Launching today, a new pilot project aims to support Chinese students who have studied in the UK and returned home, or studying online transnationally, gain better access to UK learning materials, social platforms and synchronous teaching for their studies. Jisc, is leading the pilot with the support of education sector bodies ucisa, Universities UK International and the British Council.
These students face obstacles to accessing UK-based content due to Chinese government regulations and technical barriers specific to China, such as cross-border virtual private network (VPN) restrictions and international gateways which screen traffic between China and the rest of the world, filtering content from overseas used for delivering teaching and learning, blocking some platforms and applications including YouTube, Facebook and Google.
The impact of this programme will be significant as Chinese students account for 23% of all international students studying in the UK, bringing almost £7bn per year to the UK economy.
Jisc’s head of international, Dr Esther Wilkinson, says:
“Chinese students are key to a thriving higher education sector and this project will help institutions offer them a quality equitable student experience, even though they may no longer be able to physically be on campus in the UK, at least in the short term. This pilot aims to give Chinese students the best possible online learning experience reflecting the world-leading quality and academic standards of UK higher education.”
The University of Southampton, University of York, Queen Mary University of London, and King’s College London are the first institutions to have signed up to the trial.
Professor Colin Grant, vice-principal (international) at Queen Mary University of London says:
“We are delighted that Queen Mary is involved in this innovative new project. Wherever they are in the world, we are committed to providing our students with an outstanding learning experience by helping them fully engage with their education at Queen Mary and our wider community. The enhanced access to online resources provided by Jisc and Alibaba’s solution will help our students in China do just that.”
Professor 'Funmi Olonisakin, vice-president and vice-principal international and professor of security, leadership and development at King’s says:
"King's is delighted to work in partnership with other universities and sector bodies on this vital project. Our Chinese students are an important part of our international community and we are passionate about ensuring they can access the high-quality King’s education that is highly respected by employers around the globe, as well as an enriching university experience, whatever their circumstances. We look forward to sharing the learnings of this important work with partners and other institutions in due course."
The result of a collaboration between Jisc and Chinese multinational technology company, Alibaba Cloud, the pilot solution will explore how students in China can access their virtual learning environment (VLE), whether these are hosted on a UK university campus or on a third-party provider’s network. The project will look at the enhancement of speed and reliability compared to current solutions, access to specific content, as well as the costs of implementing these measures.
Wilkinson adds:
“Alibaba’s solution can be implemented quickly and is ideal for examinations or real-time teaching that now has to take place online in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are exploring how this can be used at scale with a view to create a sector-wide OJEU compliant multi-supplier framework for the UK. We are doing what Jisc does best, working together with the sector to provide affordable and appropriate solutions for our members as your trusted partner.”
Find out more about the pilot project or sign up for email updates. If you have any questions, contact international@jisc.ac.uk.
No comments:
Post a Comment