News FY 2024

ICDE Leadership Summit 2024 Participation Report

From June 5th to 7th, 2024, the “ICDE Leadership Summit 2024” was held in Geneva, organized by an NGO. Under the theme of “Ethical Leadership in the Age of AI: Rethinking Futures of Education,” plenary and breakout sessions were conducted.

On the first day (June 5th), after the opening ceremony, the first session featured a lecture on AI by the current ICDE President, Mark Nichols. Following this session, about 10 speakers gave presentations on the situations in their respective countries and universities. In the afternoon, a breakout session titled “AI in Open Education in Asia” was held, where Vice Chancellor Lily Chan from Wawasan Open University (Malaysia), Chancellor Melinda dela Peña Bandalaria from the University of the Philippines Open University (Philippines), and Dean Kam Cheong Li from Hong Kong Metropolitan University introduced the initiatives being undertaken at their universities. Tomoka Satomi, an Executive Trustee of OUJ, also made remarks from the floor.

On the second day (June 6th), a plenary session titled “AI, creating knowledge(s), teaching and learning” was held as a panel discussion in the fishbowl style, followed by breakout sessions. In the afternoon, a session was held for creating a “Living Letter,” in which ethical principles for AI utilization shared by the participants were compiled into a single letter. This “Living Letter” is expected to be a message calling for action to shape the future of education, to be shared worldwide (https://globethics.net/sites/default/files/media/document/2024-06/ICDE%20LS%202024_LivingLetter.pdf).

On the morning of the third day (June 7th), a plenary session in the fishbowl style titled “Towards an ethical framework for AI in education” was held, in which Executive Trustee Tomoka Satomi took the stage and explained our university’s policies on AI utilization. The final session featured an introduction to UNESCO’s efforts related to the implementation of AI, based on an overview of past, present, and future global trends, followed by the closing ceremony.

Throughout the event, participants shared the understanding that while AI has the potential to support students’ learning and advance the individualization of education, it is essential to maintain human elements in its implementation. It was also emphasized that utilizing AI requires cultural sensitivity and ethical consideration, which calls for international cooperation. In particular, issues of responsibility and bias in the role of AI in education were highlighted, and the importance of policies to ensure the ethical use of AI was stressed. It was striking that the risk of cultural bias in the data being learned by AI was mentioned alarmingly by many participants.

11th OUC-OUJ-KNOU International Seminar Held at OUC

On June 12-13, 2024, the 11th OUC-OUJ-KNOU International Seminar was held under the overall theme,“Building a Learning Society Through Digitalization of Open Education,” hosted by the Open University of China (OUC) in Beijing, China. Six participants from The Open University of Japan (OUJ), including President Masaya Iwanaga, and six participants from Korea National Open University (KNOU), including President Songhwan Ko attended the conference. Additionally, five distinguished guests, including ICDE President Mark Nicholas, were invited.

On June 12th, OUC hosted a campus tour and reception. During this event, participants from OUC and KNOU, as well as Hong Kong Metropolitan University (HKMU), ICDE, and other attendees had the opportunity to share and exchanged opinions.

The seminar was held on June 13th, featuring two main parts, each with its own sub-themes and session.

Part 1: Sub-Themes “Strategy and Trends”
＜Session 1＞
・Mark Nicholas, President of ICDE :“Starting with Open”
・President Masaya Iwanaga, OUJ : “Digital Empowerment for Building a Learning Society”

<Session 2＞
・Vice President Lee Song, OUC :“Serving the Construction of a Learning Society Through Digital Empowerment for Open Education”
・Professor Asha Kanwar :“The Role of the Open University in Building Learning Societies”

Part2: Sub-Theme “Practice and Innovation”
<Session1>
・Director of Prof. Hitoshi Nakagawa, the Next Generation Education Research Center and Professor Aoki, OUJ: “Overview of the Next Generation Education Research Center at the Open University of Japan”
・Professor Bongmin Lee, KNOU :“Innovative Practices for Lifelong Learning: Insights from KNOU's Online Exam”

<Session2>
・Prof. Jyepeng Zheng, Director of OUC Foreign Language Institute: “AI Empowered Large-Scale Personalized Learning”
・Li Bai, Director of OUC's Learning Resources Department :“High-Quality Development of Digital Learning Resources: Practice of the Open University of China”

The first part of the session featured opening remarks by OUC President Wang and HKMU Dean Li. In Session 1, OUJ President Masaya Iwanaga delivered a keynote speech titled “Digital Empowerment for Building a Learning Society,” discussing the advancement of digital technology, its application in creating a learning society, and the feasibility of achieving a lifelong learning society.

In the second part, the venue shifted to a different room for a seminar held by the three OUC-OUJ-KNOU universities.

In Session 1, Professor Hitoshi Nakagawa, Director of the Next Generation Education Research and Development Center at OUJ, and Professor Kumiko Aoki delivered a lecture titled “Overview of the Next Generation Education Research Center at the Open University of Japan”. Director Nakagawa provided an overview of the center, which was newly established in 2024, while Professor Aoki outlined various research plans for the Center's units.

In Session 2, Mr. Li Bai, Director of OUC's Learning Resources Department, gave a presentation titled “High-Quality Development of Digital Learning Resources: Practice of the Open University of China”.

The seminar concluded with a presentation by President Ko of KNOU on the upcoming 12th KNOU-OUJ-OUC Seminar, which will be held in Seoul next fiscal year. This announcement marked the end of the two-day event.

For more information, please click here (to view the brochure). (Information is available in English and Chinese.)