The integration of new technologies in education for deepening digital transformation is a matter of priority.
The emergence of new technologies, such as quantum computing, big data, and artificial intelligence, is transforming various sectors of human life, while also reshaping the organizational and service models of education. Intelligent technologies are emerging as a leading force in driving educational transformation, offering opportunities for accelerating progress towards achieving the sustainable development goals.
The Global Digital Compact, endorsed at the United Nations Future Summit, highlights the international community’s shared commitment to addressing the opportunities and challenges of digital technology for building an inclusive, open, fair, and secure digital future. As a follow up to the Global Digital Compact (2024), UNESCO and international partners have proposed six priorities for the digital transformation of education: i) coordination and leadership; ii) connectivity and infrastructure; iii) costs and sustainability; iv) capacity and culture; v) content and solutions and vi) data and evidence.
China has positioned the advancement of educational digitalization as a key component of educational modernization. This has evolved from the “3C” concept of connectivity first, content as the core, and collaboration as essential, to the “3I” actions of integration, intelligence, and internationalization. These actions are part of a broader strategy to advance the national digital education strategy, build a national smart education platform, and launch an international version. As a result, a new form of smart education has emerged, characterized by technology empowerment, green development, and open cooperation.
With the rapid pace of developments in technology, the education system is currently at a critical juncture, shifting from responding and adapting to external changes to proactively driving the transformation of education that is fit for the needs of contemporary realities. This shift requires us not only to focus on the direct application of intelligent technologies but also to understand the underlying logic of educational transformation, and cultivate talent that is ready and resilient shape the uncertain future. A key issue for the development of education in the new era is to recognize the need for a paradigm shift in the education and training ecosystem by harnessing the A key challenge for the development of education in this new era is recognizing the need for a paradigm shift in the education and training ecosystem, leveraging the tremendous potential of human-machine collaboration. This transformation will need to occur at all levels—policy, administration, the role of the teacher, pedagogy, assessment, student well-being, and opportunities for livelihoods—with a strong emphasis on fostering innovation, creativity, and talent development. Moving forward, it is essential to promote the ethical, responsible, and safe integration of technologies such as artificial intelligence into the educational ecosystem, ensuring that no one is left behind.
The integration of AI in education can foster new forms of human-machine collaborations.
The rapid development of generative AI, particularly pre-trained large language models (such as ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Grok, and others), has elevated the technological revolution to unprecedented levels. These AI models mark a historic inflection point in machine intelligence, not only accelerating the systemic transformation of educational paradigms but also providing a fresh impetus for redefining human-machine collaborative education. DeepSeek R1’s open-source strategy has lowered technological barriers, fostering an inclusive global environment that promotes free exploration and innovation among developers. This has catalyzed the creation of an “AI + education” ecosystem, characterized by openness, co-creation, and rapid iteration.
As generative AI evolves at an extraordinary pace, human-machine collaboration is set to become the ‘new normal’ in future work environments. To meet the societal demand for higher-order cognitive skills, innovation, and digital fluency, new models of knowledge generation and transmission are needed. This paradigm shift, driven by human-machine interactions, is poised to give rise to a transformative educational model.
With the advanced capabilities of large language models, intelligent agents will drive the evolution of multi-domain, human-machine “collaborative teaching.” This will facilitate bi-directional empowerment through human-machine “collaborative learning and decision-making,” creating a new ecosystem for smart education. The traditional “teacher-student” model will rapidly transform into a “teacher-student-machine” triad, fostering a multidimensional co-existence and interaction model known as “human-machine co-teaching.” For learners, the process will shift from passive knowledge absorption to active human-machine collaborative exploration, exemplifying “human-machine co-learning.”
Looking ahead, it is crucial to continually enhance the competencies and skills of both teachers and students, along with the digital leadership capabilities of educators and administrators. This includes establishing effective human-machine collaborative educational practices and developing technical, quality, and service standards for generative AI applications. These efforts will ensure the safe, efficient, and sustainable use of large models and intelligent agents in education.
Smart education is a shared strategic vision for achieving the Sustainable Development goals in education.
Smart education is a comprehensive approach that represents the future direction of educational transformation, driven by technological innovations. It is increasingly emerging as a shared strategic vision for countries to tackle the critical challenges of the digital era and advance the achievement of sustainable development goals in education. Often seen as an optimization of existing educational practices, smart education is frequently associated with terms such as “quality education” and “future education.”
As a concept that is continuously evolving, smart education not only reflects the dynamic nature of the educational ecosystem in response to social and technological advancements, but also embodies the core principles of future education. At its core, smart education fosters innovation through the integration of technology and pedagogy with a human- centered approach. This means that smart education emphasizes student-centered pedagogy, comprehensive learning assessment models, pervasive smart and safe learning environments, a culture of continuous improvement, and a strong commitment to inclusion and equity.
Moreover, smart education focuses on proactively developing student communities, prioritizing teacher professional development, and ensuring the ethical and sustainable use of technology through effective collaborations. Advancing the digitalization of education and innovating smart education requires cultivating a digital mindset within the education system, strengthening digital support capabilities, enhancing public digital learning services for all, and establishing clear norms and standards for the quality of content and services in digital learning.
GSE 2025
Opening Doors, Fostering Collaborations
Since 2020, the Global Smart Education Conference (GSE) has become a significant platform for fostering international exchange and collaboration on smart education. To promote the effective practice of smart education worldwide, Beijing Normal University (BNU), in collaboration with the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (UNESCO IITE), the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALESCO), and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO), jointly launched the “Global Smart Education Network (GSENet).” which released the “Global Smart Education Strategic Initiative” and the research report ‘International Understanding of Smart Education in the Context of Digital Transformation,” aimed at fostering a global consensus on smart education and continuously seeking ways to leverage new technologies to promote equitable and inclusive quality education for all.
As the annual conference of GSENet, the 2025 Global Smart Education Conference (GSE 2025) will be held in Beijing from August 18-20. This conference will focus on “Human-Machine Collaboration: Reshaping the Educational Ecosystem for the Future”. It will feature a series of events, including plenary sessions, parallel forums, high-level policy dialogues, workshops, and roundtable discussions. It will showcase and exchange best practices, research and solutions in smart education, foster global collaboration and networking, and explore new pathways for implementing smart education for the future of the planet and the people.
Education Transformation & International Understanding
Collaborating on forward-looking strategic and policy planning, leading the sustainable development of smart education.
Promoting the integration of science and education as well as the fusion of industry and education to support innovative practices in smart education.
Seizing the opportunity presented by the Global Smart Education Conference, let us collaboratively embark on the creation of a bright future for smart education that benefits all of humanity.
Reshaping Education for the Future
Quality Higher Education with Smart AI
Science of Learning and Human-AI Collaboration
Leadership and Digital Transformation
Digital Transformation in TVET
AI and STEM Education in K12 Schools
Smart Learning and Care in Kindergarten
Towards Smart Education Ecosystems
Smart Learning Environments: Policy and Practice
Rethinking Assessment in the Age of AI
Quality Education for Smart Villages
Empowering Teachers through AI-Driven Continuous Professional Development
Editors' Forum on Academic Research and Publishing
Academy-Industry Partnerships for Talent Cultivation
Reimagining Lifelong Learning in the Digital Age
Sharing Best Practices in Smart Teaching
Digital Strategies for Educational Development in Schools and Regions
Digital Textbooks and Smart Reading
Sino-Finnish Smart Education Forum to mark 10th Anniversary
TVET Leadership & Management Workshop for South East Asia
Ministerial Round Table
Principals' Forum for the Quality Development of Schools
Global Finals of the 8th Global Competition on Design for Future Education (K-12 Track)
Roundtable on Women's Leadership in AI
AI and Computational Thinking Workshop for Schools
GSENet Partners' Meeting
Workshop on Effective Use of AI Tools to Develop Content
Teachers’ Forum on Smart Education & Awarding of Certificates for Outstanding Smart Education Cases
Student Forum on Innovative Design in Human-AI Collaboration
47
Continuously updated...
Minister of Education, Zambia
Minister of National Education Government of Senegal
Minister of Civil Affairs, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Egypt
Minister of Higher Education and Universities,Democratic Republic of the Congo (COD)
Minister of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training, Saint Lucia
Minister of Higher Education, Labour and Skills Development,Republic of Maldives
Minister of Tertiary Education, Science, and Research
Vice Minister of Education, Ecuador
the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Kenya
Higher Education Commissioner, Mauritius
Director,Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization(SEAMEO) Secretariat
Policy and Planning Specialist, Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Secretariat
Director of UNESCO IITE
Board Member of UNESCO IITE, Chair Professor of Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University
Director, UNESCO IICBA
Director,UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean(IESALC)
Director, Instituto Multidisciplinar de Formação Humana com Tecnologias (IFHT/UERJ)
CEO/Executive Director of Michigan’s Talent Together
Senior Director, International Partnerships, ISTE
Director of ICT Department, Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization(ALECSO)
Director General, Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO)
Secretary General,International Council for Open and Distance Education(ICDE)
Head of Partnership and UN. Liaison Unit, UNESCO IESALC
Chief of Unit of Teacher Professional Development and Networking,UNESCO IITE
Director, UNESCO Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report
Founding Director, Centre for Information Technology in Education (CITE) and Professor, Academic Unit of Teacher Education and Learning Leadership, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong
the Founder President and the Group Managing Director of the Asia e Learning Pvt Ltd the license holder of Asia e University (AeU)
Senior Regional Director (Greater China), Times Higher Education, Singapore
CEO, Contact North,Canada
Chancellor,University of Goroka
Vice-Chancellor,Rwanda Polytechnic
Open University of Kenya
Vice-Rector, University of Education, VNU Hanoi
Dean, Faculty of Educational Technology, University of Education, VNU Hanoi
Professor/Editor-in-Chief of Leadership and Policy in Schools, Texas State University, USA
Professor, Athabasca University
Professor, University College London, UK
Professor,University College London, UK
Editor-in-chief of International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education Professor in the Psychology and Education Sciences Department Universitat Oberta de Catalunya,Spain
Professor, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Executive Director, Education Transformation at the University of Adelaide,The University of Adelaide, Australia
Editor-in-Chief of Australasian Journal of Educational Technology; Associate Professor, Queensland University of Technology,Australia
Interim Executive Editor of Distance Education; Professor, Griffith University,Australia
Editor-in-Chief of Interactive Technology and Smart Education, Germany
President, Korean Society for Educational Technology (KEST)
Managing Director, Books,Springer Nature
184
Continuously updated...
Secretary of the Party Committee, Beijing Normal University, China; Director of the Council of Beijing Normal University, China; Chairman of National Engineering Research Centre of Cyberlearning and Intelligent Technology, China
Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering
President, Beijing Normal University, China; Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences for the Advancement of Science in Developing Countries; Foreign Member of the Academia Europaea; Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering; President, Tongji University, China
Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering; President, Zhejiang University of Technology, China
Steward, The Hong Kong Jockey Club;Chairman, Institute of Philanthropy;Council Chairman, City University of Hong Kong
President, Wuhan University of Technology, China
Professor, Guangdong University of Technology
President, The Education University of Hong Kong
Vice President, China Association of Higher Education
Director of Qinghai Provincial Department of Education, China
Level I Bureau Rank Official, Sichuan Provincial Department of Education, China
Deputy Director, Heilongjiang Provincial Department of Education, China
President, China Industry-University-Research Institute Collaboration Association
Dean, Chinese Academy of Press and Publication
Deputy Director, The Administrative Center for China’s Agenda 21
Deputy Director, Department of Social Affairs, The Administrative Center for China’s Agenda 21
Executive Vice President, CIUR, China
Deputy Director, Department of Science, Technology and Informatization, Ministry of Education, P.R. China
Member of Experts at the Ministry of Education’s “Smart Education Demonstration Zone” Construction Project, P.R.China
Secretary General, China Educational Equipment Industry Association (CEEIA)
Vice President and Secretary General of the Chinese Society of Education, China
Vice President, Beijing Normal University, China
Professor, Beijing Normal University, China
Tenured Professor, East China Normal University, China
Founder of Beijing Design Society, China
Vice Director of the University Council of Beijing Normal University
Dean, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, China
Director, Office of International Exchange and Cooperation, Beijing Normal University, China
Co-Dean of Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University , Chairman of NetDragon
Co-Dean of Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University
Director of Education Information Technology and Network Security Division, Department of Science, Technology and Information, Ministry of Education
Vice rector,Chinese University of Hong Kong
Director of the Institute for Higher Education Research and Development, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Programme Director,CoolThink@JC
Professor; Executive Deputy Director, Educational Informatization Strategy Research Base (Central China), Ministry of Education, P.R.China
Co-director of the Lab of Knowledge Modeling and Analysis of National Engineering Research Centre of Cyberlearning and Intelligent Technology, China
Vice Director, Educational Informatization Strategy Research Base (Beijing), Ministry of Education, P.R.China
Director, Changsha Municipal Education Bureau, China
Director, Education Bureau of Minhang District, Shanghai, China
Director, Longhua District Education Bureau, Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, China
Deputy Director, Education Bureau of Wuhu City, Anhui Province, China
Professor at the Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University
Co-founder and Chairman of Onion Academy
Deputy Director of Education and Youth Development Bureau,Macao Special Administrative Region
Associate Dean (Research) of the Faculty of Education,University of Macau, China
Director of Educational Development, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Director of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Competency Education Centre,The Education University of Hong Kong
Director, Public Service Bureau of Chongqing High-tech Zone, China
Member of the Education Work Committee of the Hunan Provincial Committee
Director, Education Bureau of Baoshan District, Shanghai City, China
Director, Karamay Education Bureau, China
Associate Professor, School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, China
Deputy Director, Education Bureau of Furong District, Changsha City, Hunan Province, China
Vice Principal & Senior Teacher, Wusong Middle School, Baoshan District, Shanghai City, China
State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, China
Director, Education and Sports Bureau of Shizhong District, Zaozhuang City, Shandong Province, China
Deputy Director, Education Bureau of Tianjin City, China
Director, Education Bureau of Dadong District, Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, China
Deputy Director, Education and Sports Bureau of Honggutan District, Nanchang, China
Professor, Nanjing University, China
President, Haidian Institute of Education Science, Beijing, China
Professor, Vice President, Central University of Finance and Economics, China
Deputy Director, Education Bureau of Wuhu City, Anhui Province, China
Director, Education and Sports Bureau of Linzi District, Zibo City, Shandong Province, China
Vice President, NetDragon Websoft Inc.; Vice Dean, Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University, China
Professor, Zhejiang University, China
Director, Shuangliu District Education Bureau, Chengdu, China
Director & Party Secretary, Nanhai District Education Bureau of Foshan City, China
Associate Professor, Beijing Normal University, China
Dean, Chengdu Education Research Institute, China
Deputy Director, Luoyang Xigong District Education Bureau, China
Principal, Yuxin Primary School, Yuhua District, Changsha City, Hunan Province
Vice Dean, School of Information Technology in Education, South China Normal University, China
Former Director, National Library of China
Director, Publishing Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Press and Publication; Director, National Reading Research and Promotion Center
Chief, Reading and Publishing Sub-branch, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press
Dean, Yinling Academy
Secretary of the Education Work Committee, Nanshan District Committee of Shenzhen, China
Poet, International Center for Writing, Beijing Normal University, China
Grade 5, Class 10, First Primary School of Ziyun Autonomous County, Anshun City, Guizhou Province, "My Journey of Smart Reading"
Director, Children's Editorial Department, People's Education Press
Director, Educational Science Research Office, Jiangning District, Nanjing City, China
Head, the Art Teaching and Research Group at the Feicui City Branch of Beijing Primary School, China
Deputy Director, Zhuji City Education and Sports Bureau, Zhejiang Province, China
Director, Suzhou Industrial Park Education Bureau, China
Deputy Director of Student Work Department, Soochow University
Professor, School of Literature, Shanghai University, Doctoral supervisor, Children's Literature Author
Director, Education and Sports Bureau, Laoshan District, Qingdao
Dean, Graduate School, Communication University of China
Secretary General, National Student Mental Health Work Advisory Committee
Senior Vice President, iFLYTEK
Deputy Director, Changsha Municipal Education Bureau, China
CEO, Luoyang Jingshi Ruidao Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd, China
Secretary of the Party Committee & Director, Heping District Education Bureau of Tianjin, China
Young author, Critic
Vice chairman, China Educational Equipment Industry Association school book equipment branch
Professor, Henan University, China
Editor/Associate editor, ChineseWriter, Writer, Ethnic Minorities in Guangxi
President, Jiangsu Academy of Educational Science, China
President, Shanghai University of Sport, China
Professor, Beijing Normal University, China
Party Committee Secretary, Broadcasting and Anchoring School, Communication University of China
Secretary, Shuangliu Middle School, Sichuan Province, China
Capital Normal University, China
Deputy Chief Engineer, Data Space Research Institute of the Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center; Deputy Director, Health Big Data Research Center
Director, Department of Library and Reading, Center for Educational Technology and Resource Development, Ministry of Education, P.R.China
Vice Dean, Chinese Academy of Press and Publication
Professor, Institute of Special Education, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University
Deputy Director, Education and Technology Bureau of Ziyun Miao and Buyi Autonomous County, Guizhou Province, China
Central China Normal University, China
Professor, Beijing Normal University, China
President, Changsha Municipal Institute of Education Science, Hunan Province, China
Deputy Director, Department of Science and Technology, Capital Normal University, China
Chief Physician, Tianjin Orthopedic Hospital, China
Vice Dean, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, China
Dean, School of Educational Technology, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, China
Vice Dean, School of Artificial Intelligence, Beijing Normal University, China
Executive Secretary General, Virtual Simulation Experiment Teaching Innovation Alliance, China
Dean, School of Data Science and Engineering, East China Normal University, China
Information Technology Department, Hanyang District Teaching Research and Training Center, Wuhan, China
Professor; Deputy Director, Educational Informatization Strategy Research Base (Beijing), Ministry of Education, P.R.China
Party Committee Secretary, Jinan Information Engineering School, China
Vice President, The Open University of China
AgentLand Laboratory Manager, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, China
Principal, Xingyuan Primary School, Liangjiang New District, Chongqing City, China
Principal, Tianfu New District No.7 Primary School, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, China
Institute of Higher Education, Beijing Normal University, China
Vice President, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China
Ethnic High School, Guizhou Ziyun Autonomous County, China
Director, Informatization Office, Tsinghua University, China
Senior Vice President, NetDragon Websoft Inc., China
Senior Vice President of NetDragon Websoft Inc., China; Chairman of Fujian Huayu (China); Chairman of Fuzhou Software Technology Vocational College, China
Founder and CEO, Digital Campus, OUR SCHOOL, China
President, Hailiang Technology Group, China
General Manager, Education Industry Business, Tencent Cloud, China
Director, the Education Bureau of Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China
SDU-ANU Joint Science College, Shangdong University, China
Director, Center for Educational Technology and Resource Development, Ministry of Education, P.R.China
Deputy Director, Steering Committee on Teaching Informatization and Teaching Method Innovation for Higher Education Institutions, Ministry of Education, P.R.China
Director, Changning District Education Bureau, Shanghai City, China
Director, Yuzhong District Education Commission, Chongqing City, China
Director, Beijing Digital Education Center, China
Principal, Yinchuan Kindergarten, Beijing Normal University, China
Professor, Nanjing University, China
Principal, Guanggu No.1 Primary School, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China
Vice President, Xidian University, China
President, Guangdong Polytechnic, China
Chief Editor, Higher Education Press, China
Chairman, Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, Lin’an District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China
Chief Executive Officer, Kingsha, China
Principal, Tangjiawan Middle and Primary School, Xiling District, Yichang City, Hubei Province, China
Vice Dean, Institute of Artificial Intelligence Education, South China Normal University, China
Principal, Longhua Central Primary School, Longhua District, Shenzhen City, China
Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, China
Director, Education and Sports Bureau, Nancheng County, Fuzhou City, Jiangxi Province, China
Secretary-General of the National Technical Committee for Standardization of Educational Equipment, China
Former Deputy Director, Bureau of Education of Changsha Municipality, Hunan Province, China
Director, Chongqing Liangjiang New Area Education Burea, Chongqing City, China
Vice President, Central University of Finance and Economics, China
Deputy Secretary-General, China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association
Director, Operation and Maintenance Center, Sichuan Provincial Education Informationization and Big Data Center, China
Dean, Shanghai Pudong Institute of Education Development, China
Principal, Lijia Experimental Primary School, Liangjiang New Area, Chongqing City, China
Principal, Hangzhou TianShui Kindergarten, Zhejiang Province, China
Executive Vice Dean, Institute of Artificial Intelligence Education, South China Normal University, China
School of Educational Technology, Northwest Normal University, China
Director, Department of Education Information Technology, East China Normal University, China
Deputy Director, Center for Educational Technology and Informatization Research, Tianjin Academy of Educational Science, China
Director, the Education Bureau of Yangzhong City, Jiangsu Province, China
Principal, Xinpu Central Primary School, Mian County, Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province, China
Vice President, Beijing Forestry University, China
Professor, Zhejiang University, China
Deputy Director, Education Management Information Center, Ministry of Education, P.R.China
Principal, Mingda High School, Changsha City, Hunan Province, China
Assistant Researcher, Collaborative Innovation Centre of Assessment for Basic Education Quality, China
Post-Doctorate of Beijing Normal University
Post-doctorate, Beijing Normal University, China
Chief Editor of China Education Daily, Special Issue on Informatization and Smart Education, China
Address:
No.2, Manjing Road, Shahe Town, Changping District, Beijing