ICT IN EDUCATION
The Republic of Korea
Ever since computer education was first introduced in the 1970s in the Republic of Korea, the Korean Government has made ongoing efforts to adapt education to the information age. Given rapid social change, along with a new understanding that knowledge and culture play a decisive role in national development and global competitiveness, this mission has become more important than ever in recent years. The Government believes that a successful educational reform is the most effective way to build a creative knowledge society.
Adapting education to the information age refers to the change of the educational system as a whole, that is the physical infrastructure, the organisations involved, classroom environments and human minds.
Adapting Education to the Information Age: Towards Educational Reform and the Development of Human Resources
The specific types of human resources required in the knowledge based society may be summarised as follows:
- Creative knowledge producers.
- Self-directed, lifelong learners.
- Effective information analysers and processors.
- Innovative problem solvers.
- Effective and responsible users of information for decision making.
Directions to education utilising ICT
- Education should stimulate students to actively participate.
- Education should enhance students ability to carry out self-directed learning.
- ICT should be used as a tool to engage students in higher mental activities - ICTs must be integrated to this effect.
- High-quality, inexpensive education must be available for all.
- Information ethics must be considered in every teaching-learning activity.
Goals and Tasks for Adapting Education toward the Information Age
The project for adapting education started in July 1970. In early 1990, state level policy was outlined by the Framework Act for the Promotion of ICT, and in July 1996, the Enforcement Plan for Adapting Education to the Information Age was formulated.
Adapting education to the information age does not identify a specific activity, but it implies a total change in content, method, and objectives for the educational system.
The specific tasks to adapt education to the information age are carried out in four categories; in elementary and secondary education, in research and universities, in educational administration, and in lifelong education. The goal for adapting information to the current society is to foster creative human resources through implementation of open education, lifelong learning, and a cyber learning system, ultimately making this country strong as far as knowledge is concerned.
Elementary and Secondary Education
Elementary and secondary education involves the construction of information infrastructure, adapting curriculum to the information age, staff education, and development and dissemination of educational content.
In every elementary and secondary school, at least one computer lab has been built, fulfilling the necessary physical conditions for internet access for every student, with free or almost-free internet access at schools with relevant institutes since July 2000. Also, in order to reduce the information gap among students from different socioeconomic backgrounds, computers and computer education are provided at no charge to low income students.
In the year 2001, computer education became compulsory from the first grade of elementary school. Also, in every subject, more than 10% of classroom activities are supposed to make use of computers. In order for this to work effectively, information literacy an information literacy certification system is now being used to evaluate and identify students’ skills of information literacy. Information literacy education, along with ICT skills education will be strengthened even more from 2003 onward.
Staff education is also a priority project. From 2001, in-service training is provided for appoximately 33% of all teachers. Training is also provided for 10,000 professional instructors, one from each elementary and secondary school. The development and dissemination of educational content is proceeding in a systematic manner in public and private sectors. Public sectors include the Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development, each city and provincial Office of Education, and KERIS (the Korea Education & Research Information Service). Beginning in 1988, the development of educational content by private sectors has steadily increased. To promote development by the private sector, purchasing expenses of educational software are supported for each school.
Universities
The project aimed at adapting universities to the information age fosters academic research, cultivates high quality human resources, and develops cutting-edge scientific technology. The project covers four main tasks: Construction of the academic research information sharing system, management of the education network, adapting the national education university and college of education to the information age, and operation of cyber universities.
To enhance prospective teachers’ ICT utilization skills, the Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development supported all 11 national education universities with multimedia labs. While the universities have received substantial support, facilities and equipment in most are insufficient or old, and further financial support is needed.
Operation of cyber universities started in December 2000. As of April 2001, 5,235 persons were registered in 9 universities over 39 departments.
Educational administration
The goal here is to provide efficient and consumer-oriented educational administration, which promotes prompt and accurate decision-making. By the end of 2002 a business process system had been developed enabling online processing of various works of every school and every office of education.
Lifelong Education
In the knowledge-based society, because the body of knowledge is ever expanding and changing, schools must prepare students for a lifetime of learning. The use of ICT for non-student learners provides an effective means for lifelong education. A comprehensive information service system for lifelong education is under construction. Also, a lifelong education service for people in foreign countries is planned.
KERIS(1997~2000)
KERIS is a leading institution that promotes ICT use in education. It strives to develop new software in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development and the Offices of Education in cities and provinces. It is especially interested in developing software of the following kinds: software that must be provided quickly due to curriculum changes; software that is not developed by the private sector due to low market demand; software that is necessary for the public benefit; edutainment software that will be a model for the private sector; and software that enhances cooperation or discussion in the learning process. It also collects the educational content developed by the private sector.
KERIS distributes the software and content collected and developed alone or jointly through EDUNET.
EDUNET provides different educational content according to the type of content user. For example, it operates channels for teachers who need content for teaching purpose; channels for elementary and secondary school students; and channels for high school students who are interested in admission to colleges and universities or their course in life. It also has channels for parents, preschoolers and handicapped children.
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