Reframing Oxbridge Model with Agora ELITE O2O Structure:
Myth or Reality
Speech at EICC Commencement Event at Wolfson College, Oxford University
Professor Richard Li-Hua
28th September, 2022
Dear Students,
Where do you pursue your studies, and do you make the patient to learn WHEN THE WORLD IS ON FIRE!?
When MOOC was launched in 2008, it was only twenty-five students attended the course on the campus of the University of Manitoba while 2300 from around the world participated online. Hardly anybody could predicate that over one billion students around the world have to study online courses in 2020 after 12 years of the birth of MOOC. Today more emerging online innovative universities have begun to penetrate into the global higher education systems which post challenges in changing the traditional university model of 800 years old. When Professor Clayton Christensen published his book Innovation University in 201, the main message that he wanted to convey was that 50% of the private universities will go bankruptcy without understanding the emerging technology and innovation. He could not imagine that his concept of Innovation University has to fact in the impact of COVID-19. However, interestingly, I delivered my keynote on ELITE O2O Initiative for Creating Innovative and Entrepreneurial University in the Global Higher Education at MoE Conference, 2016, Wenzhou, China. The ELITE O2O Concept that I created based upon the effectiveness and efficiency of knowledge transfer – Explicit knowledge can be delivered and transferred online while tacit knowledge has to be delivered face-to-face.
However, could the online innovative model substitute the traditional one? Could the vision and mission of the university be delivered online without compromising the quality?
We are proud that we have pioneered Agora ELITE O2O Innovative Structure. We offer holistic education through reframing Oxbridge model. We are very privileged to have strong connection with Oxbridge with the state of art of technology and world class collegial , inspirational and academic ambiance and environment.
We are creating a global O2O innovation university alliance with our ELITE Global Colleges. A Global University Alliance is defined here as a brand name or a trademark of a large group of international universities, colleges, global firms, as well as innovators, entrepreneurs, and investors from around the globe that wish to become members of forming the strategic alliances in creating synergies by sharing a global vision with west meets east paradigm in the global higher education sector.
Why do we need a global vision? Since the elements of globalization are much advanced in research and innovation in the global higher education, and public and private sectors, however, it is less prominent in teaching and learning of the universities. It is even becoming much less attended in online learning. A global vision, a buzzword in the global community, is strategically situated in the global marketplace, which can attract various stakeholders and collaboration partners and allows us to nurture and develop global talents. A global vision provides a single point of contact for all the stakeholders and collaboration partner institutions.
Where does the world go? How did human society develop? What is the driving force for development? There is no doubt that the ability of social innovation and technological innovation is crucial. Innovation is the driving force for human development. Conceptual innovation, theoretical innovation, technological innovation, and social management innovation are all the driving forces that promote the development of human society. We believe that conceptual innovation and theoretical innovation are primary. Imagine that if there is no conceptual and theoretical innovation in human society, then all other innovations are empty talks, which will undoubtedly stand still.
Agora ELITE O2O Model: An Conceptual Innovation
Agora, a Greek word, means a public space used for assemblies and market. The literal meaning of the word "agora" is "gathering place" or "assembly". In our term, the “gathering place”, is not only physical but also virtual, which means online and offline. ELITE is an acronym of e-learning of innovation, technology and entrepreneurship within an O2O Innovation University@[1] in the global higher education. Agora and ELITE have organic relation which complement each other and provide philosophical answers to the challenges and opportunities of GHE in the post COVID-19 era. Almost all the universities and colleges are currently delivering courses online based upon the MOOC experiences since the outbreak of Covid-19. In fact, there is similarities of online delivery around the globe as universities and colleges have been forced to do so. The strategic intention of establishment of Agora ELITE O2O Innovative Education Platform is an exploration of an innovative education pedagogy of integrating the delivery of programmes, knowledge, contents and education ethos with a global vision embedded in the teaching and learning strategy built into the technological system of O2O university. This technological innovation system demonstrates how various features and objectives of innovative and entrepreneurial university is created, translated, articulated and achieved in a learning organization context.
The Agora ELITE O2O university makes every endeavor to convert this special knowledge into general education knowledge in the liberal arts education delivered though its well- crafted teaching and learning pedagogy in its well-established FOUR ELITE Colleges for the enhancement of the student journey and experiences through extra curriculums, mentoring and coaching and ELITE Global Talent Programmes as well as our prestigious ELITE Fellowship and EICC Internship scheme.
College of Innovation
College of Technology
College of Entrepreneurship
College of Leadership
Which are led by a well-known global faculty, connecting its offline delivery centres/campuses in our ELITE Global Colleges around the world. The Agora O2O demonstrates the important feature – One O sits in Oxbridge while the other O sits globally.
Stanford University was founded in 1885 and rebuilt after the devastating 1906 earthquake and it became the world-famous Stanford today. Henley Business School was set up in 1945 during the Second World War at Henley-on-Thames and it became a global known institution today. ELITE Innovation College Cambridge (EICC) has been known as “the little peach tree borne in Tsinghua in 2006 and grown up and settled in Cambridge in 2014”. However, our college was re-launched in late 2020 during the pandemic, which has a strong capability of survival.
Dear students, I encourage you to do what you love and what you believe. I have confidence on everyone of you together we are creating this university and make a difference. When you have a dream, you can amend it as needed but never give up.
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
We are also honored being co-branded strategic partners with Trinity Western University (TWU) in Canada, along with University of Law (ULaw), Canterbury Christ Church University in the United Kingdom and in the delivery of degree and non-degree undergraduate, postgraduate, and taught & research programmes in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
We look forward to having sincere cooperation with like-minded people and institutions to meet the opportunities and challenges of global higher education in the epidemic and post-epidemic era. Leading educational innovation and promoting educational innovation together.
[1] Please see further details on Working Paper ELITE Initiative for Creating Innovative and Entrepreneurial University in the Global Higher Education presented by Richard Li-Hua at MoE Conference, 2016, Wenzhou, China.
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