The online exchange program opened online at 7:00 p.m. Beijing time on June 3. As the first speaker of the lecture series, Prof. YAN Wenfan, from the University of Massachusetts in Boston with research interests in education equity, access, effectiveness, and assessment, gave a presentation on Rethinking College Teaching and Learning Beyond COVID-19: Insights and Innovations from the American Classroom. Prof. Yan explained that the new pneumonia epidemic has forced us to embrace the digital leap and given us the opportunity to think pioneeringly about how to address this crisis. We must build on our traditions, be bold and innovative, and think about how to develop creative and flexible students for the future in this new context.

On June 5, Prof. CHANG Tong-Shan，director of Institutional Research and Academic Planning at the University of California (UC) Office of the president, and Prof. YIN Hong-Biao from the department of curriculum and instruction, CUHK, gave lectures respectively on Higher Education System and Governance in the United States and Enhancing the Quality of Learning and Teaching in Chinese Universities respectively. Starting from the three missions of American higher education, Prof. Chang introduced the teaching, research and social service functions of American higher education to the students, and emphasized the diversity of American higher education enrollment. 

Prof. Yin’s research interests have been focused in the area of Curriculum Reform, Teacher Emotion, Teacher Change, Learning Environments, Student Motivation, and Learning & Teaching in Higher Education. Besides, he focused on the academic evaluation mechanism of Chinese universities and used university ranking lists as an entry point to inspire students to think about the policies and practices of higher education in China.

On June 11, Prof.WANG Ting from the University of Canberra, Australia, gave a fascinating lecture on Initial Teacher Education in Australia: The Evolution of Reform, introducing Australia's initial teacher education (ITE) system.Her research interests have been focused in the area of educational leadership in cross-cultural settings, higher education in a globalized context, professional Learning Communities (PLCs).

On June 19, Prof. HUANG Futao fromHiroshimaUniversity, Japan,gave a wonderful lecture focusing on the higher education reform in mainland Europe, in which he compared the differences between the higher education systems in China and Europe from the perspective of comparative education, and inspired the students to put forward their own views and suggestions on the higher education curriculum reform in China from their own experiences. His research interests have been focused in the area of designing university and college curriculum, internationalization of higher education, academic profession, Chinese higher education. He inspired the students to give their own views and suggestions on the reform of higher education curriculum in China from their own experiences.

On June 21, Prof. LI Jun,from the University of Western Ontario and serving as Chair of the Academic and Research Cluster of Critical Policy, Equity and Leadership Studies, a Senator of Western University, and Vice President (and President Designate) of Comparative and International Education Society (CIES), gave a detailed and wonderful lecture on the topic of Educational Improvement Science (EIS).Prof. Li is a renowned expert in the studies of education and East Asia, advocating the establishment of Educational Improvement Studies (EIS) on policy and leadership in comparative and international education, higher education, teacher education, citizenship education and civil society, etc. He discussed the background and origin of EIS, its connotation, meaning, challenges, and future prospects.

On June 23, Prof. David Mills,associate professor (Pedagogy and the Social Sciences) at the Department of Education at Oxford with research interests in the impact of the global research economy on institutional research and publishing cultures in African universities., gave a lively lecture entitled Studying global student mobility: beyond the challenges of Covid 19, which was interspersed with several group discussions consisting of practical questions.Prof. Mills provided a new perspective for students to understand higher education in the post-epidemic era, and prompted them to recognize the need for future education to break through the traditional limitations of physical space and mobility, and to open up a new normal of international academic exchange and cooperation.

Through the online exchange program Trends and Challenges in Global Education in the Post-Epidemic Era, education experts and practitioners from home and abroad discussed the reshaping of confidence and future development trends in various segments of education from the perspective of their respective research directions and practicalities, taking into account the impact of the epidemic. As students majoring in education, through this international academic exchange, students expressed their multi-faceted and three-dimensional understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing global education in the post-epidemic era, as well as their deeper thoughts on the future development trend and reform of education.

Photo by LU Ke

Auther: LU Sijia, SUN Jing, MAO Zhouhan, GU Chao, LU Ke