Ministry seeks to hold nationwide academic tests online

Thick textbooks weighing on students’ shoulders may disappear in four years.

The government seeks to convert all paper textbooks into digital versions by 2015, the Education Ministry said Wednesday.

Using smartphones, tablet PCs and smart televisions, school students of all ages will be able to view the content of existing textbooks, ministry officials said.

<YONHAP PHOTO-1224> '이젠 디지털 교과서로 공부한다' (서울=연합뉴스) 이지은 기자 = 2015년까지 모든 초중고 교과의 종이 교과서가 `디지털 교과서'로 바뀔 전망이다. 교육과학기술부와 국가정보화전략위원회가 '지능형 맞춤 교수-학습 체제'를 실현하는 내용을 담은 `스마트 교육 추진전략'을 29일 이명박 대통령에게 보고했다. 이날 오전 디지털 교과서 연구학교로 지정된 서울 구로구 구로동 구일초등학교에서 학생들이 테블릿PC로 수업을 하고 있다. 2011.6.29 jieunlee@yna.co.kr/2011-06-29 12:31:17/ <저작권자 ⓒ 1980-2011 ㈜연합뉴스. 무단 전재 재배포 금지.>
A student writes a note on a tablet computer during a class at a Seoul elementary school designated as a pilot school using digital textbooks.  Yonhap News
<YONHAP PHOTO-1224> '이젠 디지털 교과서로 공부한다' (서울=연합뉴스) 이지은 기자 = 2015년까지 모든 초중고 교과의 종이 교과서가 `디지털 교과서'로 바뀔 전망이다. 교육과학기술부와 국가정보화전략위원회가 '지능형 맞춤 교수-학습 체제'를 실현하는 내용을 담은 `스마트 교육 추진전략'을 29일 이명박 대통령에게 보고했다. 이날 오전 디지털 교과서 연구학교로 지정된 서울 구로구 구로동 구일초등학교에서 학생들이 테블릿PC로 수업을 하고 있다. 2011.6.29 jieunlee@yna.co.kr/2011-06-29 12:31:17/ <저작권자 ⓒ 1980-2011 ㈜연합뉴스. 무단 전재 재배포 금지.> A student writes a note on a tablet computer during a class at a Seoul elementary school designated as a pilot school using digital textbooks. Yonhap News

A student writes a note on a tablet computer during a class at a Seoul elementary school designated as a pilot school using digital textbooks. (Yonhap News)

The ministry also seeks to hold nationwide academic tests online, they said.

The ministry and the President’s Council on Informatization Strategies reported this plan on “smart education” to President Lee Myung-bak at the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae, they said.

In addition to the content of paper textbooks, supplementary materials and two-way study methods will be included in the digital textbooks. Some of the books will be customized to suit the needs of the physically challenged, officials said.

The ministry plans to digitize all subjects for elementary school students by 2014 and for middle and high school students by 2015.

It also plans to begin increasing online classes in 2013 for three years so that those who cannot come to school due to weather conditions or health problems can continue their studies outside of school.

The ministry also plans to encourage students to take the “University-Level Program,” under which students will take college-level courses. Using Internet Protocol Television, it will also run after-school programs to teach foreign languages, multiculturalism and other subjects.

To help teachers handle devices for “smart education,” the government plans to begin training teachers in 2012 ― some 25 percent of teachers each year.

Citing the best score South Korea garnered in an OECD digital reading survey, the Education Ministry believes that the digital platforms will bring about a sea change in the classroom and boost the country’s educational competitiveness.

However, some skeptics said that without any fundamental change in the current university admission policies that have triggered cutthroat competition among students and bloated the private education market, there will not be any meaningful improvement in classrooms.

The ministry announced Wednesday that South Korea ranked first in the 2009 Digital Reading Assessment, which was included in the Program for International Student Assessment. PISA is a worldwide evaluation of students’ scholastic performance, conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

In the 2009 DRA, South Korea scored 568 points, far higher than the OECD average of 499. New Zealand and Australia jointly ranked second with 537 points, followed by Japan with 519 points and China with 515 points.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldm.com)