School of Information Technology in Education has a long history and solid strength. In 1975, the Research Centre for Modern Educational Technology was formally established. In 1983, Department of Electronic Education was set up. In 2002, it was developed into School of Information Technology in Education.
Educational Technology was set up in 1983. It has been the first undergraduate major related to educational technology since the founding of the People's Republic of China. In 2007, it was designated as the premier characteristic major of educational technology in higher education by the Ministry of Education of China, and in 2019, our undergraduate major was selected as a national-level first-class undergraduate major development site. In 1996, Educational Technology became one of the key disciplines listed in the national “211 Project”. It was authorized to grant the doctoral degree in 1998 and listed in national key disciplines in 2002. In 2003, the postdoctoral scientific research mobile station for educational technology was built. Then a complete system for fostering talents from bachelor's, master's, doctoral degrees to postdoctoral mobile stations has formed.
The history of journalism and communication discipline can be traced back to the 1980s. In 1982, Schramm, an American scholar and "authority on mass communications" who was the American master of communication studies, chose South China Normal University as his first stop to give lectures when he firstly visited mainland China. In 1983, film and television education was added in electronic education which was firstly set up by SCNU after the founding of the People's Republic of China. In 2001, our school established China's first undergraduate major of communication studies. In 2002, the first undergraduate major of photography was set up in Guangdong. In 2008, the undergraduate major of journalism was built. It became one of the national first-class undergraduate major”construction site. Our school was authorized to grant the master's degree in communication studies in 2005 and in journalism and communication in 2013. In 2019, it was approved to grant the master's degree of a first-level discipline for journalism and communication studies, and in 2022, master's degree of the editing and publishing was entitled to our school.
The faculty comprises 100 members, among whom are 69 dedicated full-time instructors,consisting of 37 teachers in the Department of Educational Technology and 32 in the Department of Journalism and Communication. There are 15 full-time doctoral supervisors, 24 professors, and 24 associate professors, among whom 56 granted with doctoral degrees. The school houses each member of the Assessment Groups for Education Discipline of the Fifth to Eighth Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council; one deputy director of the Teaching Guiding Committee for Educational Technology of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education of China from 2001 to 2006; one director and one secretary-general of the Teaching Guiding Committee for Educational Technology of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education of China from 2006 to 2013; one member of the Teaching Guiding Committee for Educational Technology and Methods of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education of China and one deputy director of the Teaching Guiding Subcommittee for Educational Technology from 2013 to 2017; one deputy director and one secretary-general of the Teaching Guiding Subcommittee for Educational Technology of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education of China from 2018 to 2023; one secretary-general and three members of the first Teaching Guiding Committee for Basic Education of the Ministry of Education of China. The school is home to one national teaching team, one prominent teacher under the Ten Thousand Talent Program, one model teacher known nationwide, one outstanding young talent in philosophy and social sciences under the Ten Thousand Talent Program, one outstanding young and middle-aged expert in ethnic studies of the third National Ethnic Affairs Commission, two outstanding talents of the Ministry of Education of China in the New Century, four prominent teachers of Higher Education in Guangdong, one prominent teacher under the Ten Thousand Talent Program in Guangdong, one Distinguished Professor under Chutian Scholar Program, two young professors under Pearl River Scholar Program, and seven professors granted with the special government allowance of the State Council.
The school has witnessed great achievements in cultivating talents. Since the launching of the National Teaching Achievement Awards in 1989, our institution has collected 10 awards in this field over 9 consecutive sessions. In 2007, it was approved to build the first national teaching experimental demonstration center for information communication in Guangdong Province. In 2022, it was approved to set up a national virtual teaching and research room (Teaching and research room to improve teachers’ intelligent education literacy). Since the founding of national quality courses in 2003, our school has developed 7 national quality courses and 15 national first-class courses. In the past five years, students have won 3 awards in "Challenge Cup" National College Student Extracurricular Academic and Technological Works Competition and 1 award in China International College Students’ Innovation Competition(CICSIC) at national level, 14 awards in "Challenge Cup" competition and 4 awards in CICSIC at provincial level. A total of 5 students won the first prize, 4 students won the second prize, and 3 students won the third prize in the national "Tian Jiabing" Graduate Teaching Skills Competition. In recent years, students have won more than 300 national awards in various competitions.
The school boasts a number of high-level scientific research social service (think tank) platforms and scientific research platforms. Social service (think tank) platforms include the South China Normal University Public Opinion and Social Governance Research Institute, ; a Key Laboratory of the Press and Publication Industry for Science and Technology and Standards of the State Administration of Press and Publication: Joint Laboratory for AR+ Digital Publication in Education; an Innovation Training Platform for promoting Primary and Secondary School Teachers' Information Technology Application Ability of the Ministry of Education (counterpart support to Linzhi, Tibet); Strategic alliance of technological innovation in China's education information industry; National Multimedia Teaching Software Production and Training Base, 3 Postdoctoral Innovation Practice Bases in Guangdong. Scientific research platforms include Guangdong Technology Research Center for Cloud Engineering in Education (Department of Science and Technology), Guangdong Technology Research Center for Smart Learning Engineering (Department of Science and Technology), Guangdong Technology Research Center for Education Assessment and Big Data Engineering (Department of Science and Technology), Key Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence and Smart Education (Key Laboratory for Humanities and Social Sciences in Guangdong), Guangdong Technology Research Center of higher education for Computer Network and Information Engineering (Department of Education), Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Joint Laboratory for Education Big Data (Department of Education), Key Research Base for Humanities and Social Sciences of higher education in Guangdong: Research Center for Information Communication and Cultural Creative Industry, Key Research Base for Humanities and Social Sciences in Guangzhou: Research Center for New Media and Cultural Creative Industry.
The school adheres to the principle of "taking discipline construction as the foundation, talent cultivation as the goal, and reform and innovation as the driving force"; insists on the combination of "production, learning and research", and updating talent cultivation models and cultivation of high-quality compound talents with both theoretical and practical abilities. Inspired by the spirit of school motto of "unity, hard work, truth-seeking and innovation", all faculty and staff should strive to accelerate construction of a future as a teaching and research school which is influencial at home and abroad.
On October 15, 1996, Li Lanqing, the Vice Premier of the State Council, and Lu Zhonghe, then Vice Governor of Guangdong Province, visited our school, accompanied by Professor Li Yunlin and Professor Li Kedong, the founders of the school.
On March 26, 2004, Zhang Dejiang, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of Guangdong Provincial Committee of the CPC (currently serving as a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Chairman of the National People's Congress), visited our school to provide guidance.
In November 2000, a professor from the Department of Educational Technology went to the Macau Workers' Children School to provide guidance on information technology education, he was welcomed by Chief Executive of Macau Mr. Edmund Ho Hau Wah.
In May 2016, Liu Yunshan (1st from right), a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, Liu Yandong (2nd from left), a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, Hu Chunhua (3rd from left), a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the CPC, Zhu Xiaodan (4th from left), Governor of Guangdong Province, Huang Kunming (5th from left), Executive Vice Minister of the Publicity Department of the CPC and Director of Office of the Central Guidance Commission on Building Spiritual Civilization, and Yuan Guiren (6th from left), Minister of Education, attended the "Youth Studio" event at the School of Information Technology in Education.
Updated in: October, 2024