Collaboration with Chinese Institutions
The International Office arranged a visit to China in 2004 to search for partners. The purpose of this visit was to meet Chinese colleagues and look for partners for different kinds of collaboration. Since then the International Office has worked towards finalizing bilateral agreements with institutions of interest to OsloUniversityCollege. The agreements made are made valid for an initial period of five years. OsloUniversityCollege will not use agents in China in search for more partners.
The faculties at OUC are now working out more detailed plans for collaboration with the various institutions in China. For our academic staff, collaboration with China represents a new challenge. This innovative work will of necessity mainly be a project for staff with special interest in this field.
Communication with Chinese colleagues is demanding in a different way from what we are used to. We will need time to develop a strong network for the future. The familiar codes that we have used successfully with European/western partners are not necessarily transferable to China. In addition, our Chinese colleagues are not accustomed to Norwegian conduct. The staff at OUC gives priority to making serious attempts to establish good contact on an equal and reciprocal basis with our partners in China. Quality assurance is of prime importance for both the Chinese institutions and OsloUniversityCollege.
At Chinese institutions the international coordinators handle the development and implementation of agreements in close cooperation with the administration and the academic staff. The International Office at OUC will therefore continue to assist our faculties in this process and has also started to build an internal China network at OUC.
The first meeting where future exchange students to China could meet those who had recently returned was held on 2 June. Pre-departure preparations, the students’ projects and future challenges for the student exchange scheme with China were among the issues addressed. A proposed pre-departure seminar for students going to China was also regarded as a valuable asset. The first seminar is to be offered to the outgoing students in 2006.Several faculties plan to invite representatives from our partners to a seminar/workshop in week 9, 2006
The Chinese institutions and OsloUniversityCollege are working to establish sustainable partnerships for the future. The Norwegian Embassy in Beijing, the Ministry of Education in Beijing (represented by Director Song Lijun) and the First Secretary in Education at the Embassy of the PeoplesRepublic of China in Oslo all follow our dialogue with China closely. We have been offered their assistance when necessary in the process of building a network of partnerships.
It is important for OsloUniversityCollege to draw up a plan of action for a period of five years to enable us to develop collaboration with our Chinese partners on exchanging students and staff, cooperative research, internships, joint seminars/workshops and curriculum development.
Financing will be a major challenge in the process of establishing a future cooperation in China. In addition to employing its own means, OsloUniversityCollege must apply for funding from both the government and appropriate organisations. Our Chinese partners have also expressed interest in supporting the financing of collaboration.
Oslo University College has signed agreements with several institutions:
1. University of Science and Technology, Beijing
2. Communication University of China, Beijing
3. University of International Business and Economics, Beijing
4. College of Art and Sciences of BeijingUnionUniversity
5. CapitalNormalUniversity, Beijing
6. PekingUniversityHealthScienceCenter, School of Public Health and Faculty of Nursing
7. China-JapanFriendshipHospital, Beijing
8. Chinese Rehabilitation Research Center/Disabled Persons Federation, Beijing
9. Remnin University of China, Beijing
10. ShanghaiSecondMedicalUniversity, ShanghaiInternationalSchool of Nursing
11. Putou District Education Bureau, Zhoushan
12. NanjingUniversity
13. BeijingNormalUniversity, Educational TechnologyCollege
The agreements that have been formed have resulted in the following actions:
University of Science and Technology
This university has received an offer to send two Chinese students to the Master programme in Network and System Administration at the Faculty of Engineering, OUC. The Faculty of Engineering plans to intensify the work of making a sustainable cooperation with the University of Science and Technology for the future regarding research and an exchange scheme. A visit from the Faculty of Engineering to this university is planned for December 2005.
Communication University of China
The Vice-President of Oslo University College visited this institution in September 2004 and gave a speech at the 2nd International Forum of Female Presidents in Beijing.
A group of students and a professor from the Faculty of Education OUC went to this university in March 2005. The main goal of this seven-week project was to explore the future possibilities for project studies for students, i.e. it constituted a trial project intended to set the future frameworks. The students attended a course in Chinese language and culture, history and the mass media. From the Norwegian side, lectures on Norwegian culture, the education system and the mass media were given by the professor and the students in Beijing and Nanjing. The students worked on a project in the field of film, media and communication. As part of the project, an excursion to south-west China with focus on environmental issues was arranged.
The experiences and insights from this first project will be useful when planning a future collaboration between the Communication University of China and OUC. The Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Journalism, Library and Information Science have also expressed their interest in cooperating with this university. Another potential partner may be BeijingFilmAcademy. Environmental issues and environmental journalism are possible subjects of interest.
University of International Business and Economics
The final discussion, the exchange of mutual information and the signing of an agreement will be effectuated this year. Students from OUC have expressed great interest in a study period in Beijing.
College of Art and Sciences of Beijing Union University
A delegation from the College of Art and Sciences of Beijing Union University visited OUC in January 2005. The Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Health Sciences (Bachelor Programme of Medical Laboratory Sciences) have been invited to Beijing for a return visit. One university teacher from the College of Art and Sciences of Beijing Union University has expressed a great interest in studying in Oslo at the Faculty of Health Sciences in the Master Programme in Medical Laboratory Science in the future.
CapitalNormalUniversity
An agreement with CapitalNormalUniversity allows Norwegian students from the Faculty of Education to do their practical training in China 2005/2006.The main goal is currently to devise a plan for student and staff exchange, starting with student exchange in 2006.
Peking University Health Science Center, Faculty of Nursing
The Dean and Vice-Dean visited OUC in December 2004 to discuss a possible cooperation within the fields of intensive care, cancer and anaesthetics. They also expressed great interest in the course “Care for the ageing and people with chronic illnesses” and would like to send two teachers to attend the course in spring 2006. The Faculty of Nursing, represented by the Dean, the Faculty Director and Head of Studies, went to Beijing in September 2005 for a follow-up discussion of future actions. It seems that the exchange of students and staff, the development of curriculum and the planning of research projects are the most interesting fields of collaboration. Twelve students will go for a three-month stay in the autumn of 2006 at PekingUniversity, combined with a period of practice at the Chinese-JapanFriendshipHospital. This plan will be discussed when two representatives from OUC visit Beijing in desember.Two teachers would like to follow the course “Care for the ageing” in spring 2006. The current plan is also to invite representatives from the Center to a seminar/workshop on rehabilitation in March 2006.
The Faculty of Health Sciences, OUC, has expressed an interest in collaborating with the School of Public Health.
China-Japan Friendship Hospital
This institution has expressed great interest in student and staff exchange with OUC, and the Norwegian delegation to Beijing in September 2005 discussed the potential for further action from the Faculty of Nursing and the Faculty of Health Sciences involving cooperation with this hospital. One nurse and two doctors from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) wish to visit Oslo in spring 2006, while the exchange of six students from the Faculty of Nursing, OUC will start in autumn 2006. The current plan is also to invite representatives from the hospital to a seminar/workshop on rehabilitation in March 2006.
China Rehabilitation Research Center/China Disabled Persons Federation
The Center has sent one quota student to the Faculty of Health Sciences this autumn and this student will join the Master Program in Rehabilitation Science in 2006.The Faculty of Health Sciences visited the Center in April 2005 to discuss a future fruitful exchange programme and possibilities for research collaboration. The current plan is also to invite representatives from the Center to a seminar/workshop on rehabilitation in March 2006.
Remnin University of China
The Faculty of Business, Public Administration and Social Work has collaborated with this university for considerable time. The focus is now on compiling a plan for the exchange of students and identifying possibilities for research collaboration. This autumn five students have been at RemninUniversity and have conducted a project on the situation of elderly people in China. This project may be followed up by a plan for research in this field as a joint collaboration between the staff at both institutions.
Shanghai Second Medical University
Three representatives from Shanghai were invited to OUC in December 2004 to discuss an exchange programme. The international coordinator visited Shanghai in June 2005 to prepare for the placement of the six students that are doing their practical training for three months this autumn. The Dean, Faculty Director and Head of Studies visited the MedicalUniversity in September 2005 to discuss the implementation of the agreement between the two faculties. The result of these talks is that two teachers will visit Shanghai this autumn and two teachers and two students from Shanghai will participate in the course “Caring for the ageing and people with chronic illnesses”. Two representatives from OUC visit Shanghai and give lectures in in desember 2005.In the autumn of 2006,15 Norwegian students will go to Shanghai for a three-month practice period. The current plan is also to invite representatives from the University to a seminar/workshop on rehabilitation in March 2006.
Putuo District Education Bureau
This project was initiated in 2004 and has resulted in a comprehensive programme which consists of teacher exchange, teaching practice for OUC students of English, and in-service workshops for teachers, with focus on oral English. Four candidates from the Faculty of Education have been engaged as English teacher volunteers during 2004-2005, giving classes in spoken English. Two representatives from OUC met local educational authorities and teachers in January 2005. They also gave lectures on the Norwegian education system and the role of English in Norwegian schools and met the Norwegian teachers who have been working in the community since autumn 2004. In August 2005 the two lecturers offered the first of three planned fluency workshops for Chinese teachers of English in the Putuo District. The purpose of the visit in August was also to consolidate our collaboration and outline new cooperation agreements for sending out Norwegian English teachers and students in the future. One of the agreements allows six Norwegian students of English to do their practical training in Putuo in January 2006. In October 2005 the project was awarded support from the Research Council of Norway to initiate bilateral research collaboration.
Contact person: Assistant Professor Mona Evelyn Flognfeld, Department of English, Faculty of Education.
NanjingUniversity
NanjingUniversity will send two students to the Faculty of Fine Art and Drama at OUC for the “Acting with masks” programme in spring 2006. There is also interest from the Faculty of Engineering to establish a closer contact and discuss collaboration on research. .A representative from this university visited OUC in November for further discussion on the subject of exchange and research.
Additional projects at OsloUniversityCollege:
In addition to the work that has been performed during the past two years to establish new partner agreements in China, OUC is also carrying out other projects there. These include:
City Development and Library Service
Library services to local communities in a digital age - a common challenge
Shanghai Library, Deichmanske Bibliotek in Oslo and the Faculty of Journalism, Library and Information Science, OsloUniversityCollege
Contacts: Dean Øyvind Frisvold, Professor Ragnar Audunson and Assistant Professor Ragnar Nordli
Through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, OsloUniversityCollege has been offered a research grant for a three-year period to study the library services. Cooperation agreements are in place between the City of Oslo and the City of Shanghai, and between OsloUniversityCollege and the City of Oslo. Under the auspices of these agreements, and with partial funding from the research grant, we suggest the following project:
Over the next two to three years, a series of annual seminars with representatives of the two libraries, and with Oslo University College as a research partner, will be held with the purpose of exchanging experience and pooling ideas related to the planning and
development of locality-based library services with particular focus on the development of digital services. OsloUniversityCollege will coordinate the programme and assist in the practical running of the seminars.
Comparative E-learning study
PekingUniversity and OsloUniversityCollege
Contacts: Assistant Professor Cui Guangzou, Ubiquitous Computing Library, and Assistant Professor Helge Høivik, OsloUniversityCollege ( http://pedit.hio.no/pedit/appl/cels/ )
The Centre for Educational Research and Development at OsloUniversityCollege contributes to the quality of the institution’s teaching, learning, research and development processes. The centre initiates and participates in internal, national and international collaborative projects, organizes academic development programmes and carries out research projects.
As part of our international commitment we cooperate with other academics and institutions to build frameworks for engagements related to research, learning and general cultural transfer between countries on several levels of the educational system. To some extent this work embraces practices conducted in professional domains other than education.
A current example is a mixed course in the end-user development of e-learning solutions with participants from China, Poland, Norway and Italy with short (one-week) venues in China (Sanya), Poland (Torun) and Norway (Oslo). Apart from these meetings the entire course is conducted online. The course is to run for one full year and started on 15 October 2005. The website, which is under development, is available at http://pedit.hio.no/~fragment/.
We are happy to extend our invitation to Chinese partners to work with us on the e-learning dimension of Chinese-Norwegian cooperation on education, research and development. From August 2005 we have been developing links to the ModernEducationTechnologyCenter at PekingUniversity, the School of Educational Technology, BeijingNormalUniversity and other institutions.
The importance of local and regional co-benefits to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries
Taiyan Technical University, Shanxi Province
Contacts: Professor Knut L. Seip, Dr.stud. Heidi Staff Mestl and Professor Jingua Fang
The development of an integrated education of social workers
ChinaCollege of Civil Affairs, RemninUniversity of China and OsloUniversityCollege
Contacts: Mr. Zou Xueyin, Ms. Sui Yujie and School of Social Work, Faculty of Business, Social Work and Public Administration, OsloUniversityCollege
Interaction in student-student network
To be started.
Contact: Assistant Professor Simon Michelet
Norwegian and Chinese teacher training
Contact: Assistant Professor Froydis Oma Ohnstad
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November 2005
Anne Beate Aubert – AnneBeate.Aubert@hio.no
Senior Adviser
Institutional Coordinator for agreements with China
International Office, Oslo University College, Norway