Project Details-UNESCO-ICHEI

International Institute of Online Education (IIOE)

The International Institute of Online Education (IIOE) serves as a collaborative global network that brings together higher education stakeholders worldwide. Through its digital platform, comprehensive open educational resources, and international partnerships, IIOE empowers educators in developing nations to build higher education workforce digital and AI competencies.

Play the promotional video

Project Background

Digital transformation has been an important way for global higher education to achieve the "Education 2030" vision. Since its establishment, UNESCO-ICHEI has attracted great attention to the empowerment of digital technologies in higher education. For higher education institutions (HEIs) in developing countries, continuous upskilling of the HEIs and its workforce is an effective approach to the technology wave bringing on new challenges to the higher education sector. The greatest challenge facing digital transformation is the lack of higher education professionals with adequate digital literacy and related professional development resources.

Within this context, the International Centre for Higher Education Innovation under the auspices of UNESCO (UNESCO-ICHEI) initiates to promote the development of digital competencies and AI literacies for the higher education workforceby providing training and professional development support. In December 2019, UNESCO-ICHEI joined hands with its 11 partner HEIs, Chinese HEIs and partner enterprises to launch the establishment of IIOE.（https://www.iioe.org/）

To date, IIOE has grown into a higher education ecosystem of Higher Education Institutions globally, enterprises, and international organisations.

Milestone

[Phase I] 2019 - 2022

In December 2019

UNESCO-ICHEI, in collaboration with 15 partner universities and 9 enterprises worldwide, jointly launched the International Institute of Online Education (IIOE) in Shenzhen. The establishment and development of IIOE have been supported by corporate partners and funded by the Tencent Charity Foundation.
On 2 April 2020

The International Institute of Online Education (IIOE) platform was officially launched online.

[Phase II] 2022 - 2025

In December 2022

The IIOE Platform 2.0 was officially launched. With optimised user experience and a fresh look, IIOE focuses on the just-in-time learning that fulfills the upskilling needs for the higher education workforce. The IIOE Micro-Certification sensure the recognition of professional development in digital and AI competencies.
In December 2023

The IOE Platform 3.0 has been officially launched, offering a more open and intelligent experience empowered by DeepSeek and ChatGPT 4.0. It introduces the DS-1 & ITA teaching assistant versions, which provide AI-powered teaching assistance functions, delivering personalized guidance and knowledge services to both teachers and students.

[Phase III] 2025 - Future

Starting in 2025

IIOE is planning for a new journey ahead. As the generative AI technology is becoming more accessible and ubiquitous, IIOE plans to continue launching courses in "AI + discipline" (for example "AI + Medical"), learning paths for the higher education workforce, and enterprise certifications in AI competencies, to enrich the open and inclusive ecosystem. By opening up operation capabilities to IIOE partner institutions and the possibility to integrate the platform to the local learning systems, the IIOE ecosystem strengthens localisation to a new phase.

Project Highlights

IIOE Open Online Learning Platform

The International Institute of Online Education (IIOE) provides an open online learning platform supporting the six official United Nations (UN) languages for HEIs in developing countries. It includes content aimed at empowering educators digitally, a series of “AI + Discipline” generative AI courses, the IIOE Micro-Certification Project for Higher Education Workforce Digital Competency Building, and digital teaching tools. These resources support the enhancement of digital skills among higher education practitioners worldwide.

Open Learning

On the IIOE learning platform, there are over 600 multi-language online courses in total, including open educational resources (OER), micro-certificates of digital and artificial intelligence competencies, and webinars. These courses are supported in the six official languages of the United Nations (Chinese, English, French, Arabic, Spanish, and Russian) and enable partners to conduct free learning anytime and anywhere. The competency-based courses also facilitate local modifications and adaptations by higher education institutions and the workforce, meeting the diverse needs of different regions.

Open Service

By integrating the DS-I and ITA AI assistants, as well as supporting localized operation, the IIOE learning platform has upgraded from a one-way service provider to a platform that supports autonomous operation services. Higher education institutions, IIOE national centers, and partners can apply to configure their own pages and conduct local management on the IIOE platform, making the IIOE platform better adapted to local management and learning needs. In addition, the IIOE platform also provides recommendations for emerging technology software and usage quotas, offering a more open service to partners.

IIOE Ecosystem Alliance
- More than 20,000 registered users from 1,100 higher education institutions across over 100 countries
- A collaborative mechanism based on co-construction, co-consultation, co-sharing and co-governance
- A cross-national and cross-sector alliance for digital transformation
- Comprises over 120 partner institutions from 42 countries, 43 international organisations, 37 corporate partners, and 12 IIOE National Centres

Diverse Cooperation with the Private Sector

Private enterprises play a leading role in research and development as well as talent cultivation for higher education institutions. Collaborating with the private sector and fully leveraging their leading role in higher education is the unique advantage of IIOE. It provides diversified support for the IIOE ecosystem alliance in terms of software, hardware, talent cultivation, and capacity building.

International Institute of Online Education (IIOE)