Since the COVID-19 pandemic started spreading from January 2020 in South Korea, it became a rampant issue needing special attention in education whereby; an “untact”(a Korean-coined phrase denoting non-contact) education format became prevalent. For example, many schools and colleges in Korea have been educating students by using video-conference systems or using platforms such as Zoom. 

 Also, by the influence of the 4th Industrial Revolution, which is a symbol of our current society, the technology used in cases of “untact” education is continuously being developed.

 In this social background, the flow of ‘educational format’ is changing. The implementation of technology leads schools to adopt new technologies and adapt them to classrooms, and the method of teaching is also being augmented in more ingenious and innovative ways. In addition, because of the rapidly changing industrial system and governmental system in this era of the 4th Industrial Revolution, the necessity of changing the educational circle is increasing. The age when only the knowledge learnt in a brick and mortar school cannot sustain lives in this current reality. 

 Based on former the social context proposed, the reporters of INDIGO had questions about the big flow of school education that has to be developed, and how the relationship between lifelong education and school education should be redefined. Furthermore, reporters had interviews about these essential questions with several interviewees composed by our college’s(KNUE) students and professors. 

QUESTION 1

The definition of school is 'The place where holistic education is held, and diverse forms and sorts of education are vigorously held'. The school has an obligation to develop students' talents in many fields.  So, many sorts of education are held in schools. But, since modern education pursues future-oriented education,  there's a necessity to educate students in accordance with the future's developed technologies. If there're tasks to prioritize for preparing the future in the place of current education, then what're they?

A1      CLASS OF 2023/EARLY CHILDHOOD EDU./ANONYMOUS 

In the current situation, a natural disaster is probably the biggest issue, but also, in this year, online classes have started because of the spread of COVID-19, and classes held by the Internet have proceeded to take place for safety purposes. These online classes have persisted for more than eight months, and there is no guarantee that this kind of disaster would not happen again in the future. Since science is continually being developed, education should follow this trend of “developed scientific technologies”. Thus, creating an "Online-Class App" that would complement the most used applications for having online classes would assist classes to be processed during crises periods.

A2     CLASS OF 2023/EARLY CHILDHOOD EDU./ANONYMOUS

 A deviation of students from their uniformed education is the most needed thing in the current and future educational contexts. As you said, although schools should help students' holistic growth, the current school education system runs on a near-identical curriculum, which is not focused on the students’ individual personality and potential. A future society requires men and women of talent who create and reproduce knowledge. It's not helpful to keep the passive and unified education format like the current for helping students adapt in the future. So, I think the prioritized task should be that of 'building the foundation of a customized education service'. Though my opinion might seem abstract, I think this should be pursued.

A3       CLASS OF 20--/ENGLISH EDU./PARK HAN-NA

 'A school is a place of holistic education'. For preparing for a future in holistic education according to the developments of technologies, a consideration on methods and contents of education would be needed. First of all, historically, the educational methods have had properties of face-to-face education mainly, but recently, this face-to-face education is mostly switching to “untact” education because of the Corona pandemic. Since schools started running on an online system, classes focused mainly on the intellectual aspect, and so it's necessary to further contemplate to carry out physical developments in educational contexts. Especially, as the 4th Industrial Revolution is taking place, I think Information and Communication Technologies education is essential. As such, during the pandemic, I realized that making effective solutions to sudden problems is such hard work. So, I'd argue that educational contents should foster desirable competencies and right attitudes for students to handle their future problems.

A4     CLASS OF 2023/EARTH SCIENCE EDU./ANONYMOUS

I think school is a 'microcosm of society'. Students in school learn how to go through the 'real society'. So, it's necessary to pursue a future-oriented education via technologies for minimizing difficulties that they might face in the future. But, not like private education, school is not a mere place for having academic education, as students are affected by school lives that foster their values and characters. So, a radical progression should carefully proceed.  For example, these days among the Corona pandemic, most students watching class-recorded videos online. Even this class type seems innovative and convenient, as the decrease of social interactions might cause students' stagnation of sociality development. So, I think it's crucial to consider the expected difficulties that students might have in whatever future society transpires while adapting education through technological changes.

QUESTION 2

 Schools are the place for learning and the place for socialization. While this may be true, after COVID-19 emerged, online-classes became more important than face-to-face classes. This phenomenon triggers discussions about how schools will change their role in the future.  So, what effects do you think schools can have in the future educational setting?

A1      CLASS OF 2023/PRIMARY EDU./ANONYMOUS

 I think that no longer school is the physical place where students and teachers meet each other directly. As online classes progress for a long time, because of COVID-19, existing meanings of a school place cannot help but change their meaning. Therefore, the meaning of school in the future education will change the place that students and teachers meet directly or indirectly.

A2      CLASS OF 2023/HISTORY EDU./ANONYMOUS

The meaning of school is built through a social agreement; therefore, I think the meaning of school space doesn't change. Although the unprecedented infectious disease makes schools stop doing their traditional roles, schools must complete their roles that grow students' socialization abilities, personalities, and creativities. These roles are more important in the 4th Industrial Revolution, so the meaning of school doesn't change their role.

A3      CLASS OF 2023/EARLY CHILDHOOD EDU./ANONYMOUS

 For some time many schools have been managed through a cramming method of teaching, but, I think regarding the goals of the 2015 revised curriculum and our current untact situations, the school space will turn into student participating places where they work on some projects or reverse courses.

A4      CLASS OF 2023/HOME ECONOMICS EDU./ANONYMOUS

 Personally, I feel that the school space can't be replaced by online classes. No matter how communication facilities improve, online classes will not be as effective as face-to-face classes for a while. Therefore, the importance of school space will not change.

QUESTION 3

How do you think the school's untact education should evolve to differentiate it from private education?

A1      CLASS OF 2022/ART EDU./ANONYMOUS 

In order for public untact education to be different from private education, it is necessary to use various teaching methods to help the experience become more meaningful. For example, private education is already active by Internet lectures and famous instructors, but delivering knowledge effectively is all they have. Unlike in the private education community, which cherishes instructors who can make students memorize effectively, public education should be utilized to help students be able to stimulate various interests and experiences. Teachers need to understand their students' growth by both intervening and backing down. I'm not saying quick and efficient is bad, but communication, feedback for students, and patience with them is essential.

A2      CLASS OF 2022/PRIMARY EDU./ANONYMOUS

The so-called "in-gang" of private education is mostly recorded in the classroom, and the online instructors communicate with the students in front of them, making other students watching the video feel like they are also in the classroom. However, non-face-to-face classes in public education seem to lack a sense of realism. Students feel awkward because there are many teachers who are not familiar with it yet. Also, it is not easy to concentrate because of the lack of learning material, and there is a lack of interesting factors for students. In the era of untact education, I think that in order to compete with private education, public education should make students feel like they are in the classroom, even when they are studying at home. Also, since students feel bored easily these days, there should be a number of ways to get students to pay attention.

A3      CLASS OF 2023/ETHICS EDU./ANONYMOUS

 Private education can be a recorded lecture that simply delivers knowledge to students. There is no activity that verifies what students have learned through interaction. Therefore, in order to be differentiated from private education, I believe that untact education in schools should be developed. Rather than just having a recorded lecture that delivers knowledge, I think we should develop skills and strategies so that we can communicate with our classmates and teachers and make what we have learned into our own. So, I think we should use various real-time lecture platforms to conduct interactive classes.

A4      CLASS OF 2023/CHINESE EDU./ANONYMOUS

 I think that untact education will find a way to solve the problem by making a school site as identical as possible online. For example, in math class, we can open up additional meeting rooms so that students can help each other.

QUESTION 4

COVID-19 has made people talk about the future of education, and an example of future education is online classes.  But, as online classes are activated, many people argue that communication between teachers and students at school is and will be difficult. What do you think teachers' and students' must-haves for a future education are considering what this condition is?

A1      CLASS OF 2022/ART EDU./ANONYMOUS

 I think the argument about the need and the realization of online classes steadily comes up. To construct a more efficient future of education, teachers must plan classes that use a lot of audiovisual documentation and augmented reality. In terms of guidance, teachers must talk to each student so that students can overcome their current worries and difficulties. Additionally, students must have an attitude that can find the meaning of classes, and they should not take online classes lightly as an alternative to offline classes.

A2      CLASS OF 2022/PRIMARY EDU./ANONYMOUS

 I think teachers need to study for the future of education regarding efficient communication between teachers and students. Because I think teachers must know that they can communicate with their students via online classes and grow teachers' abilities to make the environment communication between teachers and students can thrive.

A3      CLASS OF 2023/ETHICS EDU./ANONYMOUS

 ZOOM channels that are used currently can make small meeting rooms. So, teachers can have some time with students using small meeting rooms. Therefore, teachers must experience a lot of functions that are hidden from current online apps. Additionally, students must recognize the special situations they are in and participate in classes with more active attitudes.

A4      CLASS OF 2023/CHINESE EDU./ANONYMOUS

 Although online classes don't have an impact much different from face-to-face classes, students must have attitudes like participating in face-to-face classes for activating communication between teachers and students. Participating in classes while at cafes that are too noisy to take classes or controlling the camera deliberately so that only part of the face is visible hinder interaction in online classes. Finally, it is essential to install facilities with sound quality best suited for classes, because sometimes the sound quality is so bad that it is hard to understand a student's question.

A5   PROFESSOR KIM HAN-BYEOL /DEPT. OF EDUCATION

 It's not easy to find out the tasks that have to be prioritized for preparing for the future. Though the fast change of society occurs, the dignity of humans, the nature of humans, and the fundamental value that society is gathered are not changed that much. For example, considering technological and environmental changes, it's necessary to help students acquire new knowledge, information, and technologies. But, upon giving students the power for admitting individual dignity and keeping individual value and life, educational contents such as character, communal nature, the talent of critical reflection, and the talent of communication are not tremendously changed. Nevertheless, the task that should be prioritized for preparing for the future would be the construction of educational support that helps an individual's growth in all aspects. This task is a thing that realizes education's ultimate purpose, but it's also becoming a task that's able to be realized in accordance with the recent innovation and development of technologies. The respect of individuals' differences and the realization of human attributes that were dreamt up, but couldn't be realized, are becoming possible due to the development of educational media and devices. Therefore,  we should proceed with technological advancement as a means of making the ideal of education more concrete. We shouldn't lose the essence that education has to be pursued by not excessively swaying from technological advancement. has to be pursued by not excessively swaying from technological advancement.

QUESTION 5
How do you think public lifelong education should develop in the future?

A1    CLASS OF 2022/PRIMARY EDU./ANONYMOUS

 When I think of lifelong education, vocational education comes to mind first. I feel like the most important thing missing is personality education. With the development of technology, our lives are becoming more prosperous and convenient, and as society changes and the paradigm of education changes, the era of lifelong education will arrive. While it is also important to learn new skills to prepare for different stages of life and adapt to new environments, we must be careful not to lose our humanity in this process. If lifelong education develops in a way that emphasizes personalities, I think it will be an incentive to rely on each other and live happily together from infants to old age. 

A2   CLASS OF 2022/HISTORY EDU./ANONYMOUS

 Year after year, changes in our society speed up. I think public education should focus on lifelong learning to grow the ability to adapt to these changes. We learn many things in our lifetime, but the more we live, the more we need to know. If we provide education that can develop our ability to adapt, it will fit the goal of lifelong education. 

A3    CLASS OF 2022/EARLY CHILDHOOD EDU./ANONYMOUS

 As life expectancy increases due to the development of medical technologies, I believe that various educational situations for the elderly should be developed intensively. In addition, since the Fourth Industrial Age is where a variety of devices and media are being introduced, I believe that education should be developed to teach them how to make good use of these things.

A4     CLASS OF 2022/HOME ECONOMICS EDU./ANONYMOUS

 It would be nice if they introduce lifelong learning centers in every neighborhood and inform students that they can find and learn what they want online and offline through lifelong learning institutions even after graduation. It would also be nice to visit lifelong learning institutions with students during the free semester to find out if there are educational programs in the fields they are interested in. I think lifelong education should pave the way for active learners in school. I hope that lifelong education will facilitate Internet lectures and become friendlier to people, similar to how EBS is for high school learners. These days, we spend a lot of time at home due to Covid19, so I think that if we lower the bars of lifelong education by creating online lectures, both online and offline lectures will be available in the future.

A5   PROFESSOR KIM YOUNG-SEOK/DEPT. OF EDUCATION

 First of all, the limitation of lifelong education in public institutions is the lack of expertise in lifelong education. In order for lifelong education to have the expertise, the lifelong education expertise of facility workers is necessary. Therefore, in the future, to operate lifelong education programs at various public institutions, it is necessary to hire lifelong education teachers or to obtain lifelong education certificates for those who work there.

 Whether it is school education or private education, I think it is not a desirable education if one is negligent in emotional education. It will be more difficult to develop the sensibility and character of students because of the lack of opportunities for meetings to occur between students and teachers, and students and students. Therefore, it is necessary to find appropriate online methods for improving personality, in addition to education for intellectual development. It should not be only in the future of society's school education, but also in the field of lifelong education. For example, listening to literature, music, or art together online and sharing feelings about them is an education that develops emotions. Finally, I think it is possible to think about the purpose of life, find a mentor of life, and consistently write down reflective journals related to these concepts.

 With the outbreak of the coronavirus this year everyone started an unprecedented online streaming class. Since then, discussions on future education have been reoccurring.

 In response to this situation, we wanted to take some time to learn about education in a greater sense, including the meaning of future education and the meaning of lifelong education. 

 Thanks to the students and professors of KNUE, we expect this special article to inform many students who wish to become teachers about a future education incorporating lifelong education.

by Kim So-un, Lim Soo-young (editors) and Kim Hyun-ho (freshman, English Edu.)