Recently, politicians from Germany and China visited Sejong city to see how smart education is used in the classrooms and to learn how to organize the smart education. They visited Chamsaem elementary school which is equipped with a variety of smart educational materials. Both of the cases were reported and acclaimed by many journals in Korea and it seemed that the smart education in Sejong city is well-organized and educationally effective. However, while discussing smart education, Indigo had some doubt about identity of smart education; what is the purpose of smart education? And is it effective? With these questions in mind, real conditions of smart education in Sejong city will be discussed in the second part of the cover story in order to reflect on future directions for better results.
The start of the smart education in Sejong
In 2012, the policy of smart education publicly started in Sejong city. As soon as the new schools opened, the new curriculum for smart education was applied. Many parents expressed strong interests in the new educational environment, and this made them move into Sejong city. To meet their high expectations, the authorities have made a lot of effort to develop smart education curriculum.
As the effort, each school has been fully equipped with electronic blackboards, new PC, and provided with digital textbooks for some main subjects. In addition, the students who are over 11 years old (over fourth grade of elementary school) has been given tablet PC. On surface, it seems very smart in that smart materials represented by tablets and digital books are fully provided and used in the class. However, one question may come to your mind; is it everything about smart education?
The purpose of smart education and the main contents
The curriculum from Sejong education office says the main purpose of smart education is placed on fostering the creative future men of talents. In this purpose, the smart materials play a role in helping the efficiency of teaching and learning. According to an interview with an officer who is in charge of smart education in Sejong education office, he said that there have been many misunderstandings about smart education. It is not the ultimate goal of smart education to just use smart materials in class, but to use them for developing the students’ autonomy and skills to solve the problems by using smart materials in class. It means that in smart education, it includes not only external smart infrastructure but internal factors that make students think creatively.
SMART-I, the smart software program
Aside from using smart equipment, there is also smart educational software that main bodies of education (teachers, students, and parents) can use practically. It provides them with not only a wide variety of teaching and learning materials but also cyber classroom systems on the website and mobile. According to the Sejong educational office, these contents are widely used in the real classroom today. In addition, according to recent announcement from Sejong education office, self-study functions will be added to SMART-I. It means that students can take check-up test individually and make plans to study autonomously through the software.
Critical views
While there are such positive aspects to smart education, there are some concerns about methodological matters. First, even though the infrastructure for education is well-organized, more important thing is how to use them in the real classroom. In the process of developing the program, it is possible for them to use them without reasonable purposes. The fact that most people regard smart education as just using smart materials in class is reflecting the conditions. It means that some assumptions are needed to overcome this problem. Teachers should analyze the curriculum meticulously before the class and think about what smart materials to be used and how to use them to enhance efficient learning.
Second, if the teachers are not familiar with smart materials they cannot use them properly. It means that the quality of smart education and the effect can be different from person to person according to who their teachers are. Each year, many new teachers come to Sejong city. Since they do not have experience in using the equipment, they have difficulties in applying them in their classrooms. In the recent INDIGO’s interview with Sejong education office, to the response to this concern, an officer who is charge of smart education said that they tried to open many training sessions to overcome the problem. He emphasized that the office conducted fifteen sessions last year and they have some plans for additional trainings. However, if the sessions merely focus on how to use the equipment rather than how to use them to teach effectively, the sessions are useless.
In this issue, INDIGO has examined how smart education has been implemented in Sejong, Korea. Now, infrastructures for smart education are well-organized and it seems useful on the surface. Considering the main purpose, however, the most important factor to consider is how teachers would use them. Concerned with this issue, the Sejong education office said it has plans to reinforce the training sessions for teachers. However, continuous study and development for better contents are also required.
According to today’s educational trend, it is expected that smart education is implemented nationally. It means that KNUE students are likely to be the main bodies for the smart education. Then, what smart actions should we take in this smart situation? We do not have to be an expert in smart education now. However, constant interest toward smart education is required as the future of smart education is up to you, the future teacher of teachers.