To provide policymakers, researchers and practitioners with a platform to discuss relevant topics, share the latest achievements, and foresee trends regarding intelligent technology and smart education, the 2021 edition of the Global Smart Education Conference (GSE 2021) organized by Beijing Normal University (BNU) and partners will be held from 18th to 20th August 2021. The conference will take a hybrid format including online sessions and face-to-face sessions to be hosted in Changping campus of Beijing Normal University.

Background

Currently, as emerging technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, 5G, VR/AR/MR, and the Internet of Things, integrate with other technologies unprecedentedly, human society approaches a threshold of a new round of transformation. In this situation, smart society, as a more advanced social pattern in comparison with the agricultural society, industrial society, and information society, may arrive soon. This trend will fundamentally transform the way we live, work, and learn. Human-machine collaboration, cross-industry integration, as well as co-creation and sharing, may become a new series of characteristics embedded in people’s life.

The social transformation of the intelligence era generates new demands on future education. In response to these demands, major countries and international organizations all over the world are exploring new paths and approaches to accelerate the process of talent cultivation to adapt to the intelligence age. In face of the new situation, UNESCO has launched the Futures of Education Initiative and released the Beijing Consensus on Artificial Intelligence and Education in 2019. Chinese government also proposed a series of strategies and policies including China's Education Modernization 2035 plan, the New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan, the AI Innovation Action Plan for Institutions of Higher Education, Education Informatization 2.0 Action Plan, which emphasize the importance of developing Smart Education. In addition, the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) for Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035 also stresses the need to build a high-quality educational system and further points out that Smart Education should be specifically employed in the application scenarios of the digital economy, which clarified the direction for educational innovation in the future. As a high-end form of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in education, Smart Education is committed to setting up smart learning environments, exploring new models of teaching, and building a modern educational system. As of 2021, the Ministry of Education of China has selected 20 regions as Smart Education Pilot Zones, expecting to expedite the exploration of a new model, new method, and new path to transform education through intelligent technologies.

The GSE 2021 is organized by Beijing Normal University, with UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE), Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University (SLI), China Institute of Education and Social Development （CIESD）, Collaborative Innovation Centre of Assessment for Basic Education Quality, National Engineering Laboratory for Cyberlearning and Intelligent Technology (CITlab) and Educational Informatization Strategy Research Base, Ministry of Education (Beijing) as co-organizers, in partnership with media including people.cn and China Education Daily. With a theme of Smart Learning and Futures of Education, the conference will feature 9 forums, during which reports such as Rethinking and Redesigning National Smart Education Strategy and the White Paper of the Smart Education Pilot Zones will be released. Smart technologies will also be employed to hold an online exhibition. 

Structure of Programme

Date：18-20 August 2021 (the opening session will be scheduled at 2:30 pm 18 August)                       

Location：Changping Campus, Beijing Normal University, Jia No. 2 Manjing Road, Changping District, Beijing, China

Virtual Session：Zoom Meetings

Official Website：http://gse.bnu.edu.cn/en

Ticket Prices:

To register for a virtual admission or purchase tickets please visit: http://gse.bnu.edu.cn/en.

 If you have any further queries, please contact: gse@bnu.edu.cn.

About Beijing Normal University

Beijing Normal University (BNU) is a comprehensive and research-intensive university which leads the way in the theoretical innovation and practical exploration of Smart Education. From 2016 to 2020, Beijing Normal University, together with international organizations and universities have held five Smart Education Conferences consecutively and released a series of smart-education-related reports. In 2020, BNU and its international partners also launched a Joint Project on Rethinking and Redesigning National Smart Education Strategy, generating enormous influences in the field of Smart Education globally. Especially during the pandemic, Smart Learning Institute (SLI) and National Engineering Laboratory for Cyberlearning and Intelligent Technology (CITlab) have been seeking educational solutions under special circumstances. Specifically, they worked with UNESCO, finalizing and publishing a series of handbooks which comprise Handbook on Facilitating Flexible Learning During Educational Disruption: The Chinese Experience in Maintaining Undisrupted Learning in COVID-19 Outbreak，Ensuring Effective Distance Learning under COVID-19 School Closures: Guidance for Teachers as well as AI and  Education: Guidance for Policy-makers.