Academic circles related to software (SW) education for elementary and middle schools are looking to work together in order to increase education in SW starting with the upcoming revised curriculum that will be implemented in 2022. As the revised curriculum is set to be implemented in 2022, the academic circle will look for different ways such as increased hours of education in SW and increase in number of professional teachers to improve the curriculum.
“Information Education Extension Office (Director: Professor Seo Jung-yeon of Sogang University)”, which was established on Tuesday, announced that it would prepare way to vitalize education in SW and AI for elementary and middle school students in order to normalize education in SW and AI that is one of important tasks to build talented individuals in the future.
The office was formed around different associations that include Korean Association of Information Education, Korean Association of Computer Education, Korean Institute of Information Scientists and Engineers, Korean Information Science Education Federation, Korean Society for Internet Information, Korea Federation of Information Technology Societies, and Korea Information Processing Society that train future teachers who will teach SW and AI and are responsible for building talented individuals in SW and AI.
Curriculum that is currently applied to elementary, middle school, and high schools was revised in 2015. The Ministry of Education is working on a revised curriculum that will be implemented next year.
The office plans to create a social consensus so that key information such as SW and AI being independent subjects, increased hours, increase in number of teachers, preparation of curriculum, and preparation of infrastructures are included in the revised curriculum.
Although subjects such as SW and AI are independent subjects for middle schools, they are considered as a part of other subjects for elementary schools and high schools. As a result, many believe that “information” needs to become an independent subject for curriculums of elementary and high schools so that every student can complete education in SW and AI.
Lack of required hours of education necessary for education in SW and AI in curriculums of elementary and middle schools has been brought up continuously. Currently, required hours of education in SW and AI for elementary schools and middle schools are only 17 hours and 34 hours respectively. The group believes that students from third grade to nineth grade need to get education in SW and AI at least once a week.
Quality of education is also taking a hit as one teacher has to rotate between three to four schools when there has to be a teacher who is in charge of each middle and high school. A specific roadmap has to be prepared so that talented teachers can be trained and placed at schools according to the trend in SW and AI education in South Korea.
Because only middle schools see education in SW and AI as a mandatory course, there is lack of systematic education that connects elementary schools to high schools. The office pointed out that there needs to be a curriculum that connects elementary school education to high school education based on skills required for each grade.
Although interests and demands for education in SW and AI are increasing, contents for education on information that can be utilized at schools are still lacking. As a result, there needs to be infrastructures for various platforms and contents that teachers can utilize conveniently and easily.
The office plans to continue to hold forums, public hearings, and academic conferences in order to expand education in SW and AI for elementary and middle school educations.
“Because education in SW and AI is a necessary course to build talented individuals for the future, there needs to be fair opportunities for every elementary and middle school student regardless of differences in location and environment.” said Chairman (professor at Dankook University) Na Yeon-mook of Korean Institute of Information Scientists and Engineers. “We are going to continue to take necessary actions in order to expand education in SW and AI for the revised curriculum that will be implemented starting from 2022.”
Staff Reporter Kim, Jiseon | river@etnews.com