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Adapting Education to the Information Age - 2001 - Republic of Korea
Source: Ministry of
Education and Human Resources Development
Tables and graphs of the original document are excluded
Part 1: Adapting education to the information age: Toward educational reform and the development of human resources
Chapter 1. Fostering creative human resources in a knowledge-based society
1. New educational environment
In this chapter, the nature of the information society, or knowledge-based society is described along with major aspects of changes to the educational environment. Descriptions vary, but they tend to include three important characteristics.
First, in a knowledge-based society, the integration and use of information communication technology (ICT) continues to increase. Instant information, digitized and networked, can provide a vivid description of events happening anywhere on earth. This means that time and space limitations are significantly overcome in human life. Schooling is significantly affected by this change. In the past, schooling consisted of a series of activities that took place at the same time and the same place every year. That every student be present in school at a given time was a prior condition for education to occur. But time and place are no longer necessary conditions in the current educational system. ICT enables students to choose their preferred activities and the time to learn. The capability of choosing time, place, and activity means that education becomes more and more individualized in the new society. Under environmental changes like this, new plans and materials are required for education.
Second, our understanding of the nature of knowledge is changing and this influences the practice of education. In the past, knowledge was viewed as something that existed in an objective form. Therefore, learning was conceived to be a giving and taking of knowledge between the teacher and the student. However, many educators today do not see knowledge as something to be given and taken. Rather, knowledge is conceptualized as something generated, or constructed by each individual. This changes the role of the student and of the teacher in education. The student is no longer a passive recipient of knowledge. With the help of teacher, knowledge is seen to be constructed in the mind of the individual student. This is the key paradigm shift that leads new movements in education, for example: child centered education, open education, and problem based learning.
Third, in a knowledge-based society, the market plays a very important role. Every enterprise is subject to market forces in society and education is no exception. Companies and the market will continue to put pressure on schools to teach knowledge applicable to job situations. On the other hand, the school wants its students to make wise decisions independent of the flow of advertisement. Also, business and industry will have more opportunity to accept students with creative ideas not only from colleges but also from secondary and primary schools. Education will no longer stand independent of the market.
In sum, the information society, or knowledgebased society, may be described as having three characteristics: high technology that allows individualized exchange of information, a new conception of knowledge, and an extended influence of the market. In the next chapter human aspects affected by changes in the educational environment will be discussed.
2. Personal qualities required in a knowledge-based society
Faced with the change in the environmental structure characterized as a knowledge-based society, the ability to use ICT was regarded to be very important. We now have many more on-line activities. Anyone unable to use ICT will increasingly be disadvantaged in everyday life. For this reason, the school has good reason to strengthen its ICT curriculum in every subject area.
As the level of technology rises, the acquisition of ICT skills will cease to be regarded as essential. Technology development will make ICT equipment more user-friendly, allowing easier access to beginners. Then, the ability to create valuable products using ICT will become more important than the simple skills of using ICT. The point is not whether an individual can use ICT equipment, but the extent to which he or she can solve problems in everyday life using ICT. The specific types of human resources required in the knowledgebased society may be summarized as follows.
First, a creative knowledge producer. In the global, networked society, an infinite amount of knowledge is generated and shared at any moment. New techniques and methods are needed to participate in this information deluge. In order to produce knowledge that is superior to others, one needs to have unique ideas of organizing and analyzing information. Therefore, the knowledge-based society requires human resources to be creative more than any other type of society.
Second, a self-directed, lifetime learner. Since new skills and information are required continuously in a knowledge-based society, and formal education can provide only basic skills, individuals need to learn to learn continuously and develop their potential skills over a lifetime. Many educational programs are available, but it is difficult to ascertain the quality of these programs and to match them to individual needs. So active seeking and continuous refreshment of knowledge is required in this society.
Third, an effective information processor. In a knowledge-based society, the ability to collect, develop, exchange, store and manage information from various and dispersed data, along with the ability to generate additional information of value are essential. The processing of information also includes the ability to define the nature of information that is needed, to decide the path to get the information, and to evaluate the reliability of any given information.
Fourth, an effective problem solver. The ultimate goal of any information process and knowledge creation is solving problems in real life. Unlike a laboratory situation, artificial and simplified, the problems in the real world have many unexpected variables intermingled. In order to be an effective problem solver, one needs to build up his/her own knowledge in the context where the knowledge is actually used.
Fifth, a responsible user of information. The development of new technology will raise new and unanticipated problems, for example the violation of intellectual property rights, distribution of inappropriate information, and hacking. The knowledge-based society needs people who will make responsible use of information with moral standards.
3. Directions to the education utlizing ICT
As the society changes, new types of people will be needed. The goal of education utilizing ICT should be to graduate students who can meet the requirements of society.
First, education should stimulate students to actively participate. Creative and productive mental activity is valued in the knowledge-based society, and it involves active participation in seeking and analyzing information. The school environment should therefore support activities where students change from passive recipients of knowledge to being active investigators. Relevant materials and plans of classroom activities should also be prepared.
Second, education should enhance studentso ability to carry out self-directed learning. One of the important factors in the knowledge-based society is dealing with the steadily increasing flow of new information that comes into our lives. Students need more than a package of knowledge transferred from the teacher. They must be able to find the information they need on their own, and on the basis of the information they should be able to produce additional information. In order to do so, learning activities need to be presented in a way in which students have to make their own investigations.
Third, ICT should be used as a tool in learning. In the past, some educators have been interested in including ICT skills in the curriculum. However, restricting educational objectives to merely getting ICT skills is not enough. Students must be engaged in higher mental activities via the use of the ICT. To make this happen, ICT must be integrated in the subject matter and used as a tool. So, when evaluating the education in which ICT was used, one must carefully consider the learning objectives, and not just the ICT skills.
Fourth, ICT should be used to provide highquality education inexpensively to everyone. In adapting education to the information age, it is necessary to use ICT and create learning opportunities in cyberspace, and to provide good educational content. At the same time, teachers should be prepared to give assistance whenever learners need help.
Fifth, in every teaching-learning activity, information ethics must be considered. The goal of information ethics education is to instill sound values and enable members of the information society to be good citizens. The main methods of information ethics education should be experience-oriented rather than knowledgeoriented.
Chapter 2. Goals and tasks for adapting education to the information age
1. Goals for adapting education to the information age
Almost all countries of the world are competitively making efforts to adapt education to the knowledge-based society, or information age. Because of the importance of developing human resources in this age, many countries put high priority on projects concerned with adapting education to the information age. Some examples are the NII (National Information Infrastructure) in the USA, the Thinking School and Learning Nation in Singapore, and the NGfL (National Grid for Learning) in the UK. In Korea the project for adapting education to the information age was started in July 1970as a plan for computer education. In early 1990 state level policy was outlined by the Framework Act for the promotion of ICT, and in July 1996 the Enforcement Plan for Adapting Education to the Information Age was formulated.
Adapting education to the information age does not identify a specific activity, but it implies a total change in content, method, and objectives for the educational system. It is a reform of the educational system for the new society through ICT. Furthermore, it is a comprehensive and systematic activity to realize flexible, productive, and efficient education by changing related rules, institutions, and customs, and by changing peopleos attitudes to adapt to the information society.
The specific tasks to adapt education to the information age are carried out in four categories; in elementary and secondary education, in research and universities, in educational administration, and in lifelong education. The goal for adapting information to the current society is to foster creative human resources through implementation of open education, lifelong learning, and a cyber learning system, ultimately making this country strong as far as knowledge is concerned.
2. Tasks for adapting education to the information age
1. Elementary and secondary education
The main tasks for adapting education to the information age are being carried out in four areas, each of which are closely interrelated; elementary and secondary education, research and universities, educational administration, and lifelong education.
Elementary and secondary education involves construction of information infrastructure, adapting curriculum to the information age, staff education, and development and dissemination of educational content.
Construction of information infrastructure consists of the distribution of computers for student and teacher use and the installation of multimedia equipment, and the construction of a computer network that enables internet utilization in the school. Phase 1 of the comprehensive project was completed at the end of the year 2000. Consequently, in every elementary and secondary school, at least one computer lab has been built, fulfilling the necessary physical conditions for internet access for every student. Under this project, the government completed agreements for free or almost-free internet access at schools with relevant institutes in July 2000. Also, in order to reduce the information gap among students from different socioeconomic backgrounds, computers and computer education are provided at no charge to low income students. Financial resources to continue this program is a concern for the government.
Adapting the curriculum to the information age includes the development of the school curriculum and its implementation. In the regular curriculum, information literacy is provided as an elective and as extra-curricular activities. In the year 2001, computer education becomes compulsory from the very first grade of elementary school . Also, in every subject, more than 10% of classroom activities are supposed to make use of computers. In order for this to work effectively, information literacy on the part of the students is crucial. An information literacy certification system is now being used to evaluate and identify studentso skills of information literacy. The certification may be used as one criteria for college entrance, if the college chooses. Information literacy education, along with ICT skills education will be strengthened even more from 2003 onward.
Staff education is also a priority project because the cultivation of professional teachers for ICT education is regarded as a determining factor of the quality of education utilizing ICT. Every year, in-service training is provided to approximately 25% of all teachers, or 85,000 people. From 2001, this education is extended to 33% of all teachers. Training is also provided for 10,000 professional instructors, one from each elementary and secondary school. Strategies have been tried and are under consideration to motivate teachers to improve their ability to use ICT.
The development and dissemination of educational content is proceeding in a systematic manner in public and private sectors. Public sectors include the Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development (through public software contests), each city and provincial Office of Education, and KERIS (the Korea Education & Research Information Service). Beginning in 1988, the development of educational content by private sectors has steadily increased. To promote development by the private sector, purchasing expenses of educational software are supported for each school. Other strategies to promote development and dissemination of educational content include hosting educational software exhibition, establishment of then Authorized Software Distribution Committee, and issuing KERIS certification to quality education software, followed by public announcements. However, both the quantity and quality of educational content is still not completely satisfactory. Continuing efforts and funding will be put into this area with the short-term goal to build a synthetic multimedia service system that covers every subject area of the whole school curriculum.
2. Adapting universities to the information age
The project aimed at adapting universities to the information age fosters academic research, cultivates high quality human resources, and develops cutting-edge scientific technology. The project covers four main tasks: Construction of the academic research information sharing system, management of the education network, adapting the national education university and college of education to the information age, and operation of cyber universities.
One project, construction of the academic research information sharing system, aims to upgrade national competitiveness in academic and research activities by providing research information and by establishing a research information sharing system. At present, KERIS is taking the lead in this endeavor. By 2002, the full text services of nationwide doctoral dissertations and master theses will be available in an online database.
Management of the educational network aims to support education and research activities by connecting educational institutions, government organizations, and other institutions relating education and connecting these to foreign networks. In 2001, installation of LANs in all elementary and secondary schools and connecting these to a super high speed national information network was completed. This environment will bring a rapid increase in internet usage. This initiative requires continuous financial support.
To enhance prospective teachers ICT utilization skills, the Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development supported all 11 national education universities with multimedia labs. In year 2000, the 13 colleges of education of national universities received substantial support. However, facilities and equipment in most universities are insufficient or old, and further financial support is needed.
Operation of cyber universities started in December 2000, after a series of experimental implementations. As of April 2001, 5,235 persons were registered in 9 universities over 39 departments. Operating cyber universities revealed some problems when strengths and weaknesses of cyberspace were not well considered, e.g.: when the platform focused on management only, rather than on learning, and when the professor-student ratio was not adequately balanced. In order to avoid these problems, relevant laws and regulations are needed. These should include curriculum requirements and methods of quality control through an evaluation system.
3. Adapting educational administration to the information age
The goal of adapting educational administration to the information age is to provide efficient and consumer-oriented educational administration, which promotes prompt and accurate decision-making. This is a systematic and hierarchical project in which the integrity and security of information and relevant laws and regulations must be taken into consideration.
By the end of 2002 a business process system will be developed enabling online process of various works of every school and every office of education.
4. Adapting lifelong education to the information age
In the knowledge-based society, formal education is not intended to provide knowledge to students that will sustain them for a lifetime. Because the body of knowledge is ever expanding and changing in this society, schools must prepare students for a lifetime of learning. The use of ICT for non-student learners provides an effective means for lifelong education.
The contents of lifelong education through ICT includes formal education, information literacy education, and occupation information. In order to provide this, a comprehensive information service system for lifelong education is under construction.
Also, a lifelong education service for people in foreign countries is planned and beginning to apply focusing on helping individual Koreans in all over the world to adapt to their respective country and to understand Korean culture.
Part 2. Adapting Education to the Information Age: The Present Situation
Chapter 1. Statutes, Institutions, and the Enforcement System Concerning ICT Use in Education
1. Statutes and Institutions Concerning ICT Use in Education
1. Statutes on ICT Use in Education
The statutes on ICT use in education do not form a coherent set but scattered in diverse laws of various categories. The acts, regulations, or enforcement decrees on the following matters contain articles related to ICT use in education: elementary and secondary education, higher education, curriculum books, training of teachers, vocational training, local education subsidies, the organization of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, the Korea Education and Research Information Service, software industry promotion, copyright, and library and reading promotion. Many of the statutes, however, do not adequately reflect increasing ICT usage and the changing social tides. We thus have to make the statutes more reflective of the reality by creating new rules or by revising the existing statutes.
2. Directions for New Statutes
A. General Statements
Two principles are used in designing the guidelines for the improvement of the statutes and institutions regarding ICT use in education. The social environment is changing rapidly with wide applications of new digital technology. So one principle is to bring the statutes up-to-date. The other is to provide authority to control the negative and undesirable aspects of the information society such as cyber crimes, information gaps, and the circulation of socially unhealthy information. Using these principles, the following are suggested for statute creation and revision.
B. Specific Guidelines
Chapter 2. ICT Use in Elementary and Secondary Schools
1. Construction of Information Infrastructure in Education
The construction of an information infrastructure is essential for the consolidation of the foundations of the information society and the enhancement of the nationos ICT literacy. Korea has been pursuing the construction of information infrastructure for ICT use in education since 1997. It was inaugurated as the Three-Year Plan for the Construction of ICT Infrastructure (19971999), but revised under the Comprehensive Plan for ICT Use in Elementary and Secondary Schools (1998-2002) in 1998. This comprehensive plan was again modified in 1999. The latest policy, currently in effect, is the Five-Year Plan for Education Development (1999-2003).
The adoption of the new policy and the revision of existing plans reflects a growing awareness that the paradigm of society is changing with the dynamics of the information society. If an individual, company, or state does not keep up with the changing paradigm, it may fall behind with the times, miss the mainstream of the age, and lose global competitiveness. The advanced countries have been supporting the construction of an information infrastructure in education as a vital state project in preparation for an information society for some time. Recognizing the global trend and its potential impact for future development, Korea has set a goal of joining a group of ten strong countries in terms of knowledge and information in the 21st century and begun to enforce a national project for ICT use in education.
President Kim Dae Jung, in his New Year Message for 2000, proclaimed his goal to establish a Comprehensive Plan for ICT Use in Education by 2000. In the early stages of infrastructure development, every elementary and secondary school has installed a LAN and can connect to the Internet. More than 13,000 computer labs are now in use by teachers and students in these schools. Each of the 222,000 classrooms has PCs and multimedia equipment installed. PCs have also been distributed to every teaching staff member, up to 340,000 people. At the completion of the infrastructure construction for ICT use in education, every elementary and secondary school teacher will bw able to exploit the Internet for teaching and learning and help students develop selfdirected and explorative learning abilities.
1. History
The infrastructure construction for ICT use in education was initially planned as a threeyear project. The goal of this early three-year plan, 1997-1999, was to establish the basis for an open education system to cultivate creative human resources in preparation for the 21st century by completing the infrastructure development. The initial plan was revised in June 1998 into a Comprehensive Plan for ICT Use in Elementary and Secondary Schools. The revision was made with several policy guidelines in mind: the promotion of studentso use of ICT equipment; a comprehensive and balanced promotion of ICT use in education; distribution of ICT equipment to end-users; efficient budget allocation and resource reallocation; diversification of teacher training programs; improvements in educational software development; continuing inspection of the progress of projects in the field; guidance and supervision; and introduction of an evaluation system for teachers’ ICT utilization.
As part of the revision, the number of PCs distributed for student computer labs was reduced to 433,500 units from the original 531,693 units, and the target year was delayed from 1999 to 2000. The number of PCs to be distributed by the private sector was drastically reduced to 95,000 units from the original 260,000 units.
The distribution plan for PCs for teachers was also revised. The distribution was to be made annually and completed by 2002 and the number of PCs to be distributed was set at 343,000 units. Among these PCs, 107,000 units were distributed to elementary school homeroom teachers and counted in the quota allocated for the project for classroom advancement. Each Provincial Office of Education has the authority to decide the specifications of the PCs to be distributed.
The project for classroom advancement was also revised. Distribution and installation of multimedia equipment in classrooms is the main substance of this project. The original project faced several problems including the underdevelopment of software; a lack of training for teachers to utilize the equipment; uniform distribution especially to middle and high schools that did not need the equipment; and the absence of a utilization plan for existing equipment such as TVs and VCRs. As a result of the revision, equipment is to be installed with working ICT utilization plans regardless of the school level or grade and priority is given to the elementary schools that show higher utilization rate of multimedia equipment. The period of the project was also extended from three years (1997-1999) to six years (1997-2002).
Specifically, each national school classroom is to have one unit of each of the following: a multimedia PC, a TV, a VCR, a visual presenter, an OHP and screen, a printer, and a computer table. For public schools classrooms, there are two installation models. A-type classrooms will have a multimedia PC, an encorder, a projection TV, and a VCR. B-type classrooms will receive a multimedia PC, monitor, decorder, and a VCR.
LAN construction in the schools has been delayed from 2000 to 2002. But LAN construction in elementary, middle, and high schools across the nation was completed earlier than the target year. Following the New Yearos Message 18 Chapter 2. ICT Use in Elementary and Secondary Schools from the President in January 2000, a revision was made to the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan for ICT Use in Education. The revised Plan increased the budget input for LAN installation, PC distribution to teachers and classrooms, and financial aid for Internet access in the schools. As a result of this policy change and increased resource input, the first stage of the comprehensive plan was successfully implemented while the completion period was shortened.
2. Achievements
The revision of the Comprehensive Plan for ICT Use in Education strained the budget allocated initially for the plan. The early completion of the infrastructure construction needed more funds, which were provided by the Information Society Promotion Fund, the issuance of bonds, and by lease contracts. The total cost for this infrastructure construction reached 1,567.7 billion won. By the end of 2000, all of the nationos 10,064 schools had finished LAN installations and Internet connections. A total of 431,981 PCs had been installed in the computer labs. Multimedia equipment and PCs were allocated to 222,146 classrooms, and PCs were distributed to each of 340,854 teachers.
A. Distribution of PCs to Computer Labs in Elementary and Secondary Schools
Efforts have been made to distribute PCs to computer labs, the foundation for ICT use in education. It also supports the increase of computer use in elementary school education and the emphasis on ICT use in the Seventh Educational Curriculum. A total of 431,981 units were distributed to computer labs in more than 10,000 schools by 2000. The size of the school was considered in allocating the PCs. Schools with more than 36 classrooms received PCs for two computer labs and those with less than 36 classrooms were given PCs for one computer lab. By school level, 235,333 units were given to elementary schools, 121,259 units to middle schools, and 75,389 units to high schools.
A total of 131,990 units were distributed in 2000 alone, constituting 30.5% of the total units distributed. This nationwide PC distribution lowered the student-PC ratio from 23.8 students per PC in 1999 to 16.7 students per PC in 2000. However, 486-CPU machines still form 5 percent (21,954 units) of total units distributed and need to be replaced with later models.
The private sector contributed 86,866 units to the distribution of PCs for computer labs. This number exceeds the distribution goal expected in the original plan by 127%. Thanks to the contribution by the private sector, the government saved 111.8 billion won. Hundreds of enterprises participated in this private sector distribution providing 22,672 units in 2000.
B. Distribution of PCs to Teachers
The goal of the project to distribute PCs to teachers is to provide a PC for each teacher in elementary and secondary schools by 2000. A total of 340,854 units were distributed to teachers by the end of 2000. By school level, 139,521 units were distributed to elementary school teachers, 91,025 units to middle school teachers, and 110,308 units to high school teachers. Among the PCs distributed to elementary school teachers, 103,716 units are counted as PCs distributed for the project of the advancement of teaching facilities. The distribution of PCs to teachers in the field lowered the teacher-PC ratio from 1.4 teachers per PC in 1999 to one teacher per PC in 2000. However, 9,319 units (2.7%) of the PCs for teachers are 486-CPU machines and need to be upgraded.
C. Distribution of Equipment for the Advancement of Teaching Facilities
The main goal of the advancement of teaching facilities is to provide multimedia equipment to 200,000 of the nationos elementary, middle, and high school classrooms. The equipment is classified as essential and optional. Essential equipment includes 586 or upper level CPU computers and one image device. The image device can be a projection TV, a monitor, an LCD projector, or a TV encorder depending on the school level, grade, and number of the students in the school. Each school can choose from visual presenters, scanners, and/or digital cameras as optional equipment if necessary. Each Provincial Office of Education held public demonstrations showing several model teaching facilities in order to help school managers make autonomous decisions in choosing the equipment appropriate for their classrooms.
Equipment had been distributed to 222,146 classrooms by the end of 2000. The improvement of teaching facilities was completed in 118,576 elementary school classrooms, 52,433 classrooms in middle schools, 48,818 classrooms in high schools, and 2,319 classrooms in special schools. Equipment was installed in 112,020 classrooms, 50.6% of the total classrooms, in 2000 alone. Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, however, distributed only PCs due to a budget shortage. The other image devices were scheduled to be distributed in 2001.
3. School LAN and Internet Access
The use of Internet is an indispensable part of ICT use in education. This is promoted by LAN construction within each school. The LAN in a school helps teachers and students use ICT and get access to the Internet. LAN construction started in 1997 and was completed in 10,064 elementary and secondary schools by 2000. In 2000 alone, 5,762 schools or 57.2% of the schools in the initial plan were attached to the network.
The schools with LANs are connected to the National Information Superhighway to log on to the Internet. Some schools use leased lines that connect them directly to the National Information Superhighway via their local Office of Education and Provincial Office of Education. Other schools use leased lines only to their local Office of Education or Provincial Office of Education, which is in turn connected to the National Information Superhighway. A few schools are connected directly. As of 2000, 9,959 schools were connected to the Internet, 8,055 schools to Pubnet, and 1,904 schools used leased lines. The number of schools that are connected to Internet is smaller than the total number of schools installed with LANs because some neighboring schools share a single leased line for their access to the Internet.
4. Measures Taken after the Infrastructure Construction for ICT Use in Education(2001)
Though the infrastructure has been constructed in accord with the plan for 2000, it caused financial difficulties in Provincial Offices of Education as each Office of Education was in charge of the maintenance as well as the distribution of PCs and information equipment. Some Provincial Offices of Education issued public loans or incurred debts to finance the infrastructure construction. The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development thus took necessary measures to reduce the financial straits of the Provincial Offices of Education.
A. Subsidy to Local Educational Finance
The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development recommended that the Provincial Offices of Education allocate a substantial part of the central government’s subsidy for the infrastructure construction for ICT use in education. As this was not a compulsory guideline, the financial contribution to infrastructure construction was not made evenly by the respective Offices of Education. For this reason the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development defined standard expenses for the unit projects and revised the enforcement rules of the subsidy to local educational finance in March 2001. The Ministry handed over 450 billion won to local governments as a subsidy to local educational finance in April 2001.
The Ministry also defined enforcement guidelines for the subsidy to ensure the effective promotion of ICT use in education. The funds are to be allocated as follows: 40% for infrastructure construction (based on the number of schools); 30% for reinforced education for ICT use (based on the number of students); 15% for maintenance and repair of PCs and other equipment (based on the number of PCs); and 15% for ICT use in educational administration (based on the number of schools).
B. Financial Support for Internet Connection Fee, Public Loans and Lease Contracts
In the 2000 Presidential Address, President Kim Dae Jung announced that government will provide a financial support for Internet connection for five years. Observing the President os announcement, the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development provided 11.7 billion won for national, public, and private schools in 2001. This amount supplements 100% of the Internet connection fees for national elementary and secondary schools, 50% of the fees for public schools and a part of the fees for private schools.
The advancement of teaching facilities remained incomplete in some national schools in 2000 owing to the lack of funds. These schools, however, were given multimedia equipment for their classrooms in 2001. Each classroom that was included in the project for the first time received a PC and another image device. For the classrooms using outdated PCs installed in 1997, a certain amount of money was allocated to replace the old PCs. Distribution of new equipment was especially made to 123 classrooms in five schools including a special education school. The replacement of old PCs was completed in 118 classrooms in nine schools. The amount allocated to new installations was 3.5 million won for each classroom (3.7 million won for special classrooms). The amount for PC replacement was one million won for each classroom.
The seven Provincial Offices of Education were indebted to public funds and private financial institutions for a total of 205.4 billion won in order to implement the main projects related to ICT use in education. They also carried out the President’s policies regarding ICT use in education, as mentioned in the New Year Address, by entering into lease contracts for the distribution of PCs and other equipment. The lease amount totaled 91.1 billion won. These loans and leases stressed the finances of the Provincial Offices of Education. The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development relieved the financial burden of the Provincial Offices of Education by paying a part of the first-year payment of their loans and leases. The Ministry provided 7.5 billion won for loan payments and 7.4 billion won for lease payments in 2001.
The Ministry promoted the distribution of PCs to schools by encouraging the participation of private enterprises. Private companies were advised to install PCs for free, and then allowed to run after-school computer classes with moderate fees. The schools, however, had little interest in inducing the support from private enterprises and were not active in the program. The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development thus set up a new incentive program to encourage schools to have more interest in the inducement of private enterprises. By evaluating schools regarding their collaboration with private enterprises, the Ministry designated some schools as model schools. In 2001, it selected 23 schools across the nation as model schools and provided 100 million won for each school to support network construction and computer lab operation in the school.
5. Next Steps
The infrastructure construction for ICT use in education was completed in 2000 thanks to the early accomplishment of the first phase of the Comprehensive Plan for ICT Use in Education. However, completion of the infrastructure construction does not mean that we have reached the goal of ICT use in education. Rather, it poses a challenge to us. President Kim Dae Jung set forth the essential points in his speech delivered at a ceremony in April 2001 celebrating the infrastructure construction and Internet connection in elementary and secondary schools. He announced that we should utilize the new educational infrastructure and Internet to solve enduring problems in education, enhance the quality of education, introduce new educational institutions, develop new educational content, and promote cyber education. Following the President’s statement, the Minister of Education and Human Resources Development promised at the same ceremony to endeavor with might and main to develop Korea into a strong country of human resources by accelerating ICT use in education. Newspaper editorials at the time also pointed out the need for development of new software and teaching materials as the next task after infrastructure construction. Summing up, we understand the following as imminent tasks to be addressed after the early infrastructure construction for ICT use in education: to improve teachers’ICT literacy; to develop new curriculum and teaching methods using ICT; and to produce new educational content using ICT. We also understand that we must continue to improve the infrastructure and maintain the ICT instruments. To improve of the ICT infrastructure to the level of the advanced OECD countries, we must reduce the student-PC ratio to five students per PC and raise the Internet communication speed to at least 2Mbps. The accomplishment of these tasks requires more resource input and institutional collaboration not only between governmental organizations but also between the public and the private sector.
2. Development and Distribution of Educational Content
1. Overview
By utilizing ICT for the innovation of the teaching-learning methods and by raising the rate of ICT use in every curriculum to at least 20%, we are going to nurture creative human resources who will lead the knowledge-based society with enhanced problem-solving ability and autonomous learning ability.
This statement is listed as one of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development’s major policy goals in its Comprehensive Plan for ICT Use in Education. It also reveals the Ministry’s determination to transform and improve teaching and learning methods in schools for the next five years.
The infrastructure construction in elementary and secondary schools has raised an expectation of improvements in teaching and learning methods. This raised expectation is expressed in increased demands for new educational content utilizing ICT. The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development and relevant educational institutions have already taken measures to meet new demands in this regard.
First, they changed the direction of their support regarding software development. They now encourage the development of educational materials such as multimedia educational content or teaching guides that can be used in classrooms, rather than the individual studentoriented CAI-type software.
Second, they redefined the nature of software contests. Formerly these contests were held just to improve teachers’ computer literacy. Now the contests are held to encourage teachers to develop educational materials relevant to teaching activities in their field.
Third, they shuffled the organizations in charge of educational content development. Formerly each educational institution developed educational content without any collaboration among the institutions. This development pattern tended to generate redundant educational materials. Now a council coordinates the development of educational content among the relevant institutions. This arrangement prevents duplication and encourages the development of diverse educational content tailored to specific grades or curriculum. Besides, a nationwide network made possible by the Internet promotes the distribution and sharing of educational content developed by separate institutions.
There are other programs in operation which are designed to encourage educational content development. KERIS confers a quality mark on excellent educational content developed by private companies. Educational software and content exhibitions are held every year to give software users the chance to examine and test new educational software and content. The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development and the Offices of Education in cities and provinces provide financial support to schools for their purchase of new educational software and content.
2. Current Status of the Development and Distribution of Educational Content
Multimedia educational materials, teaching software, and teaching-learning plans using ICT are the main forms of educational content that have received increased attention since 2000. Multimedia educational content supplies images, sounds, dynamic images, animations, or module programs (basic learning units) as materials for each subject. Teachers can use these materials directly as supplement in classroom teaching or as basic materials for developing their own educational content.
Teaching software typically relates to a specific subject in curriculum. Each Provincial Office of Education was in charge of the development of this software. But the development showed unevenness in terms of the school level, grade, and curriculum for which the software is designed. Some subjects were overdeveloped and the others were underdeveloped. The development of teaching software is now coordinated by an ad hoc council that promotes balanced software development while preventing redundancy. Besides, new software is designed to meet the distinctive demands of specific school levels, grades or curriculum. These materials are now more suitable to classroom use than an individual student use.
The teaching-learning plan using ICT is an innovation and change from the previous teaching-learning plan. This new plan encourages teachers to use multimedia educational materials and the Internet. The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development and the Provincial Offices of Education have already designated several schools for the development of this new form of teaching-learning plan. Teachersovoluntary curriculum clubs are also working on the new plans.
These educational materials are to be distributed progressively through EDUNET in accordance with the application of the Seventh Educational Curriculum. The distribution of multimedia educational content began in May 2001. Teaching software and new teachinglearning plans will be available in early 2002. The distribution of these educational materials will speed up the utilization of ICT equipment and greatly improve the operation of classes.
The development of educational content is promoted through other activities. The educational software contest has been held since 1992. Teachers in the field, prospective teachers, and other staff engaged in education are encouraged to participate in the contest. It provides an opportunity for those in the educational profession to develop new software and teaching-learning plans applicable in the field. The contest has recently encouraged the development of web-type software oriented to multi-users in the Internet environment.
As for other programs for the development of educational content, the program of Authentication of Educational Software helps consumers choose reliable educational software. This program also helps software developers by providing a direction for software development and improvement. Educational Software Exhibitions are held in major cities every year. These exhibitions promote the utilization of educational software by giving teachers the chance to try new software. The entries and software in the exhibitions are increasing every year. The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development and the Offices of Education subsidize schools in order to promote the use of authentic software and to develop the growth of the software industry. This program started in 2000. As of now, 88 companies supply 183 kinds of authentic educational software to schools.
A. Joint Development by the Offices of Education (1988-1996)
The initial development of educational content was carried out by the Computer Education Research Center in the Korean Educational Development Institute. It developed CAI software for supplementary and intensive learning in elementary and secondary schools, software for the management of teaching instruments, and authoring tools for teachers with the assistance from the Ministry of Education and HRD and the Offices of Education in cities and provinces. But the software was not widely utilized in the field due to the lack of computers in schools, the low capacity of outdated computers, and the change of operating system from DOS to WINDOWS. The development of educational content thus has been in the hands of each Office of Education since 1995. But a joint development system is began in 2001 to ensure content sharing and standardization and to promote Internet access for elementary and secondary schools. Multimedia educational materials have already been developed by the joint development system for second-class textbooks. We expect that teaching software and teachinglearning plans will also be developed jointly in the near future.
B. Separate Development by Each Office of Education (1995-2000)
Individual Offices of Education in cities and provinces were in charge of the development of educational content from 1995 to 2000. By 1999, they had produced 1,156 items of software and added 193 items in 2000. Though the early software developed up to 1996 ran in the DOS environment, the later programs were designed for WINDOWS environment using various authoring tools. We have selected 1,219 items from the software developed from 1997 to 2000 for distribution. By school level, there are 530 items for elementary schools, 296 for middle schools, 332 for high schools, and 61 for kindergartens and common use. Each Office of Education in the cities and provinces distributes this software to the schools in its district.
C. Educational Software Contest (1992-2000)
The educational software contest has been held since 1992 to encourage the development educational software and to enhance teachers’ interest in ICT use. KERIS manages this national contest under the auspices of the Chapter 2. ICT Use in Elementary and Secondary Schools Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development. The Offices of Education in the cities and provinces hold preliminary contests in their districts.
The contest has been focused on the software for individual learning in seven sections according to the categories of curriculum before 1998. The sections for software for collective learning and web-type software were added in 1998 reflecting the distribution of PCs and multimedia equipment. In 1999 the contest opened its door to prospective teachers, students studying education in college or university, to enhance their interest in educational software. Web-type and conventional type software were recognized equally in 2000 in consideration of the increase use of Internet. The proportion of web-type software receiving award in the 2001 contest increased to 70%, corresponding to the rise in the use of Internet following the infrastructure construction in elementary and secondary schools.
The award-winning software is provided to schools for use in teaching. They are also provided to the general public by school level or by subject after proper revisions. KERIS provided the Offices of Education with CDROMs containing 1,668 items of award-winning software prior to 1998. Since then it has been distributed through EDUNET to increase distribution efficiency and save expenses. Software smaller than 10 Mb is distributed for free. But software bigger than 10 Mb is provided at cost. A distribution agency handles orders for old software that is not currently distributed through EDUNET. KERIS also held homepage contests in 1999 and 2000 to promote an information culture and ICT use in families and schools and to encourage educational content development. The homepage contest has two categories, one for families and the other for teachers and students. KERIS has given awards to more than 60 homepages so far.
D. Educational Content Development by KERIS (1997-2000)
KERIS is a leading institution that promotes ICT use in education. It strives to develop new software in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development and the Offices of Education in cities and provinces. It is especially interested in developing software of the following kinds: software that must be provided quickly due to curriculum changes; software that is not developed by the private sector due to low market demand; software that is necessary for the public benefit; edutainment software that will be a model for the private sector; and software that enhances cooperation or discussion in the learning process. It also collects the educational content developed by the private sector. KERIS distributes the software and content collected and developed alone or jointly through EDUNET.
EDUNET provides different educational content according to the type of content user. For example, it operates channels for teachers who need content for teaching purpose; channels for elementary and secondary school students; and channels for high school students who are interested in admission to colleges and universities or their course in life. It also has channels for parents, preschoolers and handicapped children. In addition, EDUNET connects content producers and users by allowing content producers to provide their materials directly to those who need them.
E. Software Development by the Private Sector
The development and distribution of educational content have been carried out mainly by public institutions such as the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, the Offices of Education in cities and provinces, and KERIS. Teachers at each school level have also played a role in the development of educational content with the encouragement and support from these public institutions. But the educational materials developed by public institutions are not enough to meet the growing and diverse demands for high-quality content. The development and distribution of educational material by private companies is of help in this regard. The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development and the Offices of Education in cities and provinces have been operating programs to provide financial assistance to schools that purchase software and educational content in the market.
KERIS also has been active in the development and distribution of quality educational materials by the private sector. It enforces the authentication of educational software and sponsors the educational software fairs. The authentication program encourages the development of quality educational content by private companies. This program also provides teachers, students, and parents with the information on appropriate educational content. The educational software fairs promote especially the distribution of educational materials as these fairs provide the opportunity for consumers to select appropriate educational content and software they need.
3. Promotion of the Use of Educational Materials
A. Authentication of Educational Software
As hundreds of educational software programs are produced every year, it is not easy for teachers, students, or parents to evaluate the quality of these. They cannot try a large number of programs, nor can they choose appropriate ones by depending upon the advertising. KERIS has been enforcing the authentication of educational software since August 1998 to help them with this problem. On the one hand, the authentication program helps software consumers get reliable information on educational software. On the other hand, it helps software developers by providing direction for software development and improvement. KERIS has an Authentication Committee to perform the evaluation function. This committee consists of experts on software development, specialists on software evaluation, the curriculum specialists to ensure fair, objective, and professional evaluation. The committee evaluates the educational software developed by private companies and that developed jointly by domestic and foreign companies. The evaluation is conducted differently according to the categories of software. The software is divided into web-type and CD-type. It is then categorized as teaching-learning software, instrumental software, or software for educational administration. The Authentication Committee makes the final decision as pAcceptableqorpNon-acceptableq For the pAcceptableqsoftware, it grants an authentication certificate and allows the printing of an authentication mark on the final product.
The committee approved 817 software programs aspAcceptableqbetween 1998 and 2001. The approval rate is 58%. By school level, the committee approved 47 titles for kindergarten, 299 for elementary school, 165 for middle school, 158 for high school, 1 for special school, and 147 for the public at large. Details of the evaluation results are provided to software developers so that they can refer to the results for revision and improvement of their software.
KERIS maintains a list of authenticated software on its EDUNET homepage and provides the software through e-trade. In addition, every year it publishes a list of excellent educational software and sends it to every school.
B. Educational Software Exhibitions
The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, the Offices of Education in cities and provinces, and KERIS have been sponsoring a tour of the educational software fair in major cities since 1998. The exhibitions are held to promote the utilization of educational software by providing the teachers with opportunities to examine and try new software. Each exhibition holds auxiliary events such as seminars on ICT use in education. The exhibitions show new technologies, introduce a variety of new software, and thus enhance interests in educational software. Before the exhibitions are held, a handbook of educational software is distributed to every school in order to help teachers identify the software they wish to examine. A total of 92 software companies submitted entries in 2001. About 1,000 software programs were exhibited and more than 25,000 viewers visited the exhibitions. In addition to the actual exhibitions, KERIS is planning to hold exhibitions in cyber space for the promotion of educational software utilization. Cyber space will provide a channel through which software companies and schools can meet to exchange information regarding the supply and demand of educational software. This new channel will be another spur for the development of our software industry.
C. Committee for Authentic Software Use
The Committee for Authentic Software Use was formed in 1999 to drive out the use of illegal software and to promote the use of authentic software in elementary and secondary schools. Using authentic software is essential for copyright protection and promotes an ethical information culture in our society. The committee consists of the concerned officials from the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, the Offices of Education in cities and provinces, and KERIS. This committee promotes the use of authentic software at a bulk rate that the committee negotiates with the software company for bulk supply of software to schools. The software company provides authentic software at a bulk rate anticipating the generation of new software demands in schools and an accompanying increase of the users of the software. Each school received an average of one million won for the purchase of authentic software in 2001. The actual purchases are decided by each school or the Office of Education in each city and province.
D. Evaluation of Education Sites in Cyber Space
Everyone who tries to retrieve educational information from the Internet has the following questions in mind:pWhere can I find the information I want? Will the information be really valuable to me?qKERIS conducts the evaluation of education sites in cyber space to reduce such doubts of Internet users. The specific purpose of the evaluation is, first, to serve educational information users by guaranteeing the quality of educational information at a national level. The second purpose is to promote the development of cyber education services by raising the quality of educational information sites. And lastly, this activity contributes to the expansion of a favorable attitude and orientation toward ICT use in education among the public.
An evaluation committee conducts the actual evaluation. The committee members consist of professors in education, web specialists, and teachers in service who serve as EDUNET supporters. They use a five-level scale to evaluate the education sites for three aspects: content of education, teaching design, and educational environment. The final score for each site is the average score across all three evaluation items. KERIS regularly releases the final evaluation results on EDUNET. In April 2001, KERIS announced its final evaluation score for 19 education sites selected among the 120 sites currently registered in EDUNET. KERIS selected only five education sites as top-level.
4. Current Status of the EDUNET Shopping Mall
The EDUNET Shopping Mall is a cyber mall operated by KERIS. The mall was established as an e-trade site to serve the demands of EDUNET users for educational content, software, publications, and other educational instruments. Currently it provides a number of educational items for EDUNET users. Specifically, the mall provides with 28 publications from KERIS, 96 items of educational software, 350,000 books and supplementary books for learning, 7,500 CDs and DVDs, and 8 educational instruments.
3. EDUNET
1. History
EDUNET is an integrated service network for educational information established that attempts to meet information demands from teachers, students, and parents through PC communication. It was established with several aims in mind: to actively prepare for the rapidly changing information society; to enhance global competitiveness in education; to construct a foundation for open and continuing education; and to provide an effective communication service for educational information. The basic plan for EDUNET was prepared by the Promotion Subcommittee of ICT Use in Education in April 1996. It started its service in September 1996 and the Korean Educational Development Institute was initially charged with its operation. When the Korea Multimedia Education Center was established in March 1997, it took charge of the operation of EDUNET. The Korea Multimedia Education Center was incorporated into the Korea Education and Research Information Service (KERIS) in April 1999, and KERIS is now in charge of the operation of EDUNET.
2. Current Operations
An important function of education in the 21st century information society is to foster the development of people equipped with a creative mind and an ability for self-directed learning and systematic problem-solving. This task needs an information network that serves diversified educational consumers with all kinds of educational information. EDUNET is an integrated information network established for that purpose. It provides the information channel through which every education consumer can retrieve the information he or she needs in the knowledge-based information society. EDUNET aims to promote the achievement of the following goals:
EDUNET operates with more than 50 servers, including three web servers, nine mail servers, seven user-connection servers, thirteen database and contents servers, six community servers, and ten other servers. EDUNET has both modem-connection circuits and Internetconnection circuits. The modem-connection circuits consist of 01410, 01411, 01412, and ISDN channels. The Internet-connection circuits are linked to the Very High Speed National Network Internet and the Korean Telecom Internet for foreign and domestic Internet connection, and linked to the Korea Telecom IX, Dacom IX, and Thrunet for domestic-only Internet connection. The circuits capacity reaches 286Mbps. As of June 2001, the EDUNET servers and circuits have the capacity to provide services for 16,500 simultaneous users.
EDUNET has accumulated 1,304GB of information in twelve categories since its inauguration in September 1996. The information is supplied through text and web services. The types of information available on EDUNET are multimedia educational information, a question bank database, a dictionary database, a subject application database, information on university entrance exams, research-aid materials for teachers, teaching-aid materials for teachers, information for training of teachers, information on continuing education, information for parents, and other educational information. The information of EDUNET is provided differentially in accord with the diversified information demands from teachers, parents, students of elementary, middle, and high school, and the general public. Chapter 2. ICT Use in Elementary and Secondary Schools
3. Membership
As of June 2001, the total number of EDUNET subscribers reached over 4.3 million. The membership has shown an average annual growth rate of 140% since the EDUNET started its service in 1996. The number of individual subscribers in December 1996 was 40,000. It grew to 190,000 in December 1997, 570,000 in December 1998, 1,530,000 in December 1999, and 2,630,000 in December 2000(See Table 2-2-1). Teachers and students make up the largest part of the current subscribers. The number of teacher subscribers is currently 320,000, forming 86% of practicing teachers. There are more than 3 million student subscribers, 38% of the students enrolled in elementary and secondary schools. The biggest subscriber group is students in elementary schools (1,260,000 subscribers), followed by middle school students (920,000), high school students (850,000), students in colleges and universities (360,000), and teachers (320,000). The subscription to EDUNET is continuously increasing. Several factors contributed to this trend. EDUNET has not only expanded its quantity of service but also improved its quality of service. Every school now has the means to log on to the Internet thanks to the infrastructure construction for ICT use in education. In addition, the designation of EDUNET model schools has encouraged the use of EDUNET in teaching. As new subscribers are added at the rate of 9,400 every day, the total membership is expected to reach 5 million subscribers by the end of 2001. With the increase of EDUNET users, the average access frequency and access hours have been continuously increasing too(See Table 2-2-2).
4. Prospects
It is essential for EDUNET to improve its facilities and services in order to serve its everincreasing number of subscribers and to maintain its function as a comprehensive educational information network. We emphasize three aspects in this regard: system, circuits, and services.
A. System
We believe the following issues have to be addressed for the general improvement of the EDUNET system.
First, it is necessary to secure the funds for system expansion in order to meet the demands of the growing number of subscribers and users. Though the subscribers are increasing at the rate of 140% annually, EDUNET system capacity is not increasing fast enough to serve them all. Thus it is essential to secure the funds for long-term system expansion.
Second, it is necessary to increase the number of servers and to reallocate server resources so that the increasing number of EDUNET users can access the system without delay.
Third, it is necessary to construct a double and decentralized server system in order to keep the EDUNET system operating 24-hours a day without system shutdown. The present system is on a single server mode. It has to be shut down and cannot provide services when system errors occur. The construction of a double and decentralized server system would keep the system available at all times.
Fourth, it is necessary to divide the application program and database servers to speed up service. Currently the same server manages both the application programs and databases. When the application program users and database users access the system simultaneously, it can cause system overload and reduce the service speed. The solution for this problem is to divide the application and database server.
Last, it is necessary to install more highcapacity data storage. More than 3GB of data and information are added to EDUNET storage every day. The expansion of storage capacity is thus essential to the stable operation of EDUNET.
B. Circuits
Following are some ideas for improvement of the EDUNET communication circuits.
First, it is necessary to increase the access speed. The doubling of EDUNET users and multimedia information causes circuit overload, reducing the communication speed. The speed of communication can be increased by expanding the ISP and Internet access circuits and shortening the access paths.
Second, it is necessary to increase the number of modem communication ports to enhance the rate of connection success and the communication speed. The easiest solution is to increase the number of connection ports for high-speed modems of 56 Kbps and up.
Third, it is necessary to construct decentralized access paths by providing EDUNET branching services in the Offices of Education in cities and provinces provide the. With each Office of Education functioning as an EDUNET branch circuit for access, the network will be decentralized and access paths will be shortened.
Last, it is necessary to provide an fail-safe network service by installing redundant major communication equipment and accessories.
C. Services
We need to consider improving the following EDUNET services.
First, it is necessary to reinforce the EDUNET channel service. Demands for new services and information are increasing with the increased numbers of subscribers and access time. Thus additional personnel for contents and channel services are needed to actively meet the demands.
Second, it is necessary to develop specialized services to enhance the competitive power of EDUNET as an information service network.
Third, it is necessary to reinforce customer service. More personnel and facilities are necessary for the enhancement of customer service, especially responding to questions regarding subscription and network access.
Finally, it is necessary to establish an effective monitoring system to stabilize the operation of EDUNET and intercept socially harmful information.
4. Education for ICT Utilization
1. Current Situation
Education for ICT utilization has been underway since 2001. But its activities in the field are carried out without a clear understanding of its necessity or merit. Teachers understand it as the current educational trend and just simply use ICT equipment in their teaching with a vague conception of ICT utilization. The main form of current ICT utilization is the production and use of multimedia content and presentation materials as auxiliary educational instruments that help students learn various subjects in class. Reliable data are not available regarding the degree and extent of ICT utilization in various levels of schools. The schools are different from each other in terms of the degree of schoolmastersoand teacherso understanding of ICT utilization and studentso ability to use ICT instruments.
The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development has initiated several programs to encourage ICT utilization. The Ministry developed guidelines for ICT utilization and distributed an explanatory booklet on the guidelines as a curriculum supplement in December 2000. In addition, the Ministry distributed guidebooks with detailed teaching guidelines for ICT utilization by school level. According to this guidebook, the education for ICT utilization is to be carried out in eight ways: information retrieval, information analysis, information guidance, cooperative study, information interchange with experts, discussion on the web, e-pals, and information production. Each class can choose not just one but several of these eight ways to promote ICT utilization.
We can point out two main features regarding these various methods of ICT utilization. First, they are designed to encourage the participation of students in the class. Second, they are designed to promote the utilization of diverse forms of ICT. In fact, there are a variety of ways of communication using ICT: web browsers, information retrieval engines, online chatting, teleconferencing, message transmission instruments, e-mail, and electronic bulletin boards. These various communication methods are used for dialogue and information exchange among teachers, among students, between teachers and students, or between teachers or educational administrators and parents. As for information analysis and information production, there are several types of software including word processors, presentation software, authoring tools, spreadsheets, and database software. For presentation of the outcomes of learning, we have multimedia production software and editing software. Teachers can utilize a variety of multimedia educational materials through EDUNET. New multimedia educational materials are in the process of development in accord with the Seventh Educational Curriculum. A total of 18,500 items of multimedia educational materials are to be developed annually on 58 textbooks of 38 kinds among the first-class textbooks used in the spring semester of 2001. The development of new multimedia educational materials will continue with the adoption of new textbooks according to the Seventh Educational Curriculum.
Effective ICT utilization depends heavily on teachers as they prepare their class and lead students in ICT utilization. The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development has been training teachers for ICT utilization since 1997, and the number of teachers who have finished training for ICT utilization has been growing each year. One third of teachers (113,000 teachers) will receive the training every year starting in 2001. Thanks to this training, more teachers manage their daily routines with ICT instruments. Nevertheless, ICT utilization is not actively promoted in the actual teaching and learning process in classrooms. Thus we understand that the training of teachers for ICT utilization should focus less on the enhancement of the teacherso abilities to use ICT instruments and more on the development of ways that encourage interaction between teachers and students by utilizing ICT.
There is an effort on the part of schools for ICT utilization. The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development has designated 23 research schools for ICT utilization. Each Office of Education in cities and provinces also has designated four research schools. These research schools develop new teachinglearning models and share their experience and research results on ICT utilization with other schools. ICT utilization in teaching and learning is one of the major criteria that each Office of Education applies in evaluating the educational achievement of schools at every level.
2. Information Ability Evaluation and Information Literacy Certification
There are two programs aimed at promoting ICT utilization by enhancing the abilities of teachers and students to use ICT in teaching and learning. The program for teachers is called the Information Ability Evaluation program and the specific rules are established by each local Office of Education. The program for high school students is called the Information Literacy Certification program. There are several ways to get this certification.
A. Information Ability
Evaluation The Information Ability Evaluation program was started in 1999. Each Office of Education in cities and provinces is in charge of the implementation of this program. This program encourages teachers to have interest in ICT utilization and increase their use of ICT in carrying out their duties. They try to acquire more knowledge and skills on ICT use and register for various training programs. Thus the Information Ability Evaluation program is believed to have contributed to improving the quality of education by enhancing the abilities of teachers. But this program has some problems in its implementation. The results of evaluation are not easily shared by different Offices of Education, as each Office of Education has separate criteria for evaluation. The evaluation is of little advantage to teachers with regard to promotion, transfer or recruitment. And the linkage between the information ability and the quality of teaching is not fully established.
B. Information Literacy Certification
The Information Literacy Certification program was introduced in 1999 as a way of enhancing the general information literacy of the people. This program is applied to high school students and those who are not currently enrolled in a high school but at the same age. There are several ways to get the certificate. A student can get it by attending two or more regular high school courses on information utilization. Or the student can take more than 34 hours of extra courses, aptitude courses, or summer school courses on computer and PC communication. A third way is to pass the Information Literacy Certification Test, which is managed by KERIS. This test is provided for those who have passed the qualification exam for high school entrance but are not enrolled in regular high school of any kind, high school graduates who are waiting for another chance to enter a college or university, and those who have returned from abroad. A final way is to pass various qualification exams on information management or information technology. Public or private institutions manage the qualification exams and issue certificates of qualification. These institutions are selected by KERIS when their qualification exams require the same or higher ability for a pass when compared with the certification test managed directly by KERIS.
Since the introduction of Information Literacy Certification program, 891,263 high school students (535,659 general high school students and 355,604 trade high school students) received certificates by taking regular or extra courses in schools, by passing the Information Literacy Certification test, or by acquiring various certificates of qualification. Most students took regular courses on information utilization to receive their certificates. Among the total high school students of the first and second grade, 70% received their certificates.
C. Next Steps
The Information Literacy Certification program was designed to foster students o abilities on information retrieval, production, and transmission. But the implementation of this program has revealed some problems in achieving its initial goals. While high school students are eligible for certification, this program does not provide any opportunity for students below the high school level. Thus there can be discontinuities in the systematic development of studentsoinformation literacy from elementary school through middle school to high school. Besides, this program is limited in promoting information literacy beyond the effect of raising studentsoconsciousness, for the courses that students take for the certificates are not of a high level.
As a way of enhancing the effects of the program, the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development is considering to expand the Information Literacy Certification down to the middle school level. The expansion of this program will create a systematic educational framework for the development of information literacy among students. At least one hour of class time per week is now provided in elementary schools for utilizing ICT. With this change, students will receive the educational service for information literacy from elementary school through middle school to high school without interruption.
As for the problems regarding the contents of the courses provided for information literacy, the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development is considering the diversification of the courses to low, middle, and high level. It is also planning to diversify the level of certificates. As there is disagreement regarding the operation of courses, it may be necessary to designate those courses as electives rather than keeping them as required for entering a university. Students can then take them on their own initiative for the improvement of their information abilities without feeling any compulsion.
The Information Ability Evaluation program currently managed by each Office of Education may heighten teachers’ skill at using PC and educational software. But it does not greatly enhance their ability to use diverse information and ICT instruments for teaching in classrooms. Thus teachers do not have strong incentive to participate in this program. Another reason for the low incentive for teachers may be related to fact that the evaluation does not have a general standard and ins not linked to the promotion or transfer of teachers. Therefore, the establishment of reliable and objective evaluation criteria would raise the utility of this program and encourage teachers to have more interest in it. The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development plans to specify annually from 2001 to 2003 differential information ability criteria for different teaching staffs including principal, vice-principal, teachers, and professional teachers in charge of ICT use in education.
5. ICT Use in Educational Administration
1. Computerization of Educational Administration
The main objectives of the computerization of educational administration are construction of a foundation for the enhancement of administrative efficiency, the promotion of information sharing through information networks, and enhanced administrative service to meet peopleos demands. The computerization of educational administration forms one pillar of egovernment in Korea.
The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development has been operating an electronic document management system since 1997. The Ministry has also tried to computerize its handling of daily routines. It especially built a computerized administration system within the Ministry from September 1998. This system is now used for efficient management of educational budget accounts and settlement accounts, management of teacher training institutes, management of continuing education institutions, and issuing teacher certificates.
The Ministryos electronic document management system has been continuously improved for better and more efficient administration service since its introduction in 1997. Specifically, the electronic bulletin board reinforced the Ministryos information service by its expanding information sharing service. This enables each department or bureau of the Ministry to get easy access to the documents and information produced by other departments or bureaus and thus raises administrative efficiency.
The electronic document signing system has also been improved. New PCs were distributed in early 2001 for the effective use of this system. By adding a statistical data creating function, other additional functions for the convenience of users, and new document formats, this system contributes to a more efficient educational administration. In the first half of 2001, a total of 11,251 documents were produced within the Ministry. Among these, 8,044 documents (71.5%) could be processed by the electronic document signing system. Actually 4,500 items were handled by this system. The electronic signing rate was 40.0% of the total documents produced, and 55.9% of the documents appropriate for electronic signing. The Ministry is planning to raise the rate to 75% by the end of 2001.
The electronic document processing system was first introduced in March 1998. Currently this system is in service for document processing between the Ministry of Education and HRD and the Office of Education in cities and provinces. But the document processing between the Ministry and other educational institutions is still handled in conventional ways like mail, fax, or direct delivery. The Ministry is trying to gradually extend the electronic document processing service to more educational institutions including its affiliated institutions and organizations, colleges, and universities.
The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development has been operating a home page since 1996 (http://www.moe.go.kr). This home page functions as a comprehensive portal service site that provides information on education policy and related information from domestic and foreign sources. Among the many sites of government institutions, this site has the biggest link service, more than 9,000 site links. This site is directly linked to some 3,500 elementary, middle, and high school, and colleges and universities home page in the country. It is also linked to the sites of more than 5,000 higher education institutions in foreign countries. As of September 2001, an average of 440,000 people visited the Ministryos home page every month. Each school in elementary and secondary education is also operating its own home page to meet the increasing demand from parents for educational information and service. Of the total 10,502 schools in the nation, 9,110 schools (86.7%) were operating their home pages as of July 1, 2001. The remaining schools are expected to open their home pages soon.
2. Comprehensive School Information Management System
A. Computerization of Student School Life Records
The computerization of student school life records aims at enhancing the school administrative service by changing data collection and storage from handwriting to computerbased. Since its introduction in 1996, this program gradually changed the methods of keeping students’ school life records. All the entries of school life records for students in elementary, middle, and high schools are now to be completed by using computers. When the Comprehensive School Information Management System was distributed to every school in 1999, the system made possible an integrated record keeping of school affairs, academic affairs, and student school life using a C/S (Client-Server) method. Thus, the method of keeping student school life records changed from the former S/A (Stand Alone) method to the C/S method.
A screening program for university admission has been distributed to high schools since 1996. This program is designed to automatically select information from the student school life records of third grade high school students. High schools put that information on to CDs and send them to their Office of Education. Each Office of Education in cities and provinces then sends these CDs to the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, which collects all CDs and finally sends them to the admissions office of each university and college. The admissions office uses the information contained on the CDs for selecting new students.
B. Comprehensive School Information Management System
The purpose of the Comprehensive School Information Management System is to reduce the teachers’ daily routine, other than teaching, by constructing an integrated and efficient system for handling academic and administrative affairs. The functioning of this comprehensive system is based on the LAN that is installed in each school, as the LAN connects the client and server. The construction of this system in each school is promoted by a collaborative effort by both the central and local governments. Central government covers the expenses needed for purchasing the software that runs this system, while local government supports the expenses for hardware purchase.
When this system was first introduced in 1997, it was constructed in 168 schools. But more schools finished its construction thereafter: 4,251 schools in 1998 and 1,364 schools in 1999. As of July 2001, more than 8,500 schools manage their academic and administrative affairs by this system.
This comprehensive system consists of four subsystems: the academic affairs support system, the educational information circulation system, the school management support system, and the integrated educational information service system.
The academic affairs support system is a computer program designed to collect and store students’ school life records. It reduces the duties of teachers by assisting them in handling admission screening, student school life, grading, registration of students, student health records, and teaching-learning materials. This support system makes possible consistent record keeping from admission to graduation of a student, minimized data entry, and facilitates information exchange with other database.
The educational information circulation system enhances the efficiency of educational administration by providing services such as an electronic bulletin board, e-mail, electronic document sending and receiving, electronic document signing, and job information. The school management support system is another program designed to enhance the efficiency of educational administration. It helps school managers in fulfilling their duties on personnel, budget, accounting, miscellaneous goods and equipment, student health care, and meal services. The integrated educational information service system is a program for providing services on information location, statistics, and database access.
There are four levels of institutions responsible for the effective operation of the Comprehensive School Information Management System: the Ministry of Education and HRD, KERIS, the city and provincial Office of Education, and each school. Each of these institutions plays a distinctive role and has responsibilities as listed below:
3. Nationwide Educational Administration Information System
A. Background
The development of information technology and the ever-increasing amount of information have brought about a paradigm change in the governmentos administrative service. The nature of administrative service is now changing from a closed and centralized administration to an open and decentralized one. This paradigm change is one aspect of the greater social tide that is occurring with the development of information technology, the rapid introduction of the information society, and the growth of democracy. Administration in the information society is now required to be more efficient. It is also required not only to render great services to the global competitive power of the country but also to help the growth of democratic autonomy.
The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development is trying to improve the educational administration services in accord with the changing needs of the times. Conventionally the Ministry developed an administrative pattern in which each Office of Education functioned as the basic administrative unit for the implementation of major educational policies. The administrative service to fill the demands for educational information also followed this pattern. But this conventional system of educational administration revealed inefficiency in promoting ICT use in education as well as in meeting diverse demands in the changing information society. First, the handling of administrative duties by a separate Office of Education checked the development of a common system for information exchange and sharing. Second, the lack of a common standard for handling administrative duties obstructed the promotion of ICT use in educational administration. And thirdly, the conventional pattern of educational administration failed to respond to the growing demands from teachers, students, and parents for diverse educational information services. Therefore, it was necessary to transform the pattern of educational administration towards a new one that corresponds to the increased ICT use in the information society.
B. Promotion History
The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development prepared a basic plan for the Construction of a Nationwide Educational Administration Information System in July 2000. After extensive review of the current status of educational administration, the Ministry established, in March 2001, the Strategic Plan to Promote ICT Use and to Rearrange the Administrative Affairs for Construction of the Educational Administration Information System. In a report submitted by the Special Committee for the Promotion of EGovernment to the President in May 2001, the construction of a nationwide educational administration information system was acknowledged as one of the eleven key national projects necessary for the promotion of e-government. After collecting wide opinions from experts on the educational administration and information system, the Ministry finally confirmed the Plan for a Nationwide Educational Administration Information System for the Promotion of EGovernment in July 2001.
The new Nationwide Educational Administration Information System is different from the old Comprehensive School Information System in several respects. Each school was the main administrative unit in charge of the educational administration in the old system. But the new system reclassified the lines of educational administration into 10 large domains, 19 middle domains, and 85 basic functions.
The new system allows an integrated handling of these administrative domains and functions by interconnecting the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, the sixteen Offices of Education in cities and provinces, and the schools at every level. In this new system, different educational institutions can share and exchange information with each other and thus enhance the efficiency of educational administration service.
C. Next Steps
The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development plans to finish construction of the Nationwide Educational Administration Information System by October 2002. When this system functions as it should, it will greatly reduce the administrative burdens of teachers, enhance the efficiency and productivity of educational administration, and provide better administration service to the general public. For example, issuingtranscripts, certificates of registration or graduation from any school in the country will be much easier, and teachers will get various documents that certify their past or current service online from any location.
4. Educational Statistics and ICT Use
We need accurate statistical data for effective educational policy and efficient human resources development. The creation of educational statistics involves the collection of data on the actual conditions of educational institutions and the current status of human resources development in those institutions. It is divided into several interrelated but different projects. The survey project collects data by surveying all educational institutions in the country including the institutions of all levels from kindergarten to graduate school and the institutions on educational administration. The database construction project creates a database from the data collected from the survey. The project for developing educational statistics applies statistical packages to analyze the collected data and produces various educational statistics to meet diverse demands.
Lastly, the project for international educational statistics sets the educational data produced in domestic context with an international outlook and develops educational indicators that could be circulated internationally. The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development and the Korean Educational Development Institute collaborated to promote these projects. The Education Statistics Center was established within the KEDI in 1998. This Center handled data input, analysis, and output by using computers, eliminating the old manual data processing methods. This new data processing methods proved efficient and made possible the sharing of educational data among many researchers and institutions. It also enhanced the efficiency and credibility of educational administration by providing accurate educational statistics.
A. Achievements
B. Next Steps for Educational Statistics
Human resources development is vital for a country to maintain its competitive power in the deepening information society of the 21 st century. The development of a comprehensive educational statistics system is essential in this regard since the system can provide appropriate data which policy makers can refer to in their designing of policies on human resources development. This implies that the Education Statistics Center has to expand its role beyond the educational statistics survey and database construction. The Center should also try to improve the validity of educational statistics. Besides, it is also necessary to expand the service area on educational statistics since the demand for various educational statistics is continuously growing. Following are some tasks that we think are necessary for the improvement of the educational statistics service.
First, we are going to construct a more stable and reliable system for the educational statistics survey. This enhanced system will provide a database of rich contents, enable sharing more data with other institutions, and serve the users better than now.
Second, we are planning to make a database for the entire Educational Statistics Annual, which has been in print since 1965. The database of the annual will provide valuable time-series data on education in Korea for policy makers and researchers.
Third, we are going to integrate the database of educational statistics with the Comprehensive School Information Management System, which has been in operation in each school since 1997. As an integrated and efficient system for handling academic and administrative affairs, this comprehensive information management system utilizes some items of educational statistics. Therefore, the integration of the educational statistics database with the Comprehensive School Information Management System will not only enhance the efficiency of the information management system but also promote the utilization of the educational statistics database.
Fourth, we are planning to make an integrated human resources management system. The production and appropriate utilization of human resources is an essential work of governance in the knowledge-based society. Since we still don’t have an integrated human resources management system at the national level, we need to construct the system by utilizing the database of educational statistics as well as other database on human resources.
5. Next Steps for ICT Use in Educational Administration
The promotion of ICT use in carrying out educational administration has recorded some success in terms of administrative efficiency. It reduced the daily routines of teachers, promoted information sharing, and raised the quality of administrative services. But we still have many obstacles to overcome.
First, the directors and supervisors of administrative organizations have to be more active in promoting ICT use in education. Their attitudes and understanding on ICT use affect the degree of success in promoting ICT use in education. This suggests that we should make greater efforts for training the directors and supervisors of educational institutions and administrative organizations.
Second, we don’t have enough expert personnel who can maintain and operate the various equipment and software. In spite of the successful infrastructure construction, the infrastructure has not been fully utilized. The lack of experts to maintain and operate the information management system delays the wide promotion of ICT use in educational administration. Each Ministry of the government has been operating programs to train the personnel in charge of ICT use. But, these training programs fail to meet the growing demand for expert personnel as the programs are usually short-term courses and the scope of their curriculum is limited. Therefore, we need to operate a more diversified and long-term training programs with regard to the training of experts on ICT use in educational administration.
Third, we have to construct more local guidance centers in addition to the present nationwide comprehensive guidance center. The local guidance centers will help the maintenance and operation of the educational information management system at the local level and thus raise the efficiency of educational administration. And lastly, we have to try to reduce the discrepancy between the rules, regulations, and institutions on the one hand, and the developing information technology on the other. When rules and institutions correspond to the reality of information environment, the efficiency of administration in general and educational administration in particular will be enhanced.
6. ICT Use in School Libraries
1. The Need for ICT in School Libraries
School libraries are one of the essential parts of the infrastructures for promoting ICT use in education. The Seventh Educational Curriculum emphasizes the development of creative and autonomous participants who can solve problems in a self-directed way. School libraries play an important role in this, because they support students’ abilities for self-directed learning and creative problemsolving by providing students with a variety of educational materials and information. The school libraries, however, need improvement in their content and services in order to contribute to the enhancement of students’ abilities.
The Korean government launched the Comprehensive Promotion Plan for ICT Use in Libraries in March 2000. One of the main goals of this plan is to transform the libraries into true information centers of the knowledge-based society. According to the plan, the libraries will be given the hardware, software, and materials necessary for functioning as digital library. The effective enforcement of the plan depends on the cooperation of different government ministries. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism is in charge of the promotion of ICT use in public and community libraries. The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development is charged with the promotion of ICT use in the school libraries including those in colleges and universities. The libraries in 315 colleges and universities have been encouraged to make databases of their collections and share them with other libraries. Digital rooms are to be installed in 215 model school libraries by 2002. After reviewing the operation of model libraries, the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development will accelerate the installation of digitalized service systems in the other school libraries. In addition, a Common Catalog System is to be distributed for the promotion of information exchange and datasharing between school libraries.
2. Goals and Responsible Institutions
The quality of library service depends upon the infrastructure, collections, and professional librarians of the libraries. According to the 2001 Educational Statistics Annual, school libraries are present in 7,918 schools (78.6%) of the total 10,061 school of the country. But the current status of most school libraries may not meet minimum standards. These libraries have an average annual budget of 3.3 million won, and each has an average of 2.009 librarians. This means that many library rooms are not supported by a librarian (0.25 librarian per library room).
The implementation project for ICT use in school libraries for the year 2001 has set two goals for providing better library service while gradually improving the libraryos facilities.
The first goal is the installation of digital data rooms in model libraries in order to encourage students to visit their library after school. With the completion of infrastructure construction for ICT use in every school, every school has an installed LAN and computer lab, every classroom has a variety of ICT equipment, and every teacher handles his or her duties using a PC. But the computer labs are frequently occupied by teachers participating in a training course or by students involved in a skill class. Most students do not have an opportunity to use their computer labs for information retrieval or for preparing lessons after school hours. In these circumstances, school libraries should be a place where students prepare for the next dayos lessons, discuss homework with their friends to find solutions for various problems, and get assistance from experienced librarians in finding relevant information.
The second goal taken in the implementation project for ICT use in school libraries is the installation of a Digital Data Room Support Center that would encourage standardized digital database construction and promote data sharing between libraries. Currently each school library has a separate database for its collection. Though many libraries use standard cataloging methods in making their database, many others do not. Differences in database construction impede data sharing between libraries. Standardized digital database construction can greatly reduce the expense of data input and thus facilitate data exchange and data sharing.
The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development has prepared a general enforcement plan for ICT use in school libraries and has allocated the necessary budget to 16 Offices of Education in cities and provinces and KERIS. KERIS is charged with several duties. It will make the manuals for the digital data-room operators and users, and provide training services for them. It will also open a homepage to help librarians get information regarding digital database in school libraries through EDUNET. KERIS will determine which of the Offices of Education will manage the model project for the Digital Data Room Support Center, select service provider for the center, and distribute the software developed in this model project to the other Offices of Education. Each Office of Education has to provide matching fund necessary for the installation of its Digital Data Room Support Center, select the schools where the Digital Data Room will be installed, and select the personnel for its operation. Schools where Digital Data Room is installed must construct its digital database in a standard format while expanding its collection size.
3. Installation of Model Digital Data Rooms
The digital data room in a school library will function as the service center for digital data and information within the school. Each Office of Education is in charge of the selection of appropriate schools and school libraries. The Office of Education selects the model schools autonomously, using the following guidelines. Preference is given to: schools with full-time librarians who can manage the digital data room effectively; schools with a strong will to support its operation; schools with enough space for digital data room installation; and schools with many classrooms that can function as hubs after installation of the digital data room. Each Office of Education will select six model schools, 96 schools in total, for the installation of digital data rooms in 2001.
The installation of digital data rooms will proceed in phases.
The first is the installation of hardware. Each data room will have one PC for the manager, 12 PCs for users, a printer, a bar code scanner, and 17 bookshelves.
The second phase consists of expansion of the library collection and content. The trajectory of the development of a conventional university library shows that it grows from a traditional library, through a library with automated computer service, to a digital library. But most school libraries have not even functioned properly as tradition libraries that lend printed materials. As these libraries are now transforming into digital libraries, it is urgent to expand their collection and contents. Though priority will be given to printed materials in this effort, non-print materials such as CD-ROM, video, and e-books will also be purchased. Success depends upon how much money each school allocates to the project. An average school spent 3.3 million won in average for library books in 2001. This is far below the proper amount necessary for purchasing new books and non-print materials.
The third phase for digital data room development is installation of software for managing library collections, and construction of the library database. As of March 2001, only 30% of school libraries managed their collections with library software that supports MARC. Separate library software has not been distributed to the model libraries. But it is expected that school libraries will connect to the Internet and download the library software provided for common use by the Office of Education. However each library has to make its own collections database, observing the MARC format. According to the 2001 Educational Statistics Annual, school libraries contain an average of 5,013 books in their collections.
4. Establishment of Digital Data Support Centers
The Digital Data Support Center is a virtual service center established in the computer server of each Office of Education and supports the management of library collections. This is an Application Hosting Service (AHS) in which each school library handles its library management and data search work by connecting to the server of the Office of Education. By assembling all data from all libraries, the Digital Data Support Center can promote data sharing and provide accurate information regarding the management of libraries. In addition, the establishment of this support center in the Office of Education may greatly reduce the total expense generated by the establishment, maintenance, and upgrading of the support centers in each school. A KERIS selection committee selects the Office of Education appropriate for the establishment of each Digital Data Support Center. This committee determined that the Office of Education in Pusan would establish the first Digital Data Support Center in 2001. After reviewing the results of its operation in Pusan, the committee will select additional Offices of Education in 2002.
The primary function of the Digital Data Support Center is to aid the management of school libraries. That is, a school library, by connecting to the support center via the Internet, can handle much of its works, including cataloging, checking out and returning, user management, periodical management, article indexing, data retrieval, statistics, and general management. An Internet connection is possible in every school since LAN construction was finished in December 2000. The support center system is to be divided into a center manager module, a school library manager module, and a user module to secure system stability.
The second function of the Digital Data Support Center is to construct a comprehensive catalog database and an integrated search system. Each school library currently has its own catalog database currently. Where separate catalogs are not based on the same catalog standard, information sharing and data exchange is obstructed. When a comprehensive catalog database is available, it will promote information sharing, data exchange, and an interlibrary loan service. It will also make possible the development of an integrated search system, in which a library user can search the catalog in his own school library, the catalog of another school library, or the whole database constructed in the Digital Data Support Center. By connecting to the integrated search system, a user can get information on the bibliography of a certain book or article, information regarding its location, and even the original text service. The user can also search the database in other public libraries and the university libraries.
Lastly, the Digital Data Support Center can contribute to promoting education on reading and library utilization. As the use of printed materials will still play and important role in education in the information age, an effort to promote reading education must be maintained. The Digital Data Support Center can aid this effort by suggesting lists of books that students at each elementary and secondary school grade read, and by providing information on reading clubs, discussion meetings, and book reading contests. The support center also can provide an educational program to help students learn about how to use a library or a data center effectively.
5. Next Steps
The Digital Data Room in each school library can best play its library service role when it is managed properly and continuously renewed with new content and services. We expect the Digital Data Room to be installed in 119 school libraries in 2002. Re