UNESCO
recently wrapped up its international conference on education informatization
in May, with the National Education Informatization Application Exhibition in
Qingdao on May 23.
The
exhibition in China's eastern Shandong province was attended by over 300
delegates from more than ninety countries and organizations. The conference met
with the aim of discussing the reforms in education that would be possible with
IT. Delegates at the leader forum for the ICT conference discussed topics such
as the development of IT technology, how education can be reshaped and how
equalization of education will be achieved by 2030. A recurring theme on the
forum was what education would look like in 2030.
Cloud Storage Will Enhance Learning Efficiency
Intel
Vice President Ms. Rupal Shah Hollenbeck announced that the goal at Intel is to
achieve equal and high quality education, and cloud storage will have a major
role to play in the endeavor. Her company's observation that teens enjoy using
social media will translate to the reshaping of education in the near future.
Intel hopes to use cloud storage for providing real-time big data analysis to
teachers, which can be used to analyze students' learning processes. This can
help to provide personalized education and create interactive platforms for
better communication between students and teachers.
According
to Bahrain's education minister Ajed Ali Hasan Almajed Alnoaimi, only 20
percent of the world has access to such high quality education resources
provided by technology. If all children in the future have access to such
education in the future, it can help to create more equalized societies in the
world.
The
president of the Wei Dong Group, Wang Duanrui, summed up the aim of his company
for the future, echoing the common goal of many of the government delegates and
ICT technology providers present. The goal in the next fifteen years is to
achieve equalization of lifelong education by 2030.
The Exhibition
The
exhibition at the Qingdao informatization hall displayed some of the many
technology applications of education. A section of the hall was devoted to
showcasing the many achievements of the Qingdao Education Informatization
through 34 typical scenarios and 8 modules.
The
3D zone of innovative education housed a 3D printer which designed a trestle
bridge, overlooked by a fifth grade student Liu Jiaju and his IT teacher.
INTECH was one of the participants at the exhibition, showcasing their Optical Interactive Whiteboard, the Infrared Interactive Whiteboard and their newly upgraded Smartclass Solution for enhancing learning in the classroom. Click here to learn more.
Many
exhibitors displayed their e-schoolbags, which is a hot topic in education
informatization. The Tomorrow Advanced Life Company showcased its smart
teaching system based on e-courseware. Products in the category include
flash-based animation resources that can be used with interactive, electronic
whiteboards and replace traditional blackboards and PPT with many advantages.
The takeaway from the exhibition was that teaching would be more about guiding
in the smart classroom of the future.
The
Haier Group was one of the exhibitors at the show, displaying their vision for
the smart classrooms of the near future. In such a classroom, the traditional
blackboard will be replaced by computers with integrated eye protection for
best ergonomic practices. Every child will carry a single tablet in place of
books. All the devices in use within the classroom will be further connected to
the Cloud for easy sharing. Haier also displayed its music education product,
the Piano Classroom. Armed with the aim of making children fall in love with
the instrument in five minutes, the company proposed its digital piano which will
be equipped with an LCD screen. Through the screen and with the help of Cloud
technology and Wi-Fi connectivity, young people will be able to access more
than 100 enjoyable games that will help improve their playing skills and get
them interested in the piano.
Government-Enterprise Partnerships in Reshaping Education
According
to the representatives at the conference, the government and technology
enterprises would have responsibilities and major roles to play in reshaping
the education of the future. All delegates on the forum envision greater reach
of high quality education, even to rural countrysides lacking access to the
Internet. In order for this dream to be achieved, there needs to be greater
access to high quality education tools.
According
to Wang Duanrui who concluded the conference, the government should lead the
way with social capital and non-governmental enterprises allowed participation.
He recommended that governments purchase enterprise services in order to avoid
repeated investments.
Previous：National Education Informatization Application Exhibition