Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education Completes Full Preparations for 'Online School Opening'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] The Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education has completed all preparations for the online school opening starting on the 9th (for 3rd-year high school and 3rd-year middle school students).

According to the Gwangju Office of Education on the 8th, 154 elementary schools and 74 middle schools in the district will use e-Hakseupter, while 19 middle schools and 68 high schools will conduct remote classes using EBS Online Class.

In preparation for the unprecedented online school opening situation, teachers voluntarily formed a network to solve the problem of content shortage.

For elementary schools, a total of 600 lessons are being developed in collaboration with three teacher organizations in Gwangju, and for secondary schools, economic mathematics and Hanja content are being developed and provided independently.

To support students' remote classes, information devices were provided to all students who did not have such devices or internet installed at home.

Information devices were lent to 2,232 students identified through two surveys as not possessing such devices, and internet installation is being carried out for all 235 households without internet.

Information device lending has been completed for middle and high schools, and internet installation for 3rd-year middle and high school students has also been completed.

To strengthen teachers' remote teaching capabilities, online training was conducted for a total of 10,482 teachers on how to open and operate e-Hakseupter and EBS Online Class, and how to use real-time video class platforms.

Additionally, training on best practices identified through the operation of seven pilot schools was conducted and communicated to each school through teacher communities. Schools themselves are also conducting training centered on lead teachers, and teachers are voluntarily preparing for the online school opening by sharing system operation and content utilization for remote classes through communities.

Furthermore, to support schools due to the online school opening, from the 1st to the 8th, one specialist per school visited all schools to inspect the overall situation for remote class operation and completed consulting on curriculum and evaluation operation, attendance, and other related matters.

For urgent support in remote education sites, a total of 82 support personnel have been deployed to operate call centers and support teams.

The remote education call center installed at the Education Research Information Institute is composed of a platform support team, system support team, and on-site student and parent support team to assist with the use of video class tools, network and smart device issues, and student class participation problems.

The Eastern and Western Education Support Offices operate remote education support teams to assist on-site with elementary and middle school curriculum operation, academic schedules, learning content support, and resolving school difficulties.

Guidance was provided to allow flexible use of school budgets to ensure smooth operation of remote classes.

Along with a budget of 200,000 KRW per class for purchasing information devices, the criteria for supporting learning preparation materials have been expanded so that elementary students can individually receive learning materials in package form at home, and additional budgets are supported by the education office.

To prevent internet connection problems at schools, if the current 500MB line provided per school experiences over 70% load, preparations are underway to immediately upgrade to 1GB.

Superintendent Jang Hwikuk said, “We are doing our best to reduce confusion in curriculum and evaluation that may arise from the unprecedented online school opening,” and added, “We have presented appropriate class volume standards, attendance management, achievement standards according to teaching and learning activities, and evaluation criteria in compliance with Ministry of Education guidelines, and will minimize learning loss caused by remote classes going forward.”

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