Guangdong college takes global approach to education

Guangdong AIB Polytechnic, a public full-time technical college in Guangzhou, is reforming its teaching methodology to make its market-related majors more globalized and improve its core competitiveness.

Professor Li Jinbao, who leads the reform program, said the college aims to create a new model for vocational education that is innovative and foster a group of faculties with rich vocational experience.

Kong Tao, associate professor of marketing and a major member of the reform program, has organized an online open course focusing on Guangdong province's business environment, one of the nation's most developed areas.

The online open course provides 391 curricular resources, including 166 micro lectures and 91 audio lessons, and has been used by more than 800 teachers and students in 29 universities in countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, according to the college. They have been viewed about 235,000 times accumulatively.

In fact, the Marketing Department of Guangdong AIB Polytechnic spent 13 years producing and gradually improving the online open course. The contents cover many aspects of the province, including its foreign trade; natural environment; cultural environment; geographic location and characteristics; historical position and influence; the business environment of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area; the business environment of the coastal economic belt of Guangdong; analysis on the development of the province's strategic and emerging industries; and the exchanges and cooperation of Guangdong with the countries along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

The overseas promotion of the course has been an active exploration of the college's marketing department to look for cooperation and complementary development with the BRI countries and regions in terms of bilingual teaching, curricular recourses and teacher training.