To promote the innovative integration of intelligent technology and education and identify the promise of futures of education, BNU convened the Global Smart Education Conference 2020 (GSE2020) in conjunction with international organizations, universities and research institutions on 20th - 22rd August 2020. The theme of this conference is “AI and Futures of Education”.

GSE2020 is organized by Beijing Normal University and jointly hosted by Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University, China Institute of Education and Social Development, Collaborative Innovation Centre of Assessment for Basic Education Quality, and the National Engineering Research Center of Cyberlearning and Intelligent Technology. GSE2020 featured by 12 thematic forums. They are the Opening Ceremony & Forum on AI and the Futures of Education, Forum on the Futures of Education and Teachers' Capacity Building, Forum on Smart Education in 5G Era, Forum on Governance and Social Perspective for AI, Forum on AI and Big Data in Education, Forum on K12 Education in the Age of Intelligence, Forum on Open Educational Resources for Inclusive Education, Forum on The New Ecology of Regional Smart Education, Forum on Smart Village and Smart Social Development, Forum on International Science Education, Forum on ICT Promoting the Innovation and Development of Higher Education, Forum on Smart Learning and the Futures of Education & Closing Ceremony. Forum participants included government ministers, representatives of international organizations, and academic institutions. Experts and scholars from the fields of education and technology were also invited to discuss new theories, emerging technologies, latest achievements and trends in smart education, share relevant cases, build platforms for communication and establish alliances for cooperation. Altogether more than 140 Chinese and overseas speakers attended our conference. GSE2020 provided three participant modes, namely, live streaming, main venue and ZOOM meeting. The live streaming of the GSE2020 was watched by more than 3,000,000 viewers.

GSE2020 released Joint Project on Rethinking and Redesigning National Smart Education Strategy, National Training Plan for Informatization Capacity of Teachers in Serbia, China Mobile's 5G Smart Campus Cloud Platform, Interactive Book on Artificial Intelligence to Combat Pandemics Vivid Stories in Prevention and Control of COVID-19, Guidance on Providing Open and Distance Learning for Students with Disabilities during School Closures: Enhancing Inclusive Learning under COVID-19, 2019 White Paper on Internet Learning, 2019 Report on Internet Learning in Higher Education in China, VSE Primer: Concept, Technology, Architecture and Implementation of Virtual and Simulation Experiment, and 2020 Global Competition on Design for Future Education.