of the elderly is related to their learning and working experience, living conditions, lifestyle, learning motivation, etc.; participating in various forms of education activities for the elderly is an important way to improve the science literacy. To improve the science literacy of the elderly, it is urgent to further expand the supply of geriatric science education, improve the curriculum system, increase the construction of online resources, and innovate educational methods.Professor Michael J. Reiss from University College London, UK, delivered a keynote speech entitled UK Science Education: Science Literacy for All . He introduced the problems faced by science education in schools around the world and the characteristics of science education in schools, and shared an evaluation report from the British Awarding Bodies setting school examinations, which showed the characteristics of the British national curriculum system compared with those of schools in other countries. In his speech, he also proposed and discussed the profound connotation of science literacy for all  through three different science education situations.The roundtable panel on Practice and Development of the Science Literacy System for All was hosted by Sun Xiangtong, Vice President of Shanghai Open University. Ms.Janice Ansine and Dr. Yoseph Araya from the Faculty of STEM of the Open University UK, Mr.Ni Minjing, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, Wang Xiaoming, Director-General of the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, and Peter Gallivan, an expert from the Royal Institution of the UK, launched a series of discussions and dialogues around the theme.The roundtable panel on UK-China Collaboration – Build a High-quality Science Education System at the Basic Education Level in China was hosted by Ji Mingze, Vice President of Shanghai Teacher Institute. Yang Zhenfeng, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, Marc Neesam, Head of Professional Development Solutions at Cambridge Partnership for Education, Jane Turner, associate professor of the University of Hertfordshire,and Wang Yang, President of Shanghai Teacher Institute, conducted a series of discussions and dialogues on the theme.  

From 26 to 27 October 2022, the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) celebrated its 70th anniversary and held the symposium on Harnessing the Power of Lifelong Learning. High-level guests, key partners, scholars and experts from around the world attended the event and celebrated the70th anniversary of the UIL both in Hamburg and online.   Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, participated the event. As one of the key partners of the UIL, President Jia Wei and Vice-President Zhang Jin of the Shanghai Open University (SOU) were invited to attend the symposium, signed the new contract with UIL and unveiled the plague for “SOU-UIL Campus for International Capacity Development and Research in Lifelong Learning”.In his speech, Jia Wei said, “as pointed out in UNESCO's very important recent published report Reimagining Our Futures Together: A New Social Contract for Education, ensuring that citizens receive quality education throughout life is a common social cause and common interest of all mankind, and the creativity and innovation of higher education institutions, from supporting research and advancing scientific progress to serving their communities and global educational institutions as partners, can make a unique contribution to fulfilling the social contract of lifelong learning. To this end, in the next three years, SOU will deepen its cooperation with the UIL, upgrade from the first phase of the Project Cooperation Office to the Campus for International Capacity Development and Research in Lifelong Learning, jointly carry out capacity-building activities, research and consultation, knowledge production and dissemination, personnel exchanges and internships, we expect this SOU-UIL Campus to become an innovative, leading and iconic new platform for global cooperation.”David Atchoarena, Director of the UIL, said the collaboration between the UIL and SOU would write a new chapter. He looked forward to the signing of the new cooperation agreement and the greater achievements of cooperation with SOU, and the establishment of the SOU-UIL Campus in the next three years (2023-2025) would mark a strengthened cooperation between the two sides, which was expected to be a great success. Together, both sides would foster capacity building and lifelong learning policy development. Both sides would promote knowledge production and dissemination through thematic research in the field of higher education institutions’ engagement with lifelong. Both sides would work together to advance lifelong learning for all through this remarkable partnership.

The 15th German-Chinese Symposium on Application-oriented Higher Education (Deutsch-Chinesische Symposium zur anwendungsorientierten Hochschulausbildung 2022) was launched in Hefei of Anhui Province and Osnabrueck of Germany on September 28, 2022. With the theme of “Innovation and Quality-oriented Development”, the Symposium ran in a hybrid mode and attracted about 500 delegates from universities and enterprises both at home and abroad to participate.   Wan Gang, Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and President of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) delivered a speech via video, while Christian Wulff, former President of Germany, Wang Qingxian, Governor of Anhui Province, and Stefan Weil, Governor of Lower Saxony, attended the Symposium and delivered speeches respectively.  In his speech, Wan Gang pointed out that the Chinese-German Open Online Learning Platform (CG-OOC), which has attracted many universities and enterprises to participate together and is open to the public, has provided a model and leadership to overcome the impact of the epidemic and created a never-ending Chinese-German online education. The CG-OOC is a pragmatic cooperation project of the 2019 Chinese-German Dialogue Forum in Qingdao and goes live on a trial basis in early 2021. The Platform aims to promote humanities exchanges and the development of online education between China and Germany. Shanghai Open University, as the founding institution and secretary-general of the Platform, spares no effort to promote the development of the platform.The Symposium set up a sub-forum on “Chinese-German Open Online Learning Platform Development”. Vice President of SOU Zhang Jin gave a presentation at the sub-forum on Building an Open Online Learning Platform in China and Germany. She introduced the CG-OOC from four aspects: background, development status, characteristics and future plan. Zhang also hoped that Chinese and German universities and enterprises could join the platform alliance and participate in its construction, so as to jointly promote the joint cultivation of international and applied talents between China and Germany and deepen the cooperation between Chinese and German higher online education. The report was well received by the delegates. In the discussion session, Zhang discussed with the delegates on the quality of the platform's resource supply, teaching organization and mutual recognition of learning outcomes.The Chinese-German Symposium on Application-oriented Higher Education was co-sponsored by the Department of Education of Anhui Province and the Ministry of Science and Culture (Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, MWK) of the State of Lower Saxony of Germany.  The Symposium has been held alternately in China and Germany since 2008.  

On September 2, 2022, SOU successfully held the international forum themed on “AI leads a new era of open learning and lifelong learning”, which took place as part of the 5th World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC 2022). The event was organized by SOU, supported by the WAIC 2022 Organizing Committee, and assisted by the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (UNESCO IITE).The forum brought together experts and scholars in the field of open learning, lifelong learning, and artificial intelligence technology. It demonstrated novel ideas, technologies and scenarios of artificial intelligence to promote open learning and lifelong learning under the background of the current digital transformation of education, and explored new models of open learning and lifelong learning for the future.The event has provided an opportunity to discuss the implications and the transformative potential of AI on education. It has further added research experience and application scenarios to the application of digital intelligence in open learning. Through the exchange and discussion of research results, the event has sought to solve the problems encountered during the application of AI in open learning, and broadened research ideas; moreover, in accordance with the technical results and application cases, it has searched for new educational application scenarios, and enhanced the convenience and ubiquity of artificial intelligence and other technologies in the field of open learning.

In order to inherit and carry forward the craftsman spirit, improve the craftsman’s abilities, urge more workers, especially young people to carry forward craftsmanship and strive for excellence to serve the country, and cultivate more craftsmen, the press conference of "Craftsman Academic Degree Class" and " Ingenuity School " of Shanghai Craftsman College was held in Shanghai Open University on 21 July, 2022. The press conference was held in a hybrid manner.ZHANG Jin, Vice President of Shanghai Open University, BAO Qifan, Dean of Shanghai Craftsman College, WANG Shuqun, Vice Chairman of Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions, QIAN Songnian, Director of the Enterprise Education Professional Committee of Shanghai Adult Education Association, ZHANG Chengying, Deputy Secretary General of Shanghai Technician Association attended the conference. Representatives of Shanghai Open Universities, Shanghai Workers' Technical Association, relevant enterprises, and media representatives also attended the conference. QIAN Chuandong, Director of the Service Center of Shanghai workers' Technical Association chaired the conference. ZHANG Jin emphasized the importance of cultivating more high-quality technical professionals in building China into a strong manufacturing country. Cultivating more technical workers is also the responsibility of Shanghai Craftsman College. This year, on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the founding of Shanghai Craftsman College, in order to effectively unblock the growth channel for employees to improve their academic qualifications and technical skills, the "Craftsman Academic Degree Class" is launched to provide industrial workers with opportunities for higher education with the characteristics of "dual system".WANG Shuqun said, the "Craftsman Academic Degree Class" of Shanghai Craftsman College provides a large number of craftsmen with opportunities for further study, to learn skills and broaden their horizons.    BAO Qifan introduced in detail the projects of “Craftsman Academic Degree Class” and “Ingenuity School”. LI Jie, Deputy Dean of College of Science and Engineering and YI Xiaoting, Deputy Dean of Public Administration introduced the talent training programs for mechanical and electrical majors and administrative management majors. WENG Zhuhua, Dean of Institute of International Exchange introduced the international courses. XU Hongzhuo, Deputy Director of Academic Education Department and YANG Hong, Director of Cooperation Department made a detailed introduction and explanation about registration, enrollment and management of “Craftsman Academic Degree Class” and “Ingenuity School”.

More than 40 student representatives and teachers attended the closing ceremony of 2022 Shanghai Open University (SOU) “Immersion Hub” Program at 8:00 p.m. on July 15, Beijing time.At the closing ceremony, teachers and students reviewed the learning process in the past two weeks. The teachers specially designed online interactive games and experiencing activities on Chinese elements for the closing ceremony. The students shared their achievements and learning experience through videos, photos and short essays. Their love for Chinese language and Chinese culture was beyond the words.Dr. WENG Zhuhua, Dean of the Institute of International Exchange (IIE）, congratulated the students who obtained the program certificates and issued them the certificates online. She also showed her expectation for the international students to come to SOU for exchanges and further study. Student representatives from the Philippines, Ghana, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Panama shared their learning experience for the program, expressed their love for the course, and showed their gratitude to SOU. The closing ceremony concluded by waving goodbye among teachers and students reluctantly.The SOU “Immersion Hub” Program started in 2013, and this year is the first year of holding the online program. In the passing two weeks, facilitated by CG-OOC learning platform, more than 90 international students have participated in the both synchronous and pre-recorded courses on Chinese Language, Shanghai Cloud Travel, Chinese Culture and Intangible Culture Heritage.

The UNESCO World Higher Education Conference (WHEC2022) was held in Barcelona on 18-20 May. The conference brought together all relevant stakeholders, including international organisations, policy makers, university authorities, to define and prepare their roadmap for a new era of higher education systems and institutions.As a hybrid conference, WHEC2022 aimed at reshaping ideas and practices in higher education to ensure sustainable development for the planet and humanity. Invited by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL), Mr. Wei JIA, President of Shanghai Open University (SOU), participated in the conference online, and made a keynote speech on 18 May.As a representative of UIL’s important partners, JIA Wei delivered a keynote speech entitled A Platform University for Lifelong Learning at the roundtable discussing strategic reflections of how can higher education institutions (HEIs) be transformed into lifelong learning institutions. In his speech, he introduced the concept of ‘Platform University’, and shared the experience and practice of SOU to make lifelong learning accessible to the citizens.   Dr. Budd Hall, from University of Victoria, who is also the Co-Chair of the UNESCO Chair in Community Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education, said SOU was an excellent model in the transformation of higher education institutions to lifelong learning institutions. Mr. Michael Gaebel, Director of Higher Education Policy Unit of European University Association (EUA), thought SOU has been in the forefront of transformation, and lifelong learning has become an important part of the work of the University. Dr. David Atchoarena, Director of UIL, fully affirmed the innovative exploration made by SOU in the transformation of higher education institutions, and SOU’s efforts in making lifelong learning accessible to all citizens. He also highlighted SOU’s contribution to the collaborative research project between UIL and SOU.  The topic of roundtable is based on a collaborative research project between UIL and SOU entitled ‘The Contribution of Higher Education Institutions to Lifelong Learning’, which was launched in 2020, supported by the International Association of Universities (IAU), the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP), and the UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (IESALC). The Global Survey Report of the research project, released during the conference, analysed the policy environments, structures and mechanisms, as well as access and participation in lifelong learning. Another Policy Brief was also released, which provided insights on principal areas of action for policymakers and other key stakeholders.WHEC2022 is the third World Conference on Higher Education, after the first one in 1998, and the second in 2009. With the theme ‘Reinventing Higher Education for a Sustainable Future’, the conference aims at breaking away from the traditional models of higher education and opening doors to new, innovative, creative, and visionary conceptions that not only serve current agendas for sustainable development, but also pave the way for future learning communities that overcome barriers, speak to all and are inclusive of all lifelong learners.  

On January 13th, 2022, the Intelligent Education Under the Digital Transformation of China Forum was co-held by Shanghai Open University (SOU) and EqualOcean, UNESCO Institute of educational information technology (UNESCO IITE) was the cooperation unit of the forum. The Forum was held in a hybrid format, focusing on the changes brought by intelligent education technology to traditional education against the backdrop of China's digital transformation of education, and promoting the in-depth integration, promotion and application of information technologies and education.ZHAN Tao, the Director of UNESCO IITE, said in his speech that the cooperation project between SOU and UNESCO IITE has provided an opportunity to introduce China's experience of promoting digital transformation of education to the international community.At the Forum, Xiao Jun, the Director of Information Construction and Management Office and the Deputy Director of Shanghai Open Distance Education Engineering Technology Research Center, introduced the trend and industry changes of intelligent education. The Report on Innovative Practices of China's Intelligent Education was released at the Forum, which was based on the background of the three-year cooperation project named ‘Promoting Digital Transformation of Education Through ICT and AI Enhancement Mode’ between SOU and UNESCO. The report outlined the development of global intelligent education and China's intelligent education, summarized the paths and methods of intelligent education construction, and shared innovative practice cases in key areas of intelligent education in China.At the Forum, attendees from SOU, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Tongji University, Shanghai University, East China Normal University, Naval Medical University, Shanghai International Studies University, New York University Shanghai, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Tencent Cloud Computing and NETCLASS shared cases of intelligent education practices, and had a heated discussion on the topic of the Forum.

On the morning of January 11th, 2022, the first oversea Chinese Language Center of Shanghai Open University was officially inaugurated at National Textile University (NTU) in Pakistan. President of Shanghai Open University, Mr. Jia Wei, made a video speech. Dr. Tanveer Hussain, President of Pakistan National Textile University, Dr. Ian Benton, Chairman of the Advisory Committee of Southern Cross School of Business (SCSB), and Professor Asif Iqbal of SCSB attended the inauguration ceremony and delivered speeches. President Jia Wei has mentioned in his video speech that the founding of the Chinese Language Center is a milestone for the university to contribute to the Belt and Road Initiative promoting cultural exchanges between China and Pakistan. He congratulated the launch of SOU’s Chinese Language Center at NTU, and expressed his hope that the center would emerge as a multi-function platform and play an outstanding role, which can be as a classroom for learning Chinese, as a window to learn about China, and as a bridge for the younger generation of China and Pakistan to strengthen understanding and friendship. He wished the Center much success, many students and thousands of hours of fun learning together. Dr. Tanville Hussein mentioned in his speech that the establishment of SOU’s Chinese Language Center at NTU was the first and an important step for cooperation between the two universities. He sincerely hoped that the establishment of the Center would promote cooperation and exchanges in more fields between the two universities and even between the two countries.In his speech, Professor Asif Iqbal reviewed the history of the establishment of the Chinese Language Center of SOU at NTU, thanked SOU for the efforts, and hoped to set up more training projects through tripartite cooperation as well as create more cooperation opportunities in international education and academic exchanges.During the inauguration ceremony, all the attendees of IIE also made an online tour to the facilities of Chinese Language Center and the computer classroom.After the inauguration of the Chinese Langue Center, SOU will provide online international Chinese education resources, teachers’ online training and necessary learning support services for the Center. Students who pass the examinations will get the completion certificate issued by SOU and can obtain the credits from NTU accordingly.

On November 8, 2021, a capacity-building workshop on ‘Strengthening education systems from a lifelong learning perspective’ kicked off. Co-organized by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) and Shanghai Open University (SOU), the workshop brings together more than 50 stakeholders, comprising government representatives, policy-makers and representatives of lifelong learning institutions from Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mongolia, the Republic of Kazakhstan and Uganda, as well as a team of representatives of open universities in the People’s Republic of China.This is our third workshop, but our first in an online setting. Although we are not together in person, we are together in our eagerness to take what the past two years have taught us and transform it into policy that strengthens education systems from a lifelong learning perspective.David Atchoarena, Director of UILThis is our first online workshop, due to the pandemic. With this online platform, we hope to gather the wisdom of global outstanding lifelong learning experts, exchange ideas, share experiences, create a blueprint for lifelong learning, and promote the implementation of SDG4.Mr JIA Wei , President of Shanghai Open UniversityDuring 50 years in UNESCO, we have cooperated on a series of initiatives and activities together, including our cooperation with UIL. In 2013, we co-organized the first International Conference on Learning Cities with UIL, where the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities was established.Mr QIN Changwei , Secretary General of the Chinese National Commission for UNESCOOver the course of three weeks, from 8 to 26 November 2021, they will develop measures to promote lifelong learning, through education, at the national level.Participants will build a rationale for policy development by exploring and contextualizing overarching themes affecting education and lifelong learning, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, digitalization, and active and global citizenship. They will then select a series of key topics requiring policy prioritization. Possible topics include flexible learning pathways, learning cities, and lifelong learning through formal, non-formal and informal learning.Each team will draft a national policy, an implementation strategy or a targeted action plan for lifelong learning. They will develop concrete timelines for advancing the policy, strategy or action plan following the workshop to ensure timely follow-up. Teams will build on the political will in their countries to embrace lifelong learning, as demonstrated by video testimony from H.E. Phout Simmalavong, Minister of Education, Lao PDR.

n October 28th, 2021, the 14th German-Chinese Applied Higher Education Symposium online was co-held by Hefei University and Hochschule Osnabrück University Of Applied Sciences. JIA Wei, president of Shanghai Open University, made a keynote speech, named “Educational  Openness and Cooperation in the Digital Era：The Development of the Chinese-German Online Open Learning Platform”, introducing the context, development status, features and futures thinking of the CG-OOC. JIA Wei also warmly welcomed universities and enterprises attending the Symposium to actively participate in the construction of the CG-OOC, jointly promote the cultivation of international and applicable talents in China and Germany and deepen the cooperation in higher education online.The theme of the Symposium this year is “Future-oriented Sino-German Cooperation -Dual System Higher Education”. Professor Christian Wulff, former President of Germany, attended and presided over the opening ceremony. WAN Gang, Vice Chairman of the CPPCC National Committee and Chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. There are more than 200 participants from 69 Chinese and German universities. Since 2008, the Symposium has been held alternately in China and Germany every year.

Recently, Shanghai Open University has formally requested the renewal of the Agreement between UNESCO and Network in Distance and Open Learning (East Asia) in January 1997, and UNESCO agrees to renew the Agreement for an additional period of four years to September 2024. Prof. YUAN Wen, President of Shanghai Open University is the Network Coordinator.In a formal reply, UNESCO fully affirmed the work done by Shanghai Open University as the host institution. “The thematic area covered by the network is of crucial significance for higher education and has been given renewed priority due to the crisis caused by the global pandemic. The expertise that this network can bring to other universities and education systems is of great value and should be capitalized on. The cooperation programme is going beyond the original East Asia focus with outreach to partner with universities in Africa and South Asia,” they said.The UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme was established in 1992 and every four years, the university hosting a UNESCO Chair or assuring the coordination of a network party to a UNITWIN Cooperation Programme shall submit to UNESCO a report on the activities carried out by the Chair/network, their development prospects and the financial resources secured. In 1997, the UNESCO UNITWIN Network in Distance and Open Learning (East Asia) was approved by UNESCO and then established, Shanghai Open University is the host institution. The Network has a history of 24 years and is committed to building an exchange platform, promoting knowledge transmission, resource sharing and academic development in the field of ODL. Up to now, the Network has 20 member institutions, including The Open University UK and The Open University of China.

An open online learning platform jointly launched by Shanghai Open University and FernUniversität in Hagen in Germany started its pilot run on Friday.The project was approved at the Sino-German Dialogue Forum 2019 to create a communication portal between the two institutions, promote cooperation in online education and talent cultivation between the two countries, and support development of both Chinese and German enterprises.The platform, Chinese-German OOC, has pooled expertise and resources from 10 educational institutions and companies, including Shanghai International Studies University, Tongji University, Shanghai University for the Elderly, the Open University of China’s Huaqiao College, Alibaba, Shanghai East Radio Station Classical Music Radio 947, World Urban Planning Education Network and COGNOS International. Over 30 courses in Chinese, German and English covering five domains, such as languages, commerce and cultures, are currently available on the platform for free.More courses will be developed by the platform partners and more institutions will join the platform.It will offer high-quality online educational resources and learning services for people in both countries, bridging the gap between higher education and talent demand by enterprises,” said Yuan Wen, principal of Shanghai Open University.“The move will accelerate cultural exchanges, business growth and online education development in both countries as well,” she said.Ada Pellert, principal of FernUniversität in Hagen, said: “the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly accelerated the digitization of the higher education sector, in terms of administrative procedures, teaching and training. It also drives the internationalization of digital learning.”Under such circumstances, Pellert highlighted the significant role of the cooperative platform to enhance multicultural teaching and learning experience for talent.“We expect to deepen our cooperation and work together for the cause of online education and lifelong learning,” she added.

On January 3rd ,2021, supported by Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and National Center for Educational Technology, co-organized by Shanghai Society of Education, Shanghai Educational Technology Center and Shanghai Education Press, the press conference and theme forum of The Blue Book on the Development of Basic Education Informatization in Shanghai in 2020 was held in Shanghai Open University,The Blue Book, with the theme of Creating a New Home for Education of Ubiquitous Wisdom, focuses on the exploration and practice of educational informatization in Shanghai, focusing on updating educational concepts, building a new learner-centered education ecology, paying attention to the change of educational paradigm, expanding the application scenarios, leading the popularity of technology, and opening the prelude to the future.At the forum, YUAN Wen, President of Shanghai Open University, delivered a keynote speech entitled ‘The Expectation of Future Education Determines the Future of Education’.

On December 4, 2020, “Online Education Development Forum in the Era of AI” was held in the Intelligent Learning Center of SOU. The forum was co-organized by the Engineering Technology Research Center of Open Distance Education of SOU, Shanghai Library and Shanghai Association for Artificial Intelligence Networking Systems of AI. The Survey Report on Post-epidemic Shanghai Online Learners’ Portraits’ was released at the forum.The report is a phased research result of a national level project, which is jointly released by the Engineering Technology Research Center of Open Distance Education of SOU, Shanghai Library and Shanghai Association for Artificial Intelligence Networking Systems of AI. The report shows that the learning needs and willingness of Shanghai adult online learners are stable in the post-epidemic period, and they pay attention to the improvement of personal value when making longer-term plans. Dr. Xiao Jun said, based on the portrait analysis of Shanghai adult online learners, the online and offline integrated learning mode in the post-epidemic period will promote the inclusive, fair and ubiquitous development of lifelong learning, artificial intelligence, together with teachers and students, will build a learning community to promote the quality and optional development of learner-centered lifelong learning, online learning, intelligent teaching, integrated with related industries will accelerate the development of smart learning environment.Through continuous tracking research on adult online learners in Shanghai, the research group compared the latest survey data with the data in 2018 and 2019 to create this portrait of online learners in post-epidemic period. The report has considerable reference value for the development of education, the improvement of teaching quality and the research on learning efficiency.

The 60th anniversary event of Shanghai Open University (SOU) was held on October 21, 2020. Chen Qun, Vice Mayor of Shanghai, Chairman of the University Council, and Zhang Endi, the Vice Chairman of the Shanghai Political Consultative Conference attended the event. Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education sent a congratulatory letter.Jing Degang, secretary of the Party Committee and president of the Open University of China (OUC), delivered a speech. He said, over the past six decades, driven by its commitment of “For All Learners, All for Learners”, SOU has made great contributions to the increase of the education level of the labor force in Shanghai, as well as the improvement of the comprehensive quality of the citizens. SOU has played the key role in building a learning city. OUC, together with SOU, will actively adapt to the development trend of intelligent, lifelong and integrated education. According to the requirements of the Ministry of Education, OUC and SOU will build a main platform for lifelong education and online education, and a platform for flexible education and international cooperation.Lou Junjiang, secretary of the Party Committee of SOU, delivered a welcoming address. He said, in the future, SOU will keep in mind the urban development concept of “the city is built by the people and also serves the people”, and will build a lifelong education system with more flexible methods, more abundant resources and more convenient ways of learning. Yuan Wen, president of SOU, delivered a speech. She said, SOU will provide more inclusive education services with a more open attitude in the new era, to enable more Shanghai citizens to pursue a better life. SOU will also strive to establish itself as a first-class open university in the world with Shanghai characteristics and China’s identity.Shanghai Open University also held the opening ceremony of the Intelligent Learning Center and the unveiling ceremony of High School Affiliated to Shanghai Open University.

The online MoU signing ceremony between Shanghai Open University (SOU) and St. Jude College Dasmarinas Cavite Inc. (SJCDC) was held on October 12, 2020. Zhang Jin, vice president of SOU and Evangeline A. Del Rosario, president and CEO of SJCDC delivered speeches on behalf of the University.SJCDC is located at Cavite, the Philippines, which offers education from preschool to graduate level. It also has a St. Jude General Hospital& Medical Center. The signing of the MoU is a good start for the cooperation between the two universities. It is hoped that the two sides will give play to their respective advantages, carry out the cooperation of substantive projects, strengthen the communication between teachers and students, and promote academic development, especially the cooperation in the field of home economics and other feature specialties, so as to promote the improvement of the international running level of the two universities.

The delegation of California State University-Long Beach (CSULB) came to visit Shanghai Open University (SOU) on June 11. Members of the delegation include professors from College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, College of Liberal Arts, College of Education, and College of Health and Human Services at California State Univeristy-Long Beach. ZHANG Jin, Vice President of SOU and other related faculties attended the meeting.ZHANG Jin introduced the development history and features of SOU, and proposed suggestions for further cooperation between SOU and CSULB. After that, the delegation visited the Digital Laboratory for Open Education to get a deeper understanding of SOU’s degree education, the construction of community education resources, and the application of ICT in education. The delegation felt it’s admirable that SOU fully applied modern information technology to teaching and practicing, and provided inclusive and flexible education for citizens.Later, the two sides had further discussion into the fields they were both interested in, including training programs for faculties, student exchange, the construction of department of Urban Public Safety Management, and possible ways of developing the cooperation.

On the morning of July 5, Yu Yunfeng, Deputy Director-general and Deputy Director of the Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban), came to SOU to study the progress of the construction of SOU’s overseas Chinese language teaching center. Li Yongzhi, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, and Ge Jingyi, Deputy Director of the International Exchange Division of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, accompanied the delegation. The meeting was attended by President Yuan Wei, Vice President Zhang Wei, and the colleagues of the Institute of International Exchange.Vice President Zhang introduced the work of international cooperation and exchange, the progress of the development of overseas Chinese language teaching centers, and the partner enterprise. Deputy Director-General Yu Yunfeng appreciated SOU’s efforts in promoting the construction of overseas Chinese language teaching centers and the promotion of Chinese language education, and expressed strong support for the new model of overseas online Chinese language center that is co-developed by the University and the enterprise, and expressed the hope that the Djibouti Overseas Chinese Language Teaching Center, which SOU has applied to open, should adapt to the local economic and social development in addition to providing Chinese language teaching. The functions of such a language center should include equipping professional and skilled workers with Chinese language capabilities and providing training to local Chinese teachers for their professional development.

On June 15th morning, 2018 International Visiting Scholar Program of UniTWIN Network in Distance & Open Learning and Shanghai Open University has been concluded successfully. Ms. Zhang Jin—-the vice president of SOU, and Mr. Robert Parua—-the Program Specialist for Education from UNESCO Beijing Office have attended the closing ceremony and delivered addresses. Dr. Weng Zhuhua, the executive dean of the Institute of International Exchanges of SOU chaired the closing ceremony.Ms. Zhang Jin has summarized the activities that the international visiting scholars have participated in, and also expressed the wishes of the future collaboration between SOU and the international visiting scholars’ home institutions. Mr. Robert Parua has also given his affirmation and praise to the success of this program from the perspective of its influence on the development of education of UNESCO. They both awarded the certificates of the program to the international visiting scholars.During the passing two weeks, the 19 International Visiting Scholars from 18 countries has successfully completed the program. They have had an in-depth discussion with the Research and Development Department, the Teaching Affairs Department, the Institute of International Exchanges, Teacher’s Resource Center, Course Resource Center, and Quality Assurance and Evaluation Center. They also have exchanged ideas and views with teachers from School of Public Administration, School of Economics and Management, School of Science and Engineering, as well as School of Humanity and Arts. They also paid an on-site visit to Yangpu Branch School, Qingpu Branch School, Fashion Design School and Xuhui Branch School of SOU. They have also shared best practices and presentations through four seminars, with the theme of the Application of ICT in ODL (Open & Distance Learning), Teachers’ Professional Development & Team Teaching in ODL, Program Development & Course Development in ODL, Inclusive Education in Lifelong Learning Society, and Quality Assurance in ODL. Through both face-to-face and online interaction, they had full exchanges and communications with SOU teachers and students, the former SOU International Visiting Scholars, the member institutions of the Unitwin network in ODL.This is the 11th session of SOU International Visiting Scholar Program since 2013. Up to now, SOU has received 104 International Visiting Scholars from 44 different countries. It is the first time for the scholars from Australia, Azerbaijan, Botswana, Germany, Ghana, Maldives, Papua New Genuine and Singapore to participate in SOU International Visiting Scholar Program. Through this program, inter-university understanding and trust has been enhanced, and the opportunities of international exchanges in many aspects have also been explored.

On the morning of March 30, Mrs. Carmen Polledo and Mrs. Paula Oliveto Lago,  the members of the Argentine National Congress, visited SOU. President Yuan Wen received the guests.President Yuan introduced the development history and university profile of SOU. As a university without walls, Shanghai Open University takes advantage of its branch school system and learning platform and provides citizens with opportunities for higher education and lifelong learning. SOU has played an important role in supporting regional industry development, promoting higher education equity and enhancing the quality of urban population’s lives. At the same time, as the host institute of the UNESCO UNITWIN Network, SOU actively promotes international cooperation in the field of open distance education and has achieved remarkable results.Carmen Polledo said that she felt the tremendous advantages of open distance education after the visit. Like China, education has always been the focus of the Argentine government. Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina, has a number of open educational institutions. The municipal government is also exploring the establishment of a municipal university like Shanghai Open University. Both sides can explore resources cooperation in the field of culture, language, and academic disciplines on this basis, and expand this form of cooperation to other universities in Argentina.The meeting enhanced the mutual understanding between the higher education fields in Shanghai and Buenos Aires, and the two sides will carry out practical cooperation projects in order to enhance Sino-Argentine education exchanges and cooperation.Director of the Foreign Affairs Division of the Shanghai Municipal CPPCC Office, Mr. Wang Junwei, accompanied the delegation. Representatives from the Foreign Affairs Office, Development and Research Department, Institute of International Exchange of SOU participated in the meeting.

Between November 20-24th, 17 teachers and students from the Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University（STOU）,Thailand, visited SOU for cultural exchange. This event was the first time that SOU and overseas UNITWIN Network member institutions to carry out cultural exchange activities between teachers and students.At the welcoming ceremony on November 21, President of the SOU Yuan Wen welcomed the delegation and introduced the “One Belt and One Road” programs of SOU. She hoped for exchanges and cooperation in more fields between SOU and STOU to achieve common progress; President of the STOU Panumas Kudgnaogarm gave an address afterwards, then they exchanged souvenirs on behalf of two universities.The Institute of International Exchange prepared various activities for visitors of the STOU, including Shanghai Culture lecture, Chinese language lecture, calligraphy class, historical and cultural search, city development tour and art performance. Through the activities, the delegation of STOU had better understanding about Chinese culture, society and education.At the closing ceremony, delegation of STOU and teachers and students of SOU brought wonderful art performances. Dr. Weng Zhuhua, the Executive Dean of IIE, then awarded certificates of completion to the teachers and students of STOU.The exchange and communication between SOU and STOU has enhanced the mutual understanding and trust, has further enhanced the cooperation field between SOU and STOU, and has fostered the friendship between the Chinese and Thai people.

The fifth session of Immersion Hub Short Term International Student Program was officially started on the morning of June 12 at Shanghai Open University. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Vice President ZHANG Jin expressed a warm welcome to all international students, hoping that 25 students from 8 countries could learn from the two-week program and experience the Chinese culture by themselves.After visiting the Digital Lab of Open Learning at Shanghai Open University, the students had their first Chinese language class – Coding Chinese. SOU’s foreign expert Zhao used a unique teaching method to help students to learn Chinese characters, verbs and sentences in a relatively short period of time.In the afternoon, students experienced a classical Chinese dance lesson instructed by Zhou Yuqi. Ms. Zhou is good at Chinese classical dance, she taught international student a few fundamental dance movement and proper postures in Chinese classical dance. In order to show students diverse styles of Chinese dance, Ms. Zhou also performed Xinjiang folk dance and taught international students a short piece of it. After the class, international students from Brazil and Russia also demonstrated the dance from their countries.The dance class was followed by team building activities organized by David James, the specially invited visiting scholar of SOU. The activities have made students to understand each other’s cultural backgrounds, cultural identities, personal interests through ice-breaking games and small group Q and A. At the end of the event, the students said that they hoped to learn Chinese, to exercise their English skills, to build network and to understand the Chinese food and culture better through the two-week program. Anja, one participant from Belgium, said that “cultural integration is very important in international communication, and everyone with cultural identity should not confine themselves to the cultural circle in which they are located, but should be more tolerant, receptive and integrated into a multicultural culture. The easiest way to achieve this goal is to take the chance to communicate with students from different countries, which is also a rare and valuable opportunity offered to us by the Immersion Hub Program.”The first Immersion Hub Short Term International Student Program was held in 2013. So far it has attracted 239 international students from 27 countries for the past four years. It features Chinese language and culture classes and activities, facilitates communication and exchanges among students from Open Universities around the world and conventional Universities.

16-19 December 2014, Professor Ye Yaoqiang, Vice-President of the Open University of Hong Kong, Dr. Zeng Wanmei, Vice-Director of the Education Technology Publishing Department, Senior Instructional Design Director Dr. Cai Minghui and Ms. Lu Huihui from the Open University of Hong Kong hosted a training on teaching and quality management. The training was organized by the International Exchange Institute, the Teaching Affairs Management Office as well as the Education and Teaching Management Office. Teachers, Administrators, Heads of respective functional departments and branch schools attended the four-day training.During the training, experts introduced the teaching mode, teaching and administration resource arrangements, as well as program design and implementation of the Open University of Hong Kong. At the same time, they also made presentations on the topics of teaching resource management, learning materials design and teaching management, course and textbook, quality management and assurance of teaching faculty and teaching outcomes, etc. The attendees of this training program actively interacted with the experts, and they all agreed that the excellent practice and experience of the Open University of Hong Kong were worth learning.

October 28, 32 delegates of UNESCO Seminar on Education for Rural Development visited SOU to enhance ties, 13 were from African Countries including Ethiopia and Cameroon, 4 were from Asian countries such as Bangladesh and Laos. The seminar was co-organized by Academy of International Business Officials, MOFCOM and UNESCO International Research and Training Centre for Rural Education. The delegates were mainly officials and scholars from the education sector of Africa and developing countries.Professor Gu Xiaomin, the Vice President of SOU, introduced to the guests about SOU and its cooperation and exchanges on distance education with African open universities and international organizations in the past and expressed the hope of promoting the academic cooperation between SOU and universities of other countries. The delegates also learnt about the rural area education program of SOU and its development. After the meeting, the delegates paid visit to Digital Lab of Open Learning of SOU and Community Education I-digital Experience center, the digital educational resources environment with cloud computing technology, the open learning tests and analysis and its innovative mode left them deep impression.

After receiving oversea visiting scholars from Brazil and Africa last year, nine oversea visiting scholars from South Africa, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Brazil and the Netherlands have carried out a two-week research and study from May 26th to June 6th this year.During the two weeks of research and studies, the visiting scholars have not only participated in meetings with related academic departments, administrative departments, as well as staff from branch schools and information technology center, so as to have a deep understanding of the education concept and specialty of Shanghai Open University, but also participated in 2014 International Conference on Ubiquitous Learning. In addition, the visiting scholars have also made presentations on the practice, experience and development trends of distance education in their own countries through panel discussions and symposia.

202 representatives from 20 countries including 41 overseas participants met at Shanghai Open University to share their views and expertise on the ubiquitous learning between May 30-31th. The two-day conference was co-organized by National Commission of The People’s Republic of China for UNESCO and Shanghai Open University.Deputy Director of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission Yuan Wen and Secretary General of Chinese National Commission for UNESCO Du Yue presented and addressed at the conference’s opening ceremony. During the conference, professor of Graduate School of Education of Harvard University Christopher Dede, professor for Advanced Learning Technologies of Open University of the Netherlands Marcus Specht, President of the Open University of China Yang Zhijian, professor of Institute of Education of Tsinghua University Cheng Jiangang and President of Shanghai Open University Jiang Hong delivered keynote speeches. The conference, themed “Ubiquitous Learning: Opportunities, Challenges and Strategies” , had four parallel sessions on “Moocs and Ubiquitous Learning”, “Big Data, Cloud Computing and Ubiquitous Learning”, “Micro-Course and Mobile Learning” and “ODL Engineering Technology and Ubiquitous Learning”. The conference theme firmly grasp the forefront of ODL issues and hot topics, including the ubiquitous mobile learning environment, achieving seamless learning technology theory and practice cases, big data, Moocs, etc.. 98 conference papers were received with 18 papers submitted by overseas participants and 80 were submitted by Chinese participants.The chairman of World Committee for Lifelong Learning Yves Attou gave a speech at the closing ceremony. President Jiang Hong concluded the conference with a brief speech.

Shanghai Open University (SOU) and University of Maine (Fort Kent) (UMFK) met for the first time via video conference between Shanghai and Fort Kent on May 29th to discuss issues in regard to collaborations between two universities. Professor Gu Xiaomin, Vice President of SOU, Dean and staff of Institute of International Exchange and School of Public Administration of SOU, Professor Wilson Hess, President of UMFK, Dr. Robert Dixon and Dr. Thomas Enerva from UMFK attended the virtual meeting.Vice President of SOU gave a brief introduction of SOU and School of Public Administration and proposed ways of possible collaboration in the future that would benefit both universities, which then received positive response from UMFK. President of UMFK added that SOU and UMFK could collaborate in such areas as program development, courses development, mutual academic credit transfer and recognition and teachers’ training. Both side agreed to form an agreement of collaboration by the end of May.

April 15, under the leadership of Shanghai Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, the delegation of Australian Xin Jin Shan Chinese School, head by Mr. Sun Haoliang, visited Shanghai Open University to discuss cooperation with the Institute of International Exchange.During the meeting of discussing cooperation, Professor Liu Wenfu, dean of the Institute of International Exchange, introduced the progress and outcomes on teaching Chinese as a foreign language and web-resource development of SOU in four aspects. Mr. Sun Haoliang showed his intention in cooperation with SOU in the field of the re-development of resource pool and the development of Chinese culture courses. He also pointed out that Shanghai Open University has the unparallel advantages in terms of technology and resources, and he hoped to produce a serial of courses, DVDs and courseware on Chinese culture through cooperation in order to promote the development of both parties. In the afternoon, Xin Jin Shan delegation visited Shanghai Education Resource Centre.Xin Jin Shan Chinese School is located in Melbourne, Australia, and has many branch schools with a history of 20 years, which is a well-known Chinese School in Australia.

November 25, six African experts and scholars on Distance Education from South Africa, Swaziland, Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria came to our university for research and exchanges. The exchange activity is not only a concrete implementation to the proposal of enhancing the communication and cooperation of education between Africa and China, since our president Mr. Jiang Hong has attended the UNESCO – China – Africa three party coordination meeting, but also part of the Visiting Scholars Project of Shanghai Open University.Our Vice President, Gu Xiaomin, attended the welcome ceremony, and made a speech. During her speech, she wished to enhance the mutual understanding of distance education between African countries and Shanghai Open University, as to lay a good foundation for jointly exploring a new mode of distance education, strengthening the monitoring and quality assurance, and promoting the inner-school cooperation on distance education between China and African countries. During the following two weeks of research and studies, meetings will be arranged between the six visiting scholars and related academic departments, administrative departments, as well as staff from branch schools and information technology center, in order to have a deep understanding of the education concept and specialty of Shanghai Open University. In addition, the visiting scholars will also make presentations on the practice, experience and development trends of distance education in their own countries through panel discussions and symposia.