| On September 22, 2006, CORE delegation, consisting of representatives from COREĄŻs Leading Universities, visited MIT for the fist time before attending the Open Education Conference 2006 at Utah State University. The delegates are Prof.Huang Meiqi, Administrative Assistant to CORE Chairman, Prof. Cheng Jiangang, Director of Educational Technology Institute of Tsinghua University, and Prof. Fang Jin, Deputy Director of Teaching Affairs Office of Beijing Normal University. Although the visit is only one-day long, it is a full and meaningful day.
On arriving at MIT, CORE delegation received a warm welcome. At 7:30 am, Prof. Anne Margulies, Executive Director of MIT's OpenCourseWare, Prof. Cecilia DĄŻOliveira, Technology Director, Prof. Farnaz Haghseta from External Outreach Liaison, and Prof. Hal Abelson met the whole delegation.
They guided CORE delegation to visit the Information Services and Technology of MIT. Prof. Vijay Kumar, Assistant Provost and Director of Academic Computing, Prof. Katie Livingston-Vale and Prof. Phil Long introduced the development and application of educational technology at MIT. At the same time, Prof. Cheng Jiangang communicated with his American counterparts with great interest. Before noon, the delegation went to the Biology Laboratory of MIT, where Prof. Jonathan King introduced MITĄŻs biology teaching and advanced facilities in their laboratory. In addition, CORE representatives discussed the related matters with Prof. Zhengya Zhu. In the afternoon, CORE representatives learned more about MITOCW through visiting their offices and participating in the MITOCW team activities. Compared with Chinese universities, MIT owned unique systems of teaching and managing, which were edificatory to CORE representatives. Due to the short time, it was a pity that the two sides could not have a deeper discussion. They hoped they could find more chances for further communication.
Finally, both sides thought that it was necessary for CORE to create more chances for communication between Chinese universities and international top-ranked universities, for CORE is constructing a communication platform for international education, and promoting substantial cooperation between Chinese and oversea universities all the time. |
