Starting in March 2025, new AI textbooks will be introduced into Korean schools in mathematics, English, informatics, and Korean for special education, targeting grade 3 and 4 primary school students, as well as students in the first year of lower secondary and upper secondary school. What are AI textbooks? AI-powered textbooks use advanced generative AI […] The post AI textbooks to arrive in Korea – the good, the bad, and the ugly appeared first on World Education Blog.
Starting in March 2025, new AI textbooks will be introduced into Korean schools in mathematics, English, informatics, and Korean for special education, targeting grade 3 and 4 primary school students, as well as students in the first year of lower secondary and upper secondary school.
What are AI textbooks?
AI-powered textbooks use advanced generative AI algorithms to create customized content, adjusting the pace and difficulty of the material as required. They gather real-time data, allowing for continuous feedback and for teachers to tailor their instruction accordingly.
Promoted at the UNESCO International Forum on the Futures of Education that took place in early December 2024, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Lee Ju-Ho said, “The new digital textbooks are designed to support personalized learning by tailoring content to each student’s level and pace. Teachers will also have access to data-driven insights, enabling more customized educational plans”.
Almost USD 70 million are being injected into improving digital infrastructure and developing digital textbooks in the country, inspecting and improving the connectivity of schools, providing 1,200 digital tutors to support the change, and testing technical support centres for teachers.
Some of the good reasons for the change were outlined in the Ministry’s press release announcing the initiative, which emphasized the benefits from the implementation of AI digital textbooks: customized learning content tailored to individual student data, enhancing personalized learning experience; and features such as screen captions, subtitles, and multi-linguistic translations, catering to the needs of students and teachers in special education, as well as those with multicultural backgrounds.
The aim was to reshape the way that students learn, which still places strong emphasis on memorizing textbooks. With more personalized learning experiences, the ministry was also keen to help bridge achievement gaps in classrooms between children who are throwing themselves into out-of-school private tutoring centres, and those not. It was keen to help Korean students acquire new AI and digital literacy skills, keeping education relevant and sustainable.
This initiative goes a little against the grain of hesitant views about the place that AI should have in education, however. Since ChatGPT began, there has been a scramble to work out how to incorporate AI into education. Pearson, for instance, jumped straight into creating digital textbooks, which are now already used by 70,000 students in over 1,000 institutions. But many are calling for the brakes to be put on, highlighting the risks of digital dependence, that affect privacy, security and wellbeing, as also outlined in the 2023 GEM Report on technology in education.
These risks, and particularly those related to introducing technology without proper time to induct teachers into the change, led to a request from the National Council of Governors of Education to slow the pace of the initiative, including delaying the introduction of AI textbooks for certain subjects. Concerns were also raised by the Nationwide Superintendents’ Association.
Moving to AI textbooks requires teachers to become facilitators of learning, more than having to impart learning themselves. It also requires teachers to have a strong level of digital skills themselves.
As a result of this feedback, a decision was taken to hold back digital textbooks in Korean and home economics, while the rollout for social studies and science will be delayed until 2027. The Ministry has announced it aims to train all teachers in the effective use of digital technology for classroom innovation by 2025 and is allocating $760 million to the effort over three years, something the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations has welcomed as a ‘balanced approach’. Risks related to privacy and security of children’s data are covered in AI Digital Textbook Development Guidelines aligned with Korea’s Personal Information Protection Act.
One surprising change is a recent legislative change by the National Assembly, which reclassified AI digital textbooks as supplementary rather than core educational materials. This means that the new textbooks would not be mandatory but would be used only at the discretion of school principals.
“If the bill is applied, it will cause significant confusion in schools that have been preparing to implement these resources,” the minister said.
Navigating the digital transformation in schools, with quick shifts to new technologies that can overhaul teaching methods, required training, budgetary forecasts, and communication campaigns with parents and school communities is not easy for school leaders. Clear rules are needed for school leaders to be able to implement large-scale digital reforms such as these. A regional edition of the 2024/5 GEM Report on leadership will look at digital transformation and education leadership in East Asia, including in the Republic of Korea, for release in June, 2025.
No one wants to be the guinea pig, especially where their education is concerned. It will be of immense interest, therefore, for the rest of the world watch how this bold change unfolds. Ongoing monitoring and evaluation are essential to make sure that the continuation of the initiative – and any other countries’ decisions to follow suite – is based upon strong evidence to show that it is improving children’s learning, and their learning experience.
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