The Forum 1 of Global MOOC and Online Education Conference 2022,themed “Digital Revolution and Higher Education Reform”,was successfully held online on December 8, 2022, with over 1160 participants. The Forum is jointly organized by China Ministry of Education (MOE), National University Steering Committee on Teaching Informatization and Teaching Method Innovation, Union of the Open Online Course Associations of Chinese Universities, and Xidian University. The Forum invites six experts from China, US, France, India, etc. to summarize the experiences in digital education. They deliver wonderful speeches on the profound reform and innovation approaches in higher education, online education, digital university, MOOC teaching, industry-education integration, etc. under the background of digital transformation.

ZHAN Tao, Director of UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE), makes opening remarks for the Forum. He points out that the pandemic accelerates the digital transformation of education, and enables MOOC and online education to be realized ahead of time in the teaching of colleges and universities. In particular, the in-depth research and extensive practice of Chinese college teachers in digital transformation of education and online teaching have made China achieve remarkable achievements in this regard. He emphasizes that how to use digital transformation to promote equity, improve quality and realize people-oriented education is a new-era issue, which is worthfurtherexploration. We should keep with the trend of the times, take the opportunity of digital revolution and education reform, broaden our vision, and constantly promote the diversification of teaching methods, so as to steer the future education pattern.

The forum consists of two sessions, chaired by XUXiaofei, Professor of Harbin Institute of Technology and Deputy Director of China Ministry of Education (MOE), National University Steering Committee on Teaching Informatization and Teaching Method Innovation, and WU Di, Professor of Central China Normal University and Member of the Expert Group on Education Informatization, Ministry of Education.

The theme of Session 1 is“Digitalized Online Education: New Forms and Challenges”. Prof. YANG Zongkai, President of Wuhan University of Technology and Director ofNational University Steering Committee on Teaching Informatization and Teaching Method Innovation, China, Dr. Linda Krute, Director of Distance Engineering Education Programs, North Carolina State University at Raleigh, USA, and Prof. Yves Ducq, Professor and Former Vice President of University of Bordeaux, France, deliver keynote speeches, respectively. YANGZongkai withvaluable experience in digital education research and promoting digital reform in three universities, discusses the typical path of digital education transformation from the perspectives of platform construction, curriculum resources, teacher development, and presents the outlook for its future trend of promoting high-quality education development under the rapid technological change. Yves Duke elaborates on the core role of digital teaching transformation in the personalized customization of curriculum content and in the rapid construction of new teacher-student relationship and the main role of universities in promoting digital transformation by introducing the digital teaching practices implemented by Bordeaux University. Linda Crout shares her views on the forms and challenges of digital online education. Taking online education in the United States as an example, she emphasizes the importance of fully studying the teaching targets’ background and teaching forms while establishing a high-quality and mature curriculum.

The theme ofSession2 is“MOOC’ s Standardization: Best Practice and Experience”. Prof. XU Xiaofei reviews the development and construction of MOOC in China, introduces the teaching mode and rich practices, the role played by Union of the Open Online Course Associations of Chinese Universities, the impact of MOOC standards and norms, the great feats of online education under the epidemic, and the achievements of the national intelligent higher education platform. He also offers a perspective on the future online education, focusing on the development trends of smart online education, service-oriented education and metaverse education. Prof. JIA Wenjian, Vice President of Beijing Foreign Studies University and Deputy Director of the Executive Committee of the Union of the Open Online Course Associations of Chinese Universities, takes China MOOCs for Foreign Studies as an example to share its experience and practices in building an integrated model of MOOC construction, application, evaluation and research, and further explores the role that this model can play in promoting high-quality MOOC exchanges in higher education in different cultures and in building a community of a shared future. Guided by the founding mission and training objectives of the Academy, Himanshu Mahajan, senior expert of Huawei ICT Academy, introduces the company’ s ICT digital education path and achievements in detail from the basic conditions, technical reserves, course quality, development path, talent ecology and other aspects of Huawei MOOC.

At last, YANGZongkai makes a closing speech. He emphasizes that this seminar and exchanges make us deeply realize the extensive impact of MOOC on higher education development around the globe. Digital transformation is an important engine and innovative path for high-quality educational development. By summarizing the experience of digital education in various countries, we can effectively deepen the understanding of digital education, so as to lay a solid foundation for further building a community with a shared future in education.