Smart Learning Institute

From July 25 to 28, 2016, the 16th IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies, one of the highest quality academic conference recognized by the world in the field of education technology, was held at University of Texas at Austin, United States. Co-Dean Ronghuai Huang was the conference chair. The papers of associate professor RongXia Zhuang, Dr. Lanqin Zheng, Dr. Xiaochen Wang, researcher Dr. Tingwen Chang and Dr. Wei Cheng etc. were received by the conference and they were invited to report on the meeting.

The group from Smart Learning Institute

The papers and related researches got wide attention from experts and scholars at the meeting and triggered a heated discussion, including the associate professor RongXia Zhuang’s The framework of digital learning capacity for digital natives, Dr. Lanqin Zheng’s The Effects of Motivation, Academic Emotions, and Self-regulated Learning Strategies on Academic Achievements in technology enhanced Learning Environment, Dr. Xiaochen Wang’s Influence of Digital Equipment on Interaction Quality in Technology-rich Classroom, Dr. Wei Cheng’s Meta-analysis in Educational Technology Research: A Content Analysis, Chang Xu’s Measuring and Visualizing Individual Contributions in Online Collaborative Discussions and Qiuju Li’s A Case Study of the Characteristics of MOOCs Completes-Taking an Online Professional Training MOOC for Example.

Dr. Lanqin Zheng won IEEE Young Researcher Award. The award is only given to one young scholar each year who has got innovative research and outstanding research achievements in the field of education technology. This honor of Dr Lanqin Zheng is the result of her hard work and constant forging ahead for many years, but also the recognition for her academic ability, which fully reflects the international academic status and influence of the education technology major of Beijing Normal University.

Professor Nian-Shing Chen (right) presented the award to Dr. Lanqin Zheng(left).

Besides, Co-Dean Ronghuai Huang and researcher Dr. Tingwen Chang had an full academic exchange with experts as well scholars, which further explores the chances of international cooperation.

Discuss the smart learning engine project with Dr. Rob Foshay and Dr. Atsusi“2c” Hirumi. Dr. Rob Foshay is the Chief Software Architect of PLATO system (1st generalized computer assisted instruction system). Dr. Atsusi“2c” Hirumi has creative research in the neuro-physiological area. Both of them are very influential experts in their areas. They assisted a lot for the development of this project and provided more possibilities for SLI’s international exchange and cooperation.

Discuss the cooperation of evaluating with top education technology tools/system/platform. Dr. Larry Johnson is the CEO of EdFutures. He is trying to establish a global organization in educational area with the help of research institutes in countries who are the top in educational area. If this organization was established, SLI would join this organization as the representative for China.

Discuss MOOC courses and teacher’s professional development with VR with Dr. Demetrios G. Sampson. Dr. Demetrios G. Sampson is the chairman of IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies, professor of Curtin University, Australia. He has made many achievements in educational technology area. In the future, Dr. Demetrios G. Sampson perhaps will become the guest professor of SLI.