国家开放大学“一村一名大学生”计划荣获教科文组织教育信息化奖
发布日期:2021-04-12 来源:联合国教科文组织

2021年4月6日,联合国教科文组织在巴黎宣布国家开放大学“一村一名大学生”计划获得2020年度联合国教科文组织哈马德·本·伊萨·哈利法国王教育信息化奖(以下简称“联合国教科文组织教育信息化奖”)。这是自2008年后,中国机构再次获得该奖项。


2004年,“一村一名大学生”在中国教育部的支持下由国家开放大学设立,以应对中国农村和偏远地区高等教育资源短缺和经济发展缓慢的问题。其后,它不仅改善了当地的教育基础设施,还整合了人工智能和虚拟现实技术,大大提高了学生的学习体验和学习投入程度。该创新项目为人工智能和相关技术在偏远和乡村地区教育领域当中的运用树立了榜样——在对农民大学生的本地化培养,以及在打造能够引领农村各项事业发展和社会进步的高素质人才队伍方面取得了显著的成果。


为了提供高质量的学习体验,国家开放大学在31个省、市、自治区的贫困地区建立了500多个云教室和智能教室,并按照当地居民的需求对学习内容和学习模式进行了调整。国家开放大学助理研究员侯松岩说:“针对当地居民主要从事的农业、林业、畜牧业和渔业,国家开放大学开发了相关的学习资源,而且学生们可以通过移动应用程序从任何地方访问,包括在田间或农场里工作时。” 自新冠疫情以来,这些云教室已经为270000多名参与者进行了2000多次在线教学,还向公众开放了300门在线课程和一系列的“微讲座”。


在国家开放大学的智能学习平台上,人工智能、大数据以及虚拟现实技术为教学提供了许多帮助。人工智能技术能够对学习者的语音进行声音和语义分析,从而区分学习者的意图,并向他们提出的问题进行反馈。大数据帮助教师们根据每个学习者的信息为学生定制个人学习计划,并分析他们的学习进度。虚拟现实技术可以提供生动的虚拟实验,比如在林业课程中教授如何修剪果树时得到运用,使学习变得更加有趣。


截至目前,“一村一”项目的1513个学习中心覆盖全国29个省(自治区、直辖市),累计开设29个专、本科专业(方向),培养毕业生53万余人,为新农村建设和乡村振兴就地培养了一大批应用型实用人才,对缩小高等教育的地域差距、城乡差距、促进教育公平和服务构建全民终身学习的教育体系、助力决战脱贫攻坚等起到了实在的推动作用。未来,项目将实现信息技术的升级,深化利用人工智能、大数据、云计算等现代信息技术手段,培养更多乡土人才,持续助力乡村振兴。


The Open University of China awarded UNESCO Prize for its use of AI to empower rural learners – “One Student Per Village Programme”


The “One College Student Per Village” programme at the Open University of China (OUC) is one of the laureates of the 2020 UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of ICT in Education. The innovative programme provides an example of how Artificial Intelligence (AI) and associated technologies can create quality education opportunities for learners from remote areas and improve social and economic development in rural communities.  


The programme was established in 2004 with the support of the Chinese Ministry of Education in response to the shortage of higher education resources and slow economic development in China’s rural and remote areas. Since then, it has not only improved local educational infrastructure and put in place distance learning programmes, but also integrated AI and Virtual Reality (VR) techniques, which significantly enhanced learners’ experiences and engagement.


Mobile learning and smart classrooms


In its efforts to provide quality learning experiences, the OUC set up over 500 cloud-based classrooms and smart classrooms in poorer areas in 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions.


Online and offline learning environments have been created for local learners and the content adapted to their needs. “As local residents are mainly engaged in agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery, the University developed learning resources, which can be easily accessed via mobile applications from anywhere, including while working in the field or on the farm,” says Hou Songyan, associate researcher at the OUC.


Huang Haiyang, a student from Tiandong County in the Guangxi Autonomous Region, shared his experience of how the tools are making a difference in his work. “Since I can look through the information and related knowledge from my smartphone, it makes it easier for me to know how to control insects before they do harm on my fruit trees,” he says. “And when I get confused with how to use the pesticide, I can go to the smart classrooms to ask for help from my online tutor.”


Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, these classrooms have conducted over 2,000 live teaching sessions for more than 270,000 participants. 300 additional online courses and 100,000 “mini-lectures” were also opened to the general public. The series of lectures have generated nearly 100,000 views to date.


Using AI to create adaptive learning environments


The Smart Learning Platform enables teachers to create customized learning plans for students based on the profile of each learner and analyze their progress using big data.


Using AI, the platform guides students along different learning paths. It can distinguish learners’ intentions using voice and semantic analysis and can text learners and give feedback to their questions to help with their study.


It also lightens the workload of teachers by completing more routine tasks. Automatic assessments and automated essay scoring (AES) give students instant feedback and provide them with relevant learning resources. “This saves me a lot of time so that I can spend more time on preparing and reflecting the lectures and conducting academic research, etc.,” says Li Ganged, a teacher at the OUC. “Automated essay scoring is efficient in that I don’t have to mark these assignments myself but I can get a clear picture of where learners need help.”


In addition, Virtual Reality (VR) is being integrated into the programmes. Not only does it enable to illustrate and visualize abstract course content, but it also increases learners’ engagement and motivation. “In the Forestry programme, the VR can supply vivid virtual experiment just like in the real world on how to prune fruit trees,” says Hou Songyan. “The VR experience makes learning easier and more fun.”


Bridging the gap between rural and urban areas


To date, 29 programmes have been implemented using AI, covering over 1,500 OUC study centers nationwide. A total of 825,827 learners have been enrolled, 529,321 of whom have graduated. For Hou Songyan, the impact of students who graduated from the OUC on the local economy of rural and remote areas is already visible. “More contributions are made to the local economic and social development by those who have graduated from the programmes and been using their knowledge and skills in the local rural poverty alleviation and rural revitalization effort.”


Moving forward, the OUC will expand its potential target audience beyond the disadvantaged groups in rural and remote areas to include all members of society in the rural revitalization strategy. At the same time, the university plans to offer a wider range of programmes, degrees and diplomas, including short-term vocational training, and use AI techniques for knowledge mapping, automatic content generation, and smart answering chatbot technology to ensure round-the-clock online learner support.


“We do believe that AI will become an integral part of the future of education,”, says Hou Songyan. “It is a great honor for the Open University of China to receive this Prize. With this encouragement, the Open University of China will pay more attention to the use of digital technologies, especially cutting-edge technologies like big data, cloud computing, blockchain, AI, 5G, etc., in our future educational delivery, continue providing quality education programmes to people in remote and rural areas, and strive for the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”




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