(Correspondents: Qiuchen Yu, Xinli Jiang)

On October 2, 2025, the ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Educational Technology discipline and the inauguration of the Alumni Association of the Faculty of Artificial Intelligence in Education was held at the Science Auditorium of CCNU. The event was attended by the following individuals (listed in no particular order): Shuangjie Peng, President of CCNU; Zongkai Yang, Director of the National Engineering Research Center for E-Learning (NERCEL) and the National Engineering Research Center for Educational Big Data (NERC-EBD), and Senior Professor of CCNU; Daolin Zha, Deputy Secretary of CCNU Party Committee; Two Vice Presidents of CCNU, Hongda Liu and Sannyuya Liu; Zhiting Zhu, the Tenured Professor of East China Normal University; Jiyou Jia, Director of the Department of Educational Technology in the School of Education at Peking University and Director of the International Research Center for Educational Informatization; as well as representatives from various university departments, schools (faculties), faculty members, students, and alumni of the Faculty of Artificial Intelligence in Education.

On behalf of the university, Shuangjie Peng extended his congratulations for the event, paid high tribute to the pioneers and educators who have dedicated four decades to the discipline’s development, and expressed sincere gratitude to friends from all sectors for their care and support. He pointed that over the past 40 years, AudioVisual Education in China has evolved from underdevelopment to maturity. This has undergone three transformations - from AudioVisual Education to Educational Technology then to Intelligence Education - and provided abundant critical theoretical support for the modernization of education in China to cultivate over ten thousand outstanding talents. Looking forward to the future, he expressed his deep hope that the faculty would build on its four-decade foundation to stay at the forefront of the field, enhance the quality of talent cultivation, scale new heights in scientific research, and make further contributions to advancing the digital transformation of education.

Sannyuya Liu systematically reviewed the groundbreaking progress made by the faculty in diverse aspects such as discipline construction, scientific research innovation, talent training, and social services. He recounted the remarkable journey of all educational technology professionals at our university in deeply integrating information technology with education. Facing future, he called upon alumni worldwide to unite through the Alumni Association and pool strengths from industry, academia, and research to encourage them to jointly open a new chapter in the high-quality development of intelligence education.

Hongda Liu read out the Approval on the Establishment of the Alumni Association of the Faculty of Artificial Intelligence in Education at Central China Normal University publicly and presented a commemorative gift on behalf of the University Alumni Association.

Alumni representatives from the Class of 1997 of the Department of Information Technology - Mr. Zhanjun Wang, Chairman of Squareman Technology (Wuhan) Co., Ltd.; Mr. Yonggang Liu from Wuhan Tianyu Education Technology Co., Ltd.; and Mr. Qiao Tian from Jiangsu Wisedu System Co.,Ltd - took the stage to present plaques and donate funds to support the faculty’s scientific research and educational endeavors.

Following this, several distinguished alumni delivered speeches in turn. They are Min Wang, Chairman of Beijing Taiyi Investment Management Co., Ltd.; Zhiyong Tao, Dean of the National School for Engineers, China Information and Communication Technology Group Co., Ltd.; and Qingsheng Liu, Vice President of Phoenix Satellite TV.

Specifically, Min Wang reminisced about his youthful days upon entering the university forty years ago and expressed strong gratitude for the nurturing received from CCNU. He conveyed pride in the university’s achievements in the field of artificial intelligence, extended congratulations on the establishment of the alumni association, and offered his best wishes for the university’s continued excellence.

Zhiyong Tao recalled his study journey at CCNU thirty years ago. He proposed that the alumni association should serve as a bridge for university-enterprise collaboration to enable joint development of talent programs, shared construction of research platforms, and mutual access to industrial applications to feed back the university.

Qingsheng Liu mentioned that he has remained steadfast in his convictions although nearly three decades have passed since his graduation. He praised the university for consistently leading the way in technological innovation and expressed hope that, guided by the spirit of CCNU, alumni would continue to ride the wave of progress and shine even brighter.

After that, Professor Zongkai Yang revisited the evolution of the Educational Technology discipline. He highlighted that since the formal establishment of the Educational Technology major in 1985, the university has founded two national-level research centers - NERC-EBD and NERCEL - along with ten research platforms at provincial level. In 2020, it pioneered the establishment of the Faculty of Artificial Intelligence in Education, achieving multiple “firsts” and maintaining a leading position nationwide.

The alumni association brings together outstanding talents from various fields. Professor Yang warmly invited alumni worldwide to frequently return to CCNU to foster a community with a shared future and jointly write a new chapter in building a world-class discipline.

During the celebration, a series of academic reports, faculty-alumni discussions, and alumni roundtable forums were also held. Distinguished experts and scholars, such as Professor Zhiting Zhu, Professor Jiyou Jia, and Jinyong Yang, Director of the Center for Educational Technology and Resource Development of the Ministry of Education, delivered thematic presentations. Alumni including Ning Sun shared their insights freely and offered suggestions. Together, they contributed to the advancement of the discipline and the high-quality development of the Faculty of Artificial Intelligence in Education.

Editor: Ruye LI   

Reviewer: Xiaoxiao ZHU