Starting from the morning, many alumni stepped into the campus of SCNU after a long time. Facing the brand-new School of Information Technology in Education, they signed in with great excitement. In the following tea party and two alumni salons, the alumni talked about the past with teachers and students. Then, the 40th Anniversary Conference opened in the afternoon.
① Introduction of Guests
Guests attending the conference were: Li Chuanjiang, member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of the University and Vice President of the University, Prof. Li Yunlin, Prof. Li Kedong, and Prof. Xu Fuyin of the Academy, Wang Zuodan, member of the CPPCC of Guangdong Province and vice chairman of the Supervision and Judicial Committee of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Guangdong Province, Prof. Hu Qintai, member of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Party Committee of Guangdong Polytechnic University, Prof. Wu Zhongjiang, Principal of Sanjiang College, and Prof. Guo Shaoqing, Director of the Institute of Intelligent Education of Northwest Normal University and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Electrochemical Education Research; Wang Wei, Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Educational Technology of Northwest Normal University; Professor Guo Jiong, Dean of the School of Educational Technology of Northwest Normal University; Professor Yu Shuyu, Vice Dean of the School of Educational Technology of Northwest Normal University; Professor He Xiangchun, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Educational Technology of Northwest Normal University; Mr. Junwen Ou, Founder and Chief Advisor of Ouwei Ya Electronic Technology Co. Ltd., Prof. Li Jiahou from the College of Education of Shanghai Normal University, and other supportive alumni. The conference was presided over by the dean of the school Mr. Zhang Xuebo, and the secretary of the college, Mr. Ye Xin, read out the congratulatory message.
② School Leaders' Speech
At the beginning of the meeting, Li Chuanjiang, member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Vice President of South China Normal University (SCNU), delivered a speech. He expressed his congratulations on the 40th anniversary of the School of Information Technology in Education.
Reviewing the glorious history of forty years, Li Chuanjiang said, in 1983, Prof. Li Yunlin and Prof. Li Kedong co-founded the first undergraduate major of electronic education in China combined with the industry-academia-research. Nowadays, the school has witnessed the synergistic development of multidisciplinary development. The school is good at pioneering and forging ahead with a reasonable structure of faculty team and distinctive characteristics of disciplines. It has become the center of cultivating high-level talents with rich achievements in teaching and research. Forty years' hard work has nourished plenty of fruits.
Li Chuanjiang highly affirmed the achievements of the College. He emphasized that the school has always adhered to the fundamental task of cultivating people with moral character, adhering to the motto of “unity, hard work, truthfulness and innovation”. The school has made remarkable achievements in building a first-class faculty, offering high-quality specialized courses, cultivating students' scientific and theoretical innovation ability, insisting on diversified cooperation and exchange, and serving the high-quality development of society and economy.
Standing at the new historical starting point, Li Chuanjiang expressed his great expectations for the future development of the school. He pointed out that the school should continue to give full play to the excellent tradition of entrepreneurship from people dedicated to electronic education, closely focusing on national and local development strategies, unswervingly taking the road of connotative development, striving to improve the quality of education and teaching, and constantly improving the level and influence of scientific research, in order to cultivate more excellent talents.
On behalf of the university, Li Chuanjiang also expressed his sincere thanks and heartfelt wishes to the participants.
③ Speech of Brother Institutions
Afterwards, Guo Jiong, representative of brother institutions and dean of the School of Educational Technology of Northwest Normal University, delivered a speech. He expressed his warm congratulations to the School of Information Technology in Education of South China Normal University on its 40th anniversary. He talked about how the School of Information Technology in Education has brought a lot of memories and wealth to educational technologists over the past forty years. SCNU was dedicated to the establishment of China's first undergraduate major in educational technology, the establishment of China's first national quality course in educational technology, the first batch of national first-class undergraduate courses, as well as a large number of influential academic works at home and abroad.
Guo Jiong pointed out that, with forty years of passing on the torch, the school has made remarkable achievements in talent cultivation, scientific research and social service, and shaped the distinctive characteristics and prosperity of the discipline. In addition, He emphasized that the seniors of the school are the valuable wealth for professors in electronic education nationally. Finally, Guo Jiong also expressed his best wishes for the future of the school. He wished the school to create another brilliant future in its new journey, and also wished that the friendship between the school and the School of Educational Technology of Northwest Normal University would last for a long time.
④ Speech of the Founders of School
Prof. Li Yunlin and Prof. Li Kedong, the founders of school, talked about the two themes of Synergy Theory and “100 Days”， describing their origins and deep emotions with the school. Prof. Li Yunlin summarized the development law of the school with the systematic method of the synergy theory, and showed the decades of road that he accompanied the school with a new perspective. The development of the school is in line with the trend of the times, combined with the national policy, Prof. Li Yunlin actively responded to the needs of the national development, fully released the innovative vitality, reformed the education policy, developed the electronic education, and then gradually formed the school. While the construction of the discipline is moving forward steadily, Prof. Li Yunlin has gradually improved the theoretical system of the discipline of electronic education and the cultivation mode of educational technology, ploughed deeply into informatization education, and is still obsessed with academics after his retirement, and put forward a new direction for the development of collaborative education and informatization education.
Prof. Li Kedong used old photos as a guide, recalled several important days in the development of the school, and described four aspects of his experience in developing the work of electronic education: firstly, the establishment of a complete personnel training system and the creation of national key disciplines; secondly, the school's in-depth teaching reforms have won the National Excellent Teaching Achievement Award successively; thirdly, the construction of advanced scientific research platforms; and fourthly, the establishment of international academic research platforms, from which he demonstrated the breakthroughs in the construction of academic disciplines and the steady improvement of the academic reputation.
⑤ Alumni Speech
Alumni came out of the school and returned from different places, they were eager for the future and grateful to the school when they were separated. At the beginning of the conference, alumni from all over the country came in to review the development of the school and their time in school in the speeches of the leaders of the school and SCNU. Subsequently, representatives of the alumni, including Prof. Hu Qintai, member of the Guangdong Provincial Committee and Secretary of the Party Committee of Guangdong University of Technology, Huang Shaohong, Deputy Director of the Dongguan News Department of Nanfang Daily Newspaper and News Director, Ou Junwen, Founder and Chief Advisor of Ovia Electronic Technology Co., Ltd, Liu Xiangwu, a full senior teacher at the First High School of Shunde District, Zheng Jiezhao, Principal of Macao Labor Middle School, and Zhu Jiang from Zhongshan Alumni Fellowship, made speeches respectively. From the depths of memory, they recounted the bits and pieces of the study years. After graduation, they still constantly get forward momentum from the school; looking to the future, they are always ready to devote themselves to the development of the school.
“The reason why a university to be is not because it has many tall buildings and big schools, but because there are masters inside the university”. In their speeches, they expressed their thanks to their teachers, just like the high mountains will not be moved, and the blue water will flow for a long time. In their hearts, if the alumni are compared to the stars continuing to shine in various fields, then the school is like the moon embracing the stars in the sky, and constantly let the stars of SCNU sprinkle every scene and corner, supporting everyone to continue to forge ahead. Forty years of time, the school has worked hard and made brilliant achievements.
⑥ Speech by Teacher and Student Representatives
Luo Shiting, a new staff in 2023, has a special relationship with the School of Information Technology in Education. In 1988, her aunt became a faculty member of the Department of Electronic Education at SCNU, and on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of SCNU and the 40th anniversary of the school, she came to the school and became a faculty member of the Department of Journalism and Communication. She believes that this opportunity was given by the times and the national demand for the development of educational technology and information dissemination. At the same time, the opportunity of the times has also given the school the motivation to carry reform and move forward, and generations of teachers have seized the opportunity to make the school develop into what it is today.
Zhong Chaocheng, the student representative of the class of 2020, expressed his heartfelt blessings and thanks to SCNU and the school. He thanked all the teachers for their hard work and support, and said that he would not forget his original intention and strive to become a inter-disciplinary talent with ideals and responsibilities, and contribute to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Finally, He wishes the college to create a new chapter of innovation and development, and achieve greater progress.
