KENTECH to Develop the World's First "AI Special School Classroom"

Selected for the Global Convergence Research Support Project for Humanities and Social Sciences
Receives 2 Billion KRW in Funding

Korea University of Energy and Technology Campus View.

Korea Energy Engineering University (KENTECH) announced on September 15 that its Learning Design Research Institute has been selected for the final round of the "Global Convergence Research Support Project for Humanities and Social Sciences (Institute Support Type - Domestic)" promoted by the Ministry of Education and the National Research Foundation of Korea. Only two leading humanities and social science research institutes nationwide were selected, and KENTECH stands out as the sole science and engineering-focused university to make the list, making the achievement especially significant.

The Learning Design Research Institute will receive approximately 2 billion KRW in research funding over the next three years and will conduct its research from this month until August 2028. The core goal of the project is to develop the world's first "AI Special School Classroom," apply it to real educational settings, and lead innovation and policy transformation in special education.

Unlike previous studies that focused on simple data-driven analysis or device development for non-disabled students, this project will provide tailored support by analyzing the cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and social data of special education students in real time. Through this approach, the project aims to predict the behavior of special education students and strengthen data-driven communication among teachers, parents, and schools, ultimately presenting a personalized education model that enhances students' holistic development.

The extensive multimodal learning data accumulated during the research process will not only serve as a foundation for developing customized instructional design and educational policy models, but will also enable precise learning of complex human learning data that traditional AI has struggled to handle. This is expected to expand AI's ability to understand cognition, emotion, and behavior, resulting in a major technological leap not only in the convergence of education and artificial intelligence research, but across the entire field of AI.

Park Jin-ho, acting president of KENTECH, stated, "Being selected for a humanities and social sciences convergence research project as a science and engineering-focused university is an important achievement that expands our research spectrum and fulfills our social responsibility. Through the development of the world's first AI special school classroom, we will contribute to bridging educational gaps and driving inclusive educational innovation."

Kim Kyung, director of the Learning Design Research Institute, said, "This research is an attempt to develop artificial intelligence not just as an auxiliary tool, but as a core solution that simultaneously achieves inclusive education and data-driven innovation. We aim to expand beyond special education innovation to lead global educational innovation across pedagogy, artificial intelligence, and policy."

Meanwhile, the research team includes Professor Yoon Seunghyun and Professor Cho Sookkyung of KENTECH, Professor Kang Eunyoung of Joongbu University, and Professor Kong Deukjo of Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) as co-researchers. Leveraging their expertise in educational technology, artificial intelligence, special education, and educational policy, they will collaborate to enhance both the academic rigor and the potential for social impact of the research outcomes.

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