Concept Note of
2024 Global MOOC and Online Education Conference
Theme: Reimagining the Future of Higher Education in the Intelligence Era
Co-hosted by Global MOOC and Online Education Alliance (GMA) and UNESCO IITE
Opening Ceremony: 12 December 2024 (Morning London time)
Plenary Sessions: 12 December 2024 (Afternoon London time), 13 December 2024 (Morning London time)
The Global MOOC and Online Education Conference follows up on the implementation of the Beijing Declaration of MOOC Development (2020), which recommended UN organizations, international and regional organizations, governments, universities, and online education institutions around the world to deepen international exchanges and cooperation, accelerate the building up of infrastructure for communication, promote the openness and sharing of MOOC and online education resources, and jointly promote the setting of international technical and curriculum standards for MOOC and online education, joining hands to build, develop and promote MOOC and online education to better serve society.[1] In this context, co-hosted by the Global MOOC and 0nline Education Alliance and the UNESCO IITE, the 2024 Global MOOC and Online Education Conference will be held in London, U.K. on 11-13 December 2024.
Background
Education 2030, UN SDG 4, UNESCO Futures of Education Initiative
Education is a key piece of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Despite the scope of these global commitments and the expected achievements, there is still an urgent need to look beyond this fast-approaching horizon. While the Education 2030 Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action (FFA) and UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 4 (UN SDG 4) — ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, lays out a roadmap for the transformation of education systems and affirms a central commitment to inclusion and equity, we must still ask what education might yet become – and what education might yet enable us to become.
Generative AI opens new horizons and challenges for education
With its unique mandate in leading international efforts to ensure that science and technology develop with strong ethical guardrails, UNESCO produced the first-ever global standard on AI ethics – the “Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence” unanimously by its Member States, prioritizing safety, inclusion, diversity, transparency, and quality. In response to the rapid emergence of new and powerful generative AI tools, UNESCO held the first global meeting of Ministers of Education on May 25, 2023, exploring the immediate as well as far-reaching opportunities, challenges, and risks that AI applications pose to education systems.
The global education systems are facing common concerns including how to adapt education systems to the disruptions generative AI is quickly causing, how to integrate generative AI into curricula, teaching methods, and examinations, and how to mitigate the inherent flaws of these technologies, including the capacity for making glaring errors and producing biased information. The ministerial debate revealed that governments worldwide are in the process of formulating appropriate policy responses in this rapidly evolving landscape – further developing or refining national strategies on AI, on data protection, and other regulatory frameworks.
Digital learning is the way forward to the future of higher education
The 2022 UN Transforming Education Summit shows us that education systems need to adapt to the shifting skills needed professionally, making learning more student-centered, connected, dynamic, inclusive, and collaborative, allowing creativity to blossom. Learning resources must evolve to reflect these transformations in how teaching and learning occur. Transforming education is an urgent political imperative for our collective future.
UNESCO has continued to steer the global dialogue with policy-makers, EdTech partners, academia, and civil society. The Organization has developed policy guidelines on the use of generative AI in education and research, as well as frameworks of AI competencies for students and teachers for school education. These were launched during the Digital Learning Week, which took place at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris in 2023.
UNESCO’s 2024 Digital Learning Week, from September 2 to 5, 2024, at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, held against the backdrop of the 2023 event’s success, concentrated on the intersecting challenges and opportunities of digitalization and sustainability in education. The week’s discussions targeted the ethical implications of AI, its environmental impact, and the urgency of regulatory updates in the face of generative AI’s swift evolution. It underscored the critical role of educational systems in cultivating human-centered approaches and digital literacy, ensuring that technology serves sustainable and ethical ends. Concurrently, UNESCO introduced AI competency frameworks for teachers and students, presented during the week, which outline key knowledge and skills for AI integration in education, emphasizing human dignity, privacy, and autonomy. These initiatives by UNESCO are designed to steer the responsible adoption of digital technologies in educational practices globally.
Past Conferences
Global MOOC Conference & Beijing Declaration on MOOC Development 2020
With the theme of “Learning Revolution and Higher Education Transformation”, the Global MOOC Conference 2020 was held at Tsinghua University from December 9 to 11. This event was the first global conference featuring MOOC since its rise. This conference aimed to build consensus on development, gather innovative forces, share practical experience, and deliver technological prospects, to promote the construction, development, and sharing of MOOC and online education across the world.
At the conference, Beijing Declaration on MOOC Development was issued. The declaration outlined a four-point consensus reached by the participants of the Global MOOC Conference regarding the role of MOOC and online education: To keep learning undisrupted, transform the educational model, turn crisis into opportunities, and find social solidarity through education. It also emphasized that the transformation of global higher education through MOOC and online education should uphold the characteristics of equity, quality, innovation, and service.
Global MOOC and Online Education Conference 2021, 2022
The new round of technological revolution and industrial change is advancing rapidly, and information technology has had a profound impact on higher education, with great changes in the way knowledge is imparted and acquired, as well as in educational concepts and education models. In the face of this global change, universities should actively promote higher education institutions to share educational resources, innovative models, and concepts as well as advanced information technology, and jointly promote the realization of a more inclusive and high-quality education.
With the theme “Together for a Shared Future — Leading Higher Education Innovation in the New Digital Era”, The Global MOOC and Online Education Conference 2021 put forward the initiative that the deep integration of information technology and education teaching will become the future trend, and the form of online education as well as higher education will continue to change. Global universities, international organizations and other institutions must seize the opportunity and meet the challenges, accelerate the construction of high-quality MOOC and online education resources, and achieve a more open and inclusive, mutually beneficial, and shared international higher education cooperation.
The Global MOOC and Online Education Conference 2022 under the theme “Digital Transformation of Education for the Future”. At the conference, a report entitled Unlimited Possibilities: Global Report on the Digitalization of Higher Education was unveiled. This report was prepared by more than 200 experts from 72 higher education institutions (HEIs) around the world and based on experiences and practices in various countries and international organizations. It summarizes consensuses, trends, and changes in the digital transformation of higher education and suggests solutions to the current challenges. In the report, a global higher education digitalization index was created to give a precise and comprehensive picture of the evolution and prospects in the field and provide a useful reference for policymakers.
Global MOOC and Online Education Conference 2023
The 2023 Global MOOC and Online Education Conference, themed “Reconstruction of Future Universities and Education Driven by Artificial Intelligence,” was convened at Politecnico di Milano from December 14 to 16, 2023. Jointly hosted by the Global MOOC and Online Education Alliance and the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, the conference attracted a distinguished international gathering of over 60 experts and policymakers from more than 20 countries. This event delved into the expansive impact of AI on reshaping educational paradigms globally, underscoring the significance of personalized learning and global resource accessibility in the post-pandemic educational landscape.
Keynotes from Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, and Wu Yan, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Education, China, highlighted the conference’s focus on the ethical integration of AI in education. The event also featured the launch of the “INFINITE POSSIBILITIES – Report on the Digital Development of Global Higher Education 2023” and “The Digital Development Index of Global Higher Education 2023,” which were collaborative efforts from nearly 130 specialists across 36 leading institutions. These reports offer a granular look at the progressive stages of digital technology in education, charting emerging models and forecasting trends, alongside proposing strategic actions to address contemporary challenges.
The conference marked a significant milestone with the expansion of the Global MOOC and Online Education Alliance, welcoming new members such as the UK’s FutureLearn platform, the Indonesian Cyber Education Institute, and the National Autonomous University of Mexico. This growth reflects the Alliance’s increasing influence and dedication to fostering innovation in global education.
Aims
Capitalize on digital technology to innovate educational ideas, reform educational models, and actively contribute to transforming higher education in the digital era while enhancing educational equity and outcomes, and developing high-quality MOOC and online education.
Promote the innovative development of new education methods and models to improve quality of higher education
Promote the integration of digital technology and the higher education system to ensure high-quality resources are more inclusive and equitable for all learners
Promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and expand global cooperation under a common vision
Expected Outcomes
- Gathering input of vision and strategies (including frameworks, principles, important questions etc.) for higher education innovation and collaboration in the new global digital era, especially artificial intelligence;
- Pitching of such vision and strategies to international organizations and alliances;
- Publication of such vision and strategies in reports and academic journals — the discussion during the conference will be summarized into a final summary document which explains the key issues concerning the development of MOOC and online education; dissemination in international seminars/events;
- Formulating joint research proposals and educational initiatives requiring international collaboration and funding sources.
Co-organizers — and Their Experiences
Global MOOC and Online Education Alliance (GMA)
Global MOOC and Online Education Alliance (GMA) is a dynamic and diverse group of 15 world-leading universities, 5 online education platforms and 1 research institute from across 15 countries, 6 continents and 10 languages. It was initiated by Tsinghua University, and members include Cornell University, edX, Learning Planet Institute (LPI), Mongolian University of Science and Technology, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, Peking University, Politecnico di Milano, RWTH Aachen University, Saint Petersburg University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Thai MOOC, Tsinghua University, University of Auckland, University of Chile, University of Manchester, University of Nairobi, XuetangX, Zhejiang University, Future Learn, Indonesia Cyber Education Institute and National Autonomous University of Mexico.
GMA serves as a mechanism for exchange and cooperation, providing leadership of global higher education efforts to address digital education challenges and to implement practical policies in local communities and around the world. Key activities include:
• Joint Teaching
Encourage and strengthen bilateral or multilateral cooperation for fully online/ blended/ hybrid courses and lifelong education programs development among members.
• Capacity Building
Encourage and strengthen the cooperation between members to progress research, develop tools and cultivate talents in the field of MOOC and online education.
• Knowledge Sharing
Host regular webinars (expert panels, workshops, showcases) to share experiences and best practices, feature related news and members’ MOOCs and online education programs through GMA’s digital hub and online newsletter.
• Public Advocacy
Guide the transformation of public perception and build consensus about the development of MOOC and online education in higher education, including public awareness regarding UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education).
GMA capitalize on digital technology to revitalize educational ideas, reform educational models, and actively contribute to transforming higher education in the digital era while also enhancing educational equity and quality.
UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (UNESCO IITE)
In line with the new Education 2030 Agenda, UNESCO IITE has developed its strategic priority areas to meet new demands and tasks ahead. The mission of IITE in the new era is promoting the innovative use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and serving as facilitator and enabler for achieving Sustainable
Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) through ICT-enabled solutions and best practices. Bearing in mind that SDG 4 highlights inclusion and equity, quality of education and lifelong learning, IITE focuses its activities on the following strategic priorities:
- Facilitating the innovative use of ICT to enhance inclusion and equity in education
and lifelong learning; - Empowering teachers in Member States to improve the quality of education by
promoting ICT-enabled pedagogies and best practices; - Fostering the potential of ICT for education transformation through global dialogue and networking.
In promoting digital pedagogy, UNESCO IITE works with policy-makers, civil society and various other stakeholders, drawing on its own research and existing research evidence, focusing on how pedagogical and technological innovations can enhance learning. IITE exerts efforts to facilitate the transfer of innovation research into educational practice and support effective learning through ICT-enabled pedagogy. The Institute promotes innovative approaches, methodology, tools and techniques of integrating ICT and pedagogy into different levels and sectors of education, in particular higher education.
Over the twenty years since its foundation, IITE has accumulated rich expertise and
experience in promoting ICT in education, with strong support and guidance from UNESCO Headquarters, UNESCO IITE Governing Board and the host country.
2024 Global MOOC and Online Education Conference
Co-Organizers:
- Global MOOC and Online Education Alliance
- UNESCO IITE
Co-Hosts:
- Queen Mary University of London
- Tsinghua University
- Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications
Theme: Reimagining the Future of Higher Education in the Intelligence Era
Venue
Queen Mary University of London, London, U.K.
Language
English will be the working language of the meeting, though interpretation services may be provided if required.
Opening Ceremony Agenda (London Time)
(I) Opening Remarks
Time: December 12th, 9:00-9:40 (GMT+1)
(II) Report Release and Scenario Launch
Time: December 12th, 9:40-10:05 (GMT+1)
(III) Keynote Presentations
Time: December 12th, 10:05-11:05 (GMT+1)
(IV) Ceremony
Time: December 12th, 11:20-11:25 (GMT+1)
(V) Roundtable Forum
Time: December 12th, 11:25-11:50 (GMT+1)
(VI) Closing Remarks
Time: December 12th, 11:50-12:00 (GMT+1)
Plenary Sessions:
Transforming Higher Education for the Future: Exploring In-Depth Reconstruction of University Models
Time: December 12th, 14:00-15:30 (GMT+1)
Navigating Ethical Considerations of AI: Challenges and Solutions from a Global Perspective
Time: December 12th, 15:30-17:00 (GMT+1)
Theme: Embracing the New Era of Lifelong Learning: Integrating Future-Oriented Workforce Skills with Digital Literacy
Time: December 13th, 9:00-10:30 (GMT+1)
Theme: Reshaping Teaching and Learning Paradigms with Technological Innovation: Transforming Skills-Centered and Practice-Based Learning
Time: December 13th, 10:30-12:00 (GMT+1)
Contact
GMA: Brian Li, Assistant Secretary-General, [email protected]