Smart Learning Institute

“The International Symposium on 2017 Immersive Learning and VR Education Application”, jointly organized by Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University(BNU) and Harvard Graduate School of Education(HGSE) was held at Harvard University in the United States from January 13^th  to 15^th , 2017 (ET). More than 40 experts from the United States, Britain, Spain, Germany and China attended the conference. On behalf of the Smart Learning Institute, Mr. Dejian Liu, Chairman of NetDragon Websoft Inc. and Co-Dean of the Institute; Prof. Ronghuai Huang, Co-Dean of Smart Learning Institute of BNU and Dr. Dingwen Zhang, Director of the International Exchange and Cooperation Center were present.

Group Photo of some Participating Scholars

At the opening ceremony, Harvard University, Smart Learning Institute of BNU and NetDragon Websoft Inc. signed a cooperation authorization. Harvard University would give Smart Learning Institute of BNU and NetDragon Websoft Inc. a permanent academic license for ECOMUVE software, and would develop Chinese and English VR version of ECOMUVE software in the next three months for Harvard University. This marked the recognition by the world's top educational institutions for Chinese VR / AR education applications and also showed that the cooperation of China and the United States in the field of education would move towards a broader stage.

Group Photo of the Representatives in the Opening Ceremony

Signing Tripartite Agreement

A total of 12 academic symposiums were held at the conference. The experts and scholars involved in the report included (in the order of the report): Prof. Mel Slater from the University of Barcelona, Spain; Dr. Jeffrey Jacobson from Public VR, Boston, USA; Prof. Nicole Kraemer from the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany; Prof. Valerie Shute from the Florida State University,USA; Prof. Michael Gardner of the University of Essex, England; Professor Eric Klopfer from MIT, USA; Prof. Mina Johnson-Glenborg, University of Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands; Dr. Bertrand Schneider from Harvard University; Prof. Mingquan Zhou (representative of Dr. Zhiying Nian) and Dean Dejian Liu and Ronghuai Huang of Smart Learning Institute of BNU. All articles and related researches received the attention of experts and scholars and sparked a heated discussion. The final results would be published in 2017 as one of the Smart Computing and Intelligence series of Spirnger.
        From China to the United States, from Beijing Normal University to Harvard University, the collision of sparks between the top universities in China and the United States in this symposium further shows that VR / AR, community and life-long learning will become the hot topic of education in the next few years. It is believed that this conference will effectively promote cooperation and development in the international VR field and jointly promote the role of VR in changing the current situation of global education.