The institute offers online lectures from many universities and online course providers across Indonesia. One of its consumers is Universitas Terbuka (UT), or Indonesia Open University, which is renowned for revolutionizing online learning.

In collaboration with Beijing-based Tsinghua University and its online learning platform XuetangX, UT held a symposium on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, to kick off its second phase. The Symposium on Digital Transformation, Leading the Change in Higher Education included a signing ceremony for a collaboration agreement between XuetangX and ICE Institute on developing quality online education, with their respective representatives Dr. Wang Xiaoxiao, Director of the Online Education Center at Tsinghua University, and Prof. Ojat Darojat, M.Bus., Ph.D., Rector of UT, signing the agreement.

Tsinghua University and XuetangX have both been involved with the ICE Institute program since 2022, including exchanging courses, developing joint courses, exchanging experts and joint training workshops. Through this collaboration, they aim to ensure that every student has the opportunity to access global education to expand their worldview.

The momentous occasion was also attended by Prof. Nizam, Director of Higher Education, Research and Technology at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, Mr. Noah Yarrow, Senior Education Specialist at the World Bank, and Mr. Chen Wei, Director of XuetangX, as well as representatives from various universities in China and Thailand. Mr. Song Yi, Deputy Director of the Department of Higher Education at the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, spoke at the symposium in a prerecorded video.

The presentation in the first of three sessions at the symposium covered a variety of topics, from the development and innovation of online education platforms to reforming teaching models and upgrading government systems for the digital development of higher education, and to improving teachers’ digital skills and literacy.

“We know that in this era and Industry 4.0, it is very important for us to integrate advanced technology in education; not only in education, but [also] the learning process,” said Prof. Ojat.

“So, it is very important for us to have collaboration, like today between Universitas Terbuka, the ICE Institute, Tsinghua University and XuetangX to provide learners in Indonesia to have access to good quality education,” he said.

Ojat told participants that the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) needed to be highlighted, as students and educators might not speak the same language. He also expressed his belief that the XuetangX-ICE Institute program had the potential to lay the foundation for a future of multilateral cooperation toward building a global community.

“It was also our great honor to accept the invitation to work together a year ago. And we are happy to see that today, we have deepened the cooperation together,” said Dr. Wang of Tsinghua University.

“Actually, what we have done in China, we have [a] very similar national context. We also have remote areas [with large] populations that cannot access quality educational resources, and that is a reason for the Ministry of Education in China to adopt the online education. We call it the National Digital Education to help the remote areas’ students, learners, to access quality recourses from the high-ranking universities,” she added.

Dr. Wang went on to say that she was excited to offer courses from UT and other Indonesian universities to Chinese students.

Meanwhile, UT revealed that 10,000 students had enrolled in the Indonesian program, though it was now open to the public and was not exclusive to current students.

Students seeking course credits must first obtain permission from the institution where they are enrolled.

However, as explained by Hanqin Qiu, dean and distinguished professor of international tourism at the International School of Cultural Tourism (ISCT) at Hangzhou City University, all joint courses offered credits automatically through the worldwide credit recognition system.

“In my college, we offer courses in global tourism. I think it’ll be very interesting if we can build this course together by inviting leading scholars and leading industry leaders [to come] to the student platform to join me in broadcasting this course,” she said.

“Other than the content we [have] already built, I have this 1+1 model, meaning I will build the concept first with my colleagues and then second, we will invite leading scholars and industry leaders. That is the model we have for local industry to embrace the tourism industry globally, together,” Qiu added, emphasizing how the course could contribute to tourism in both China and Indonesia.

She also said she was interested in offline experiences through exchange programs for students who wanted to broaden their perspective.

In line with this, UT is launching an international exchange program for cross-cultural understanding next year to provide off-campus learning experiences.