On 13 December, 2025, the Sixth National Smart Education Innovation Conference and the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Consortium of Online Open Course Alliance of Chinese Universities‌‌ were successfully held in Wuhan. The conference, themed “Smart MOOCs Leading a New Paradigm for AI-Powered Course Development”, explored emerging trends in the construction, application, and management of intelligent MOOCs, as well as the transformations shaping the future of education. The event attracted approximately 600 participants from 28 MOOC alliances across the country, along with representatives from diverse universities and enterprises.

The conference was hosted by the Consortium of Online Open Course Alliance and co-organized by Harbin Institute of Technology (Weihai), Hubei University, the MOOC Alliance for Computer Education in Higher Education, and Central China Normal University, with support from the China Education All Media (Beijing) Cultural Media Co., Ltd. and the Community of Hubei’s University Courses Online.

During the conference, Professor Zongkai Yang delivered a keynote address titled “Higher Education in the AI Era: Transformation and Development”. He highlighted that the intelligent era is reshaping the underlying logic of education and reconstructing the educational ecosystem. He noted that in the intelligent era, education must become competence-oriented and characterized by three key features: “interdisciplinary”, “integration”, and “hybrid”. Specifically, “interdisciplinary” refers to cross-disciplinary learning, cross-regional exchange, and cross-industry sharing; “integration” encompasses the integration of industry and education, the fusion of science and education, and the blending of virtual and physical environments; and “hybrid” denotes blended online and offline approaches, human-technology collaboration, and hybrid management and evaluation systems.

The conference also featured award ceremonies honoring exemplary cases in areas including “Smart Online Open Courses”, “Digital and Intelligent Technology-Enabled Course Development”, “Smart Courses and Smart Classrooms”, and “New Forms of Digital Teaching”. Professor Yang together with Professor Wenjian Jia, Vice Chair of the Executive Committee of the Consortium and President of Beijing Foreign Studies University, presented awards to the recipients of the “Smart Online Open Courses” and “Digital and Intelligent Technology-Enabled Course Development” categories.

Editor: Ruye LI

Reviewer: Xiaoxiao ZHU