Source: Eastern Institute of Technology – Tairāwhiti
6 mins ago
A new intake of 222 students has been welcomed on to the campus of EIT Data Science and Communication College, a joint International College that is a partnership between EIT and Zhejiang Yuexiu University of Foreign Languages (ZYU).
The partnership began last year with 230 students starting on the campus in Shao Xing City, Zhejiang Province, Southeast China. That cohort is now entering the second year of their programme.
Approval from the China Ministry of Education and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) paved the way for EIT to deliver its degree programmes in China. The joint venture supports the delivery of two of EIT’s degrees, the Bachelor of Creative Practice and the Bachelor of Computing Systems and , with three majors offered in Information Systems, Intelligent Systems and Digital Media.
Philippa Jones, EIT Executive Director International, says the experience is unique for college students.
“ZYU and EIT have a shared vision and goal to deliver quality teaching and learning to our students. College students are taught by teachers from New Zealand and China, providing a learning experience of both the New Zealand and Chinese systems.”
Both institutes have continued to work collaboratively throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to deliver teaching online.
Earlier this year, EIT taught its first online course, Academic Inquiry. The course supports students to familiarise themselves with the New Zealand learning environment and to gain the skills and knowledge to succeed in their academic study. Supported by ZYU Teaching Assistants in China, the interactive course content included short videos, discussion, group presentations and reflective journals.
EIT’s School of Computing is currently delivering the first course from the Bachelor of Computing Systems, Agile Projects, which is designed to provide students with fundamental project management concepts and skills experienced in an IT context.
EIT Faculty of Commerce and Technology Executive Dean, Fred Koenders says he is incredibly proud of what EIT’s staff have achieved during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our lecturers and learning designers have worked hard to design and deliver a high-quality product to our joint students offshore. Feedback from students is that they are loving the content and the New Zealand learning experience.”
“We are not letting the pandemic get in the way of bringing New Zealand qualifications to students in China and are preparing to deliver three more courses online, beginning in January 2022,” said Mr Koenders.
To continue building on EIT’s partnership with ZYU, EIT Chief Executive, Chris Collins will deliver a keynote speech at the 2021 Asian University Presidents Forum (AUPF) in late October.
EIT congratulates ZYU who has been selected to host the event. The theme for this year’s forum is “Establishing an Asian Higher Education Community in the Post-Epidemic Era”.
ZYU and EIT have already achieved so much together, with a strong focus on supporting students to gain industry-led, real-world digital skills and expertise. For the future, EIT’s academic staff hope to travel to China to deliver the programmes face to face in 2022.
