Dr Zhibin Jiang is the Changjiang Scholar Program Chair Professor with China's Ministry of Education (MOE). He is also Dean of the MOOCs Institute, and Chair Professor and Head of IEM & the Department of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. Dr. Jiang was Dean of the Academic Affairs Office of SJTU from 2007 to 2013. In addition, Dr Jiang also serves as a Fellow with the Institute of Industrial Engineers, and he is the Vice President of the Chinese IE Society, and the Vice President of the Advisory Committee for IE Undergraduate Programs of MOE. Dr Jiang's research interests include Operational Management of Complex Production and Service Systems, Higher Education Management, and MOOCs. He has written five books and published over 200 academic papers in journals and conferences. He also serves as associate editor and a member of the advisory boards of the International Journal of Production and four other international journals.
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) is a new mode of teaching and learning that is supported by innovative pedagogy using new information technologies. In recent years, Shanghai Jiao Tong University has been developing and promoting MOOCs based on its MOOC platform, CnMOOC. This plenary outlines the benefits that MOOCs may bring to higher education through the sharing of high quality materials on a massive scale. Additionally, MOOCs help resolve the problem of equity in higher education in China, improve the quality of teaching and learning in university campus education, provide educational opportunities for social learners, and enable institutes of higher learning to meet the demands of national strategies and aspirations of social and economic development.