The 2022 Global Dialogue on Digital Education was jointly held by the Global MOOC and Online Education Alliance, the Latin America Center at Tsinghua University, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and XuetangX (a MOOC platform initiated by Tsinghua University), on the evening of September 6.
Under the theme "Visions for Lifelong Learning Development in the New Digital Era", the Dialogue aimed to outline and look at the development targets, application outcomes and the future direction of digital education. It also looked to provide reference for digital education and high-quality lifelong learning, promote extensive and in-depth international exchanges and multilateral cooperation on higher education, and give full play to the roles of online education in mankind's all-round development, social development and building a community with a shared future for mankind.
Yang Bin, vice-president and provost of Tsinghua University, extended a warm welcome to all attendees. He said that the future development of lifelong learning should make full use of the digitalization of higher education. He stated that these developments would help people better address the knowledge divide and any challenges in the digital era, promote the all-round growth of mankind and comprehensive social development, and build a learning society.
Yang emphasized that more efforts should be taken to make lifelong learning more open, integrative and resilient, to promote educational equality across the world, expand the channels for people to access high-quality higher education resources, facilitate the formation of cooperative partnerships among universities, enterprises and governments, push for the industrial transformation, social development and lifelong learning with digital progress, and accelerate the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.
Patricio Donoso, provost of institutional governance at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, said that higher education institutions should make adjustments of their curricular programs, help students acquire more knowledge and continue with their off-campus studies in the framework of lifelong learning, and ensure that they grow and reach their maximum potential.
He added that lifelong learning is conducive to promoting the development of individuals and society, as well as in creating a sustainable and better future. He expressed his hope that the forum will strengthen multilateral cooperation and facilitate the building of an inclusive lifelong learning environment among its global partners.
Luz Eugenia Montero Ossandón, an official in charge of continual education at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, gave an introduction to the development trend and challenges of lifelong learning in the world, and called on developing countries to deepen cross-sector cooperation at home and abroad and to embrace new technological concepts, such as AR and the metaverse.
Alina O'Connor, a senior director of strategic projects at Cornell University, briefed participants on typical cases undertaken by the university in the digitalization of lifelong learning, paying particular attention to students' learning results and objectives.
Jorge Villalón, an official in charge of online and digital systems at Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, spoke with attendees about the application scenarios of AI technology in continual education and lifelong learning.
Laura Gallardo, director of the Graduate School and the School of Continual Education at Universidad de Chile, shared the practices and thinking of the university in the utilization of VR technology to promote lifelong learning.
Li Jizhen, vice-dean of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University, gave an introduction to its efforts in the use of digital technology to conduct continual education and training of business executives thourgh digital technology.
Participants held exchanges on such topics as the design of online courses, the roles of institutions in international cooperation, the interaction between universities and online platforms, as well as the data of online education and lifelong learning at a roundtable meeting.
Chen Taotao, director of the Tsinghua University Latin America Center, conveyed thanks to all participants for their speeches and hoped for all sides to grasp the opportunities brought by the forum to improve education quality with global wisdom, strengthen mutual understanding and trust, and deepen bilateral and multilateral cooperation on lifelong learning.
Zhang Zhongxuan, director of international cooperation at Tsinghua Online Education Center, presided over the forum. The event was livestreamed by XuetangX to a global audience of 13000.
Editor：Li Han
