Zero Academic Gap for COVID-19 Vulnerable Groups!... Seocho-gu Supports AI-Based 1:1 Customized Online Learning

Support for 'Smart Schooling' Online Classes Available from the 6th, Prioritizing Vulnerable Elementary and Middle School Students (268)
- Providing 1 'Smart Schooling Device' per Household with up to 2 Children, 2 Devices for 3 or More Children, and Establishing Learning Environments for Internet-Disconnected Households... Linked with School Curricula, Managing and Analyzing Learning Patterns to Support Self-Directed Learning Habits

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Currently, all schools in the Republic of Korea are closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, marking the first-ever online school opening.

However, at the forefront of education, schools, students, and parents alike are experiencing significant confusion due to a lack of preparation. If online classes continue amid the COVID-19 outbreak, there is a great concern that educational inequality among students will worsen due to the digital divide.

In response, Seocho-gu (Mayor Eunhee Cho) is introducing AI (Artificial Intelligence)-based 1:1 personalized learning called ‘Smart Schooling’ to first support vulnerable elementary and middle school students in order to resolve unequal educational gaps.

Before the online school opening, starting from the 6th, the district will promptly provide ‘Smart Schooling devices’ to 268 vulnerable elementary and middle school students?one device per household for families with up to two children, and two devices for families with three or more children. For households without internet installation, a learning environment enabling system access will also be established to eliminate barriers to education.

‘Smart Schooling’ is a system that provides personalized AI learning diagnosis and prescriptions through extensive big data analysis. It is linked to the school curriculum and manages and analyzes each student’s learning progress, level, and learning patterns to support self-directed learning.

To this end, since January of this year, the district has been working closely with the ‘UN Global Education Finance Committee Korea Headquarters’ to swiftly prepare AI-based online learning, and with the upcoming online school opening, it will prioritize applying this system to vulnerable students first.

Another feature of Seocho-style ‘Smart Schooling’ is that all those supporting learning?including professional tutors, Seoripul Saem mentors, and parents?participate in the children’s learning process to assist self-directed learning.

First, ▲professional tutors, who are smart learning experts, are assigned 1:1 to plan learning curricula tailored to the children’s schools and check learning progress once or twice a week via phone.

Additionally, for younger students and children from dual-income families who find it difficult to attend online classes independently, tutors provide smooth adaptation support through phone and video lectures.

Furthermore, they maintain continuous contact with parents to confirm the children’s learning status and gather feedback on the ongoing curriculum for adjustments.

Next, utilizing excellent local resources such as women returning to work, Seoripul Saem mentors provide all-care mentoring covering learning, emotional support, career, and culture to vulnerable children. They receive learning analysis data from professional tutors to identify areas needing improvement and reflect these in mentoring activities, supporting children’s learning growth offline.

‘Seoripul Saem,’ implemented since last year, is the first autonomous district educational welfare model that solves ‘local educational problems’ with ‘local resources.’

Finally, parents can check their children’s learning progress through AI-analyzed school records, allowing them to identify learning deficiencies and provide accurate support.

Alongside this, the district plans to carefully support 48 high school students by providing access to all subjects’ online lectures from renowned academies to prevent any educational gaps caused by COVID-19.

Seocho-gu Mayor Eunhee Cho said, “I am pleased that we can prioritize support and care for vulnerable students struggling with learning through the 1:1 AI personalized online lectures we have been preparing since January with the ‘UN Global Education Finance Committee Korea Headquarters.’” She added, “Through Seocho’s AI-based personalized ‘Smart Schooling,’ we will create a Seocho without digital divides and educational inequality.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.