BYU-Hawaii's Center for Instructional Technology and Outreach is hosting this week's 9th annual Global Chinese Conference on Computers in Education—the first time the conference is being held outside of Asia.
The conference began today and will run until Thursday, June 9. For four days, BYU-Hawaii is hosting close to 300 of the brightest minds in instructional technology out of Asia and parts of the United States.
Organized by the Global Chinese Society for Computers in Education, the conference is traditionally held at prestigious universities in major Chinese metropolises, such as Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau, Taipei, Nanjing and Singapore.
The unprecedented move to Hawaii symbolizes the society's burgeoning global interests and increasing willingness to interface with the Western world.
With Hawaii standing to gain from this opportunity, Governor Linda Lingle recorded a welcome video for the welcome reception and the University of Hawaii has been supporting BYU-Hawaii in making preparations.
However, the significance of the event is especially great for BYU-Hawaii and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, its sponsoring institution.
"When we were bidding to be the host, some of the key Asian academics were skeptical about even building a relationship with a Mormon school," said Yeekong "Peter" Chan, assistant professor of instructional design and development at BYU-Hawaii. "Through negotiations, relationships, and proof of our academic credentials, they were willing to 'give it a try.' Since then, such academic recognitions have opened some doors for us and our students."
Those doors include professional and academic relationships between BYU-Hawaii and Asian institutions, increased awareness of BYUH among Asian nations (a prime target area of BYUH), and the creation of possible internship and graduate school opportunities for Asian students - not to mention the opportunity for students and faculty to participate in such a large-scale international conference.
Keith Roberts, VP Academics for BYU-Hawaii, also suggested that the GCCCE creates a precedent for more large-scale international and national conferences to be held BYU-Hawaii in the future, perhaps even on an a yearly basis.
These same opportunities extend to BYU in Provo, Utah and Utah State University, both of which are supporting BYU-Hawaii in the hosting of the conference. Several Utah companies are also among the key sponsors and exhibitors of the event.
"Utah is very interested in learning how China uses technology in education, particularly how it relates to rural areas and large populations," said Utah State Governor Jon Huntsman. "Utah has been a leader in producing technology for education, so there may be partnership opportunities."
The GCCCE at BYU-Hawaii also has indirect positive implications for how the Church is viewed in Asian society.
"Most Chinese people still regard the Church as a cult and they don't know anything about its universities," explained Chan. "However, Chinese people generally have great respect for their universities, and when they see that their top universities are having connections with BYU-Hawaii, they will also better respect us. Thus, when they associate BYU-Hawaii with the Church, they will also better respect the Church."
The purpose of the GCCCE is to facilitate high-level interaction between respected academic scholars and influential government leaders to promote, develop and demonstrate the strategy of information technology in education. This year's theme is "Beyond Hardware and Software: The Effective Use of Technology in Instruction."
The theme inspired 400 submissions from scholars and educators from within and without the Chinese communities. After a peer-review selection process, about 230 papers were accepted, 148 of which will be presented in seven concurrent sessions held throughout the four-day conference.
The conference will feature keynote addresses from Dr. Rong-Huai Huang of Beijing Normal University, Mainland China; Dr. M. David Merrill of BYU-Hawaii, U.S.A; and Dr. Yong Zhao of Michigan State University, U.S.A.
The conference will also include exhibitions and demonstrations from leading corporations and organizations in instructional technology, special workshops for hands-on practice with experts in specific areas, and a panel discussion with guest speakers.
To learn more about the conference, go to cito.byu.edu/gccce2005.