On April 19, the first event of the series of seminars “Navigating the Future：Bridging Smart Education around the World”, co-hosted by the Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University and the UNESCO Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Education, was successfully held. The series of seminars aims to integrate global expert opinions to explore the definition, basic characteristics, and practical impact of smart education in the global education system.
The first seminar brought together experts and scholars from various countries. They shared their understanding of smart education and how smart education changes teaching methods in different contexts. Asha Singh Kanwar, Chair Professor of the Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University, served as the host of the conference.
Professor Yang Junfeng from Hangzhou Normal University was the first to speak. He represented the team of Professor Huang Ronghuai from Beijing Normal University to introduce the work done in the field of smart education. He explained the definition of smart education from the perspectives of the education system and modern science and technology. Finally, he interpreted the framework of smart education from three levels: smart learning environment, technology-enhanced learning and teaching, and evidence-based governance.
Ahmed Mohamed, Minister of State for Education of the Maldives, focused on the fairness and inclusiveness of smart education at the conference, and shared some practical cases in the Maldives in this regard. Starting from the actual national conditions, he explained the challenges and responses faced by the Maldives in the process of promoting smart education.
Melinda Bandalaria, Chancellor of the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU), delivered a keynote report titled “Smart Education@University of the Philippines Open University UPOU): Now Articulated and Codified as Implemented”. Melinda Bandalaria introduced the situation of the Open University of the Philippines in terms of smart education, including teaching and learning, governance, and other processes under smart education. She analyzed the characteristics of smart education based on published literature.
Professor Som Naidu, Executive Editor of the Australian journal “Distance Education”, shared on the topic of “What is SMART Education? (and What it is not?)”. He emphasized that technology is a core component of smart education and introduced the recently released “Australian framework for generative artificial intelligence (AI) in schools” . The framework focuses on ensuring student privacy, safety, and protection, emphasizes the responsible use of artificial intelligence technology in education to promote the improvement of teaching and learning quality, while effectively avoiding potential risks. Finally, Professor Som Naidu made suggestions on how to correctly use the term smart education.
Professor Wu Di from Central China Normal University shared on the topic of “Smart Education – Understanding and Practice”. Professor Wu Di discussed several insights into smart education, including using intelligent technology to strengthen teaching, learning, and management, using information and communication technology to promote educational equity, improve the quality of education, optimize educational governance, achieve lifelong learning, and build a new digital education ecosystem for the intelligent era. He proposed that we should improve the environment, narrow the digital divide; optimize supply, build a national platform; enhance literacy, carry out teacher training, to create a better future for education.
Professor Asha Singh Kanwar, the moderator, summarized the seminar, emphasizing that the scope of smart education is not limited to school education, but also covers the field of lifelong learning, including personalized learning in all areas of life. Facing a large teacher force, training teachers is a daunting task, so using intelligent technology and adopting smart education is an effective means to improve the quality of teaching.
The series of seminars “Navigating the Future：Bridging Smart Education around the World” will continue to be held to promote the exchange and cooperation of experts in the field of smart education worldwide, provide important references for the theoretical research, policy formulation, and practical advancement of smart education, and inject wisdom and momentum into the future development of global education.