More than 500 participants from 36 countries and regions gathered at the World University Presidents Forum, hosted by the China Association of Higher Education, Peking University, and Tsinghua University.
More than 500 participants from 36 countries and regions gathered at the World University Presidents Forum, hosted by the China Association of Higher Education, Peking University, and Tsinghua University.
The new generation of information technology has opened up new possibilities, said Peking University President Gong Qihuang at a recent forum in Beijing, noting the opportunities and challenges presented by artificial intelligence, big data, and cloud computing for higher education’s future development.
The two-day event was held from July 30 to 31, and focused on the theme “An Era of Transformation and the Mission of Universities.”
More than 500 participants from 36 countries and regions gathered at the World University Presidents Forum, hosted by the China Association of Higher Education, Peking University, and Tsinghua University where 65 presidents from high-level universities shared their perspectives on digital transformation in education, future skills required for talent development, challenges to sustainable university development and international cooperation.
Digital transformation has provided universities with a new source of vitality, reshaping the traditional model of higher education. Traditional knowledge transfer is being supplanted by an ability-focused approach that exploits a variety of learning resources for student activities. As Gong observed, technology has diversified teaching in ways previously unimaginable.
Xia Lixin, the secretary of the Party Committee of Central China Normal University, said digitalization will revolutionize higher education by reworking its organizational structure, factor relations, functional utility, cultural form, and value proposition to result in a more open, integrated, and resilient system.
Javed Mahmood Bukhari, director of the National University of Sciences and Technology of Pakistan, suggested that digitizing education in developing countries could help tackle issues related to population shifts while also providing educational opportunities for young people who have left their homeland.
Ding Zhongli, vice chairman of the Chinese National People’s Congress Standing Committee and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has urged for faster digital development in education in developing countries to promote greater fairness and inclusion. He called for eliminating digital barriers to narrow educational disparities, as well as sharing high-quality educational resources across schools, regions, and nations.
China has announced plans to adopt a national digital education strategy to provide an efficient, safe, and reliable digital platform for sharing educational resources. Chen Jie, vice minister of education, said the move is intended to benefit society as a whole.
Participants acknowledged digitization’s positive impact on education but voiced worries about the obstacles it presents to higher education. Universities can no longer claim exclusive access to knowledge; talent training must be informed by a more expansive array of subjects, said Gong.
Fragmentation of knowledge has led to fragmentation in learning, said Gong, making it difficult for students to build a structured and comprehensive understanding of their subjects. This presents a major challenge for higher education to develop students’ abilities in deep and systematic learning.
University of Ottawa President and Vice-Chancellor Jacques Fremont highlighted two key challenges universities face concerning artificial intelligence and technological progress: reshaping teaching and research, and taking responsibility for ensuring these tools do not endanger humanity. He called on universities to provide the necessary approaches to protect people from potential harm.
