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Tuesday, 28 April 2020

Huawei pledges more resources to support online education

Wu Lintuo, Director of Education Partnership, Talent Ecosystem Development Department, Huawei, announced new measures for Huawei Academies around the world during COVID-19 in expectation of some 50,000 students being trained through online self-learning, courses, and classes.

Speaking at a webinar for online higher education, he shared that a total of US$5 million from the Huawei ICT Academy Development Incentive Fund (ADIF) will be provided to partner colleges for activities such as online courses, online training, and online experiments.

More than 130 massive open online course (MOOC) resources will also be provided, covering topics such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, 5G, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

In addition, more than 100 online Train the Trainer (TTT) sessions will be provided from April to December. Huawei expects over 1,500 teachers to be trained through TTTs.

The move tied in with the thoughts of Svetlana Knyazeva, an expert at UNESCO IITE, who suggested during the webinar that universities, enterprises, and educational organisations should open up learning resources, and produce and share MOOCs to help more educational institutions with online education.

"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 minimise learning disruption for students at home." said Bradd Feng, Director of Huawei's Talent Ecosystem Development Department.

The webinar, a part of Huawei's Learn ON Program, was jointly organised by Huawei and its partners including UNESCO IITE and UNESCO-ICHEI on 11 April. Leaders and experts from enterprises and universities around the world shared their experiences in developing online education schemes and organising online learning, as well as using HUAWEI CLOUD WeLink in online teaching. They also provided suggestions on mental health management for students and teachers.

Huawei said that it is willing to share online education experience with universities and educational organisations. It will increase investments, enhance digital resource construction, and promote education digitalisation to ensure the accessibility of high-quality education.

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 organisations, civil society, and enterprises are engaged to ensure that #LearningNeverStops. As one of the Coalition members, Huawei has been dedicated to bringing the benefits of technology to everyone.

The company developed TECH4ALL, a long-term, digital inclusion initiative for using technology for good. Accessibility of quality education is a significant TECH4ALL goal. In response to UNESCO's invitation, Huawei launched the Learn ON Program with global partners, using ICT technologies to make good education accessible for various groups during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Zhan Tao, Director of UNESCO IITE said, "As an integral part of UNESCO, IITE is working closely with partners across the globe under the initiative Combat COVID-19: Keep Learning Together, We Are on the Move! Integral to the initiative is sharing experience, best practices, and resources to ensure that our collective efforts are effective and reach as far and wide as possible. Let’s continue working together to support millions of students, teachers and parents in needs with passion, innovation and collective strength."

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