88% of Seoul Elementary, Middle, and High Schools Conduct Interactive Remote Classes... Preference for Foreign Platforms over EBS and e-HakSseupTeo

94% of Elementary, 90% of Middle, and 80% of High School Students Attend Real-Time Interactive Classes
Less Than Half Utilize EBS Online Class and e-Hakseupteo
Use of Foreign Platforms Due to Service Stability Issues at Semester Start

On the morning of the 2nd, students who attended school on the first day of the new semester at Poi Elementary School in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, are holding an opening ceremony through a video./Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Although real-time interactive remote classes have significantly increased in Seoul's elementary, middle, and high schools, the utilization rate of public platforms such as EBS Online Class and e-Hakseupter remains below half.

On the 22nd, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education conducted a survey on the status of remote classes in 2021 from the 3rd to the 12th, revealing that 94% of elementary schools, 90% of middle schools, and 80% of high schools conducted real-time interactive classes. This means an overall average of 88% of schools held remote classes. The survey targeted all classes in 5th grade elementary, 2nd grade middle, and 2nd grade high schools.

Since the Ministry of Education and the Metropolitan Office of Education established interactive classes as the standard from this year, and interactive class functions were added to public learning management systems, the proportion of interactive classes has greatly increased. As of September last year, the rates of interactive classes were ▲elementary 17% ▲middle 29% ▲high 22%.

The usage rate of public learning management systems (LMS) such as EBS Online Class and e-Hakseupter did not reach 50% by school level. Elementary school teachers were found to use Zoom the most, while middle and high school teachers predominantly used Google Classroom. It is interpreted that foreign platforms were chosen to avoid confusion after service disruptions such as connection failures and progress rate non-display occurred consecutively on e-Hakseupter and EBS Online Class right after the start of the semester.

Usage Status of Remote Learning Platforms for All Classes in Seoul: 5th Grade Elementary, 2nd Grade Middle, and 2nd Grade High School (Source: Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education)

Looking at the platform usage status in elementary schools, the order was ▲Zoom 42.7% ▲e-Hakseupter 41.3% ▲Google Classroom 4.6% ▲EBS Online Class 3.1%. The combined rate of e-Hakseupter and EBS Online Class was only 44.4%, but the combined usage rate of Zoom and Google was higher at 47.3%.

In middle schools, EBS Online Class was the highest at 33.7%, but there was little difference from Google Classroom (32.9%), and Zoom was the third most used at 17.1%. e-Hakseupter was at 8.5%. While the combined rate of Zoom and Google was 50%, the utilization rate of EBS Online Class and e-Hakseupter was about 42.2%.

In high schools, Google Classroom (34.1%) was the most used, followed by EBS Online Class (33.8%), Zoom (20.2%), and Naver Band and Classting (4.1%). The combined usage rate of Google and Zoom was 54.3%, exceeding half.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education is lending smart devices to all students who need them to ensure stable hybrid in-person and remote classes as COVID-19 prolongs. Wireless AP installation in public kindergartens and general classrooms in schools is scheduled to be completed by the end of April.

Based on the experience of remote classes, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education plans to actively promote educational innovation projects such as Edutech-based cooperative schools and Edutech lead teachers to enable personalized learning for each student.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education explained, "Schools are striving to enhance the quality of classes by appropriately mixing video conferencing, chatting, content, and assignments according to the characteristics of subjects and learners to communicate and provide feedback to students," adding, "We are supporting students to live regularly and regain a healthy daily life even during the remote class period."

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