PR83646

SHENZHEN, China, Apr. 13, 2020/PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/--

On April 11th, Huawei held a live webinar for online higher education to help

ensure continuous online education during the suspension of schools and

universities. The webinar, as a special part of Huawei's Learn ON Program, was

jointly organized by Huawei and its partners including UNESCO IITE and

UNESCO-ICHEI. Leaders and experts from global enterprises and universities were

invited to share their practice and challenges in online education during the

COVID-19 crisis. They also discussed feasible solutions that can ensure both

education continuity and online education quality when schools and universities

are closed.

More than 1.5 billion students around the world are affected by the educational

institution closures due to the COVID-19 outbreak. To mitigate the immediate

impact, UNESCO launched the Global Education Coalition, in which international

organizations, civil society, and enterprises are engaged to ensure that

"Learning Never Stops". As one of the Coalition members, Huawei has been

dedicated to bringing the benefits of technology to everyone. It developed

TECH4ALL, a long-term, digital inclusion initiative for using technology for

good, and the accessibility of quality education is one of the important

focuses of TECH4ALL. In response to UNESCO's invitation, Huawei launched the

Learn ON Program with global partners, using innovative ICT technologies to

make good education accessible for various groups in different areas during the

COVID-19 crisis.

Wu Lintuo, Director of Education Partnership, Talent Ecosystem Development

Dept. Huawei, introduced an all-round solution to the new requirements of

global Huawei Academies during COVID-19. The following actions will be taken:

1. A total of US$5 million Huawei ICT Academy Development Incentive Fund (ADIF)

will be provided to partner colleges for activities such as online course,

online training, and online experiment.

2. More than 130 MOOC resources will be opened up, covering advanced technical

fields such as

Artificial Intelligence, big data, 5G, and Internet of Things.

3. More than 100 online Train the Trainer (TTT) will be provided from April to

December, and more than 1500 teachers are expected to be trained.

4. 50,000 students are expected to be trained through online self-learning,

courses, and classes.

"We are delighted to work with Huawei, the member of UNESCO COVID-19 Global

Education Coalition, on the Webinar for 'Online Higher Education during

COVID-19', and other projects as part of joint actions." said Zhan Tao,

Director of UNESCO IITE. He continued: "As an integral part of UNESCO, IITE is

working closely with partners from the global under the initiative 'Combat

COVID-19: Keep Learning Together, We Are on the Move! ' for experience and

resources sharing and collective efforts. Let's continue working together to

support millions of students, teachers and parents in needs with passion,

innovation and collective strength. Let's work together! Go Digital, Go

Universal, Go Far!"

"During the crisis, Huawei will provide funds, open platforms, and free,

high-quality education resources. We will also carry out multiple activities,

including teaching, examination, training, communication, and resource

development. By fully supporting the operations of Huawei ICT Academies

worldwide and promoting online learning, we aim to minimize learning disruption

for students at home." said Bradd Feng, Director of Huawei's Talent Ecosystem

Development Dept.

During the sharing session, Ann Therese Ndong-Jatta, Director for the Bureau of

Education in Africa, UNESCO; Xu Xiaofei, Deputy Director, the MOE Expert

Advisory Group of Online Education for International Platforms and Courses

Development, Vice President of Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT); Liu Shubo,

Deputy Dean of School of Computer Science, Wuhan University; Samuel Kinuthia

from Zetech University of Kenya; Weng Kai from School of Computer Science of

Zhejiang University; Zhao Jianhua, Senior Expert of UNESCO-ICHEI as well as

other experts from global higher educational institutions introduced their

experience in developing online education schemes, organizing online learning,

providing suggestions on mental health management for students and teachers,

and using HUAWEI CLOUD WeLink in online teaching during the COVID-19 crisis. In

addition to the special teaching methods, these experts also shared the

challenges they had faced with and corresponding solutions.

Svetlana Knyazeva, Expert of UNESCO IITE, suggested that universities,

enterprises, and educational organizations should open up learning resources,

and produce and share MOOCs to help more educational institutions with online

education.

Education disruption due to the crisis might further widen the educational gaps

between regions and countries and aggravate the digital divide. To solve this

problem, distance online education is one of the important and effective

measures. Smooth communication platforms, appropriate teaching resources, as

well as prompt, convenient supporting services will all serve as the key to

large-scale online education. Huawei is willing to continuously share online

education experience with universities and education organizations. It will

increase investment, enhance digital resource construction, and promote

education digitalization to ensure the accessibility of high-quality education.

For more information, please visit:

https://www.huawei.com/minisite/tech4all/en/live-learning-never-stops.html?ic_medium=hwdc&ic_source=corp_sbanner_tech4all

SOURCE: Huawei