Conference to focus on digital learning

The World Digital Education Conference will be held on Feb 13 and 14 in Beijing. Themed "Digital Transformation and Future of Education", the two-day event will be co-hosted by the Ministry of Education and the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO.

Liu Jin, director of the Ministry of Education's department of international cooperation and exchanges, said the conference will focus on digital education transformation, the development and application of digital learning resources, the improvement of the digital literacy of teachers and students, and the digital governance of education.

The conference will be held online and offline and will be attended by state leaders and education ministers, diplomatic envoys, heads and representatives of United Nations agencies, heads and representatives of international organizations, universities and schools, and representatives of digital and technology companies.

The opening ceremony and plenary session will be held on Feb 13, followed by four parallel sessions on Feb 14, with the focus on basic education, vocational education, higher education and evaluation of smart education development.

The event will see the release of the China Smart Education Bluebook, the China Smart Education Development Index, the Standards and Norms for the Construction of China Smart Education and the Initiative of Establishing World Digital Education Alliance, Liu said.

Around 800 representatives from 130 countries and regions are expected to attend the conference, with 300 of them attending the offline event in Beijing, she added.

Shu Hua, deputy director of the ministry's department of science, technology and informatization, said with more than 44,000 courses for primary and secondary schools and 27,000 Massive Open Online Courses for higher education at the Smart Education of China platform, China has established the world's largest digital education database.

The platform, which was launched in March last year, has been updated seven times and used by people in more than 200 countries and regions, she said.

"With the hosting of the World Digital Education Conference next week, we aim to actively promote innovation in the technology, model and system of digital education, so that it can lead digital modernization, benefit all learners and make Chinese digital education a world-renowned brand," she added.

Zhu Dongbin, deputy director of the ministry's department of basic education, said 100 percent of primary and secondary schools in the country have access to internet connections.

Meanwhile, more than 75 percent of schools have Wi-Fi connections. The upgrading of digital infrastructure at schools has enabled students to learn whenever and wherever they want, he said.

The prevalent application of digital technology in teaching has energized the enthusiasm for digital learning among students and teachers, and lots of teachers can use digital tools to conduct teaching, he added.