Mr. Funso Falade visited XuetangX's Head Office where he met Dr. Nie Fenghua and the company Vice President Zhang Bo. Mr. Nie said, 'XuetangX will gradually build 4 to 5 platforms in Africa. We hope to introduce MOOC courses from Lagos University so that Chinese learners can have a better understanding of the history and the culture of Africa.'
XuetangX is an MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) Chinese Education company, founded in 2013 by the Tsinghua University under the supervision of the China Ministry of Education. It has seven million Chinese students registered on their website where it offers them 1,000 online courses supported by first class Chinese and foreign Universities.
The platform is very easy to use. The teachers upload courses in the MOOC format (including videos, assessments, teaching materials, etc.). Students can watch videos and do assignments anywhere at any time and when they come back to classroom, the teacher normally explains some difficult key points using most of the time for practices and discussion.
Mr. Funso Falade expressed his gratitude for the platform launch. He actively encourages Lagos University faculties and students to utilize the platform in the teaching process. He also hopes that the Lagos University online education platform will become an Educational Hub in Africa.
During the celebration of the 'International Engineering Education Forum' Dr. Nie Fenghua, the Deputy Director of the China Ministry of Education Online Education Research Center, and the Chairman of XuetangX, together with Prof. Funso Falade, who is the Chairman of the African Engineering Education Association, jointly released the Lagos University Online Educational platform (www.unilag.xuetangx.com).
The Forum was co-organized by Chinese Academy of Engineering and Tsinghua University, with the help of the UNESCO International Engineering Education Center (ICEE).The ICEE event was attended by important leaders of the education sector in China and other countries.
The releasing of Lagos University online education platform will transport global high-quality online educational resources to Africa, promoting the development of engineering education in Africa. At present, the English version of the platform will provide 16 courses.