Date: 2014-06-06 Visitcount: 1840
On May 23-25, 2014, the International Conference on Open Educational Resources (OER) and Teaching Reform & The Fifth Education informatization Forum at Zhejiang University was held at the Zijingang campus of Zhejiang University (ZJU). The conference was sponsored by the Society of International Chinese in Educational Technology (SICET) and the College of Education of ZJU, and hosted by the Modern Educational Technology Center (METC) of ZJU. More than 310 participants from about 80 universities from different countries and regions (mainly from the United States, Hong Kong, and mainland China) attended the conference.
The main purpose of the conference was to organize national and international researchers and practitioners to share research outcomes and practice experience in the area of OER development and application. The conference accepted more than 30 presentation proposals and their themes covered areas such as virtual learning communities, social interactive networking-based learning, MOOCs, OER development, micro learning, and many other fields.
The conference invited six distinguished scholars to make keynote speeches; they were Prof. Zhu Zhiting from East China Normal University (speech’s title was “The Power of Technology in the Process of Educational Transformation”), Prof. Cheng Jiangang from Tsinghua University (speech’s title was “OERs and Resource-based Adaptive Learning”), Prof. Zhang Weiyuan from Hong Kong University (speech’s title was “Development and Trends of OER”), Prof. Lu Guodong from Zhejiang University (speech’s title was “Instructional Mode’s Innovation and Practice in Research-oriented Universities under Information Technology Environment”), Prof. Li Yi from Nanjing Normal University (speech’s title was “Research and Development of Model Matching-based Chinese Writing and Online Evaluation System”), and Prof. Zhang Jianping from Zhejiang University (speech’s title was “Study on Informal Learning in Virtual-Reality Integrating Environments”). In addition to keynote speeches, there were also about thirty presentations in three different breakouts. Through the two days of presentations and discussions, participants got a better understanding of OER development and application from both macro and micro perspectives.
The conference was also titled as the fifth education informatization forum at Zhejiang University. The previous forums included the 2010 Annual Conference on Educational Technology Development in Higher Education in East and South China-Hong Kong-Macao Regions, the 2011 Global Chinese Conference on Computers in Education (GCCCE 2011), the 2012 National Conference on Quality Video Open Course Construction in Higher Education, and the 2013 National Conference on Smart Classroom Construction and Application. The series forums keep participants thinking about the impact of ICT on higher education reform.