Time: April 11, 2019
Author: Yang Qiping

The China MOOC Conference in Beijing on April 9 officially established a Joint Conference of the University Open Online Course Alliance. The joint conference is directly guided by the Ministry of Education's Higher Education Department; led by the ministry's Higher Education Information and Teaching Method Innovation Steering Committee; and jointly launched by the Greater Bay Area University Open Online Course (GBAOOC), University Open Online Course (UOOC), China MOOCs for Foreign Studies (CMFS) and 10 other MOOC alliances.

The main tasks of the joint conference include tailored guidance; promotion of communication, legislation and training; and active promotion of the reform and development of open online courses and teaching in colleges and universities. The joint conference integrates, coordinates, promotes, supports, and offers guidance and leadership in teaching philosophy, teaching mode, teaching norms and the innovation of pedagogy. The joint conference has established four working groups, on standardization, training and promotion, industry-university cooperation, and policy mechanism.

(The opening ceremony)   

JNU Vice President Zhang Ronghua, chairman of GBAUOOC, attended the inauguration ceremony of the joint conference on its behalf. He was appointed associate director of the joint conference's executive board.

As one of the conference initiators, GBAUOOC will use the geographical advantages of the Greater Bay Area, whose members share similar history and culture, to spread Chinese culture, history and voices to the world, with the help of distinctive Cantonese, English and Portuguese courses. In addition, GBAUOOC is intended to become a platform to promote the development of Greater Bay Area, actively serve the Belt and Road initiative, establish a Greater Bay Area model of online open courses, and enhance the global influence of Chinese online open courses. Finally, it will practice the declaration of China MOOCs, strengthening communication between domestic university and domestic country, domestic university and foreign countries, and, with other organizations of the conference, developing the uniqueness of Greater Bay Area and offering Chinese experience, criterion and planning to the global development of MOOCs.