More schools, students brace for AI-driven classrooms

While changing ways of learning and teaching, AI also poses unseen challenges

Editor’s note

This is part of our 73rd anniversary series to explore the multifaceted ways AI is reshaping human society while scrutinizing the ethical, social and economic implications.

By Jun Ji-hye

The learning environment at universities has changed a lot since the arrival of generative artificial intelligence (AI) models such as ChatGPT.

Many university students said ChatGPT has been a useful tool for studying complex concepts, which the technology explains easily and clearly in most cases.

“I often ask ChatGPT to explain principles related to my university major,” said a 23-year-old senior who is studying chemical engineering at one of the top universities in Seoul. “Then, AI creates keywords and offers concise explanations.”

She said she has asked ChatGPT for help not only when studying difficult concepts but also when requiring various other types of information such as the weather of a particular country to which she was planning to travel and how to approach a man she liked.

Universities have also been moving fast to better adapt to these recent technological advances.

Seoul National University became one of the first domestic universities to offer a class related to ChatGPT, with a class named, “What questions to ask to ChatGPT and how,” which opened in its College of Humanities during this year's spring semester.

According to the school, the class is aimed at encouraging students to take a step forward in reflecting on life and thinking deeply via questions posed to the AI tool.

In March, Korea University became the first to create guidelines for ChatGPT and other generative AI technologies, aiming to encourage students to rationally accept AI and learn more actively, rather than constraining the spread of the technology.

Yet, AI, which has permeated into campus life fast, is also raising concerns that it could undermine students’ critical thinking abilities and incite plagiarism.

Regarding this, Korea University President Kim Dong-one said an urgent task for universities is analyzing how ChatGPT will affect the future of education and mulling ways to better utilize the technology, rather than worrying about its side effects.

Citing the prior example of the in-class use of calculators, which once caused controversy long ago, Kim said, “Now, calculators are being used by many students during class to solve higher-level problems. The technology should be seen as an education tool to improve the creativity of students.”

Kim stressed that human ability will become more important even after the use of ChatGPT and other generative AI tools become more pervasive, dispelling fears that AI could make humans redundant.

“AI creates quality answers with an astonishing velocity, but those answers are just responses to questions presented by humans. Thus, the human ability to create quality questions will become more important,” Kim said. “In addition, the human ability to analyze answers given by AI and verify possible errors will become more important.”

Fernando Leon-Garcia, president of the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP), also said that schools are still in the early stages of understanding how AI tools can influence teaching and learning, and that the focus is better placed on how these tools can be put to good use, rather than being outright rejected.

“In some cases, the conversation and implications have been elevated from the reflection of a few institutions to policy at the national level, as was the case of Japan’s education ministry that published some guidelines for universities to develop their own AI policies,” Leon-Garcia said.

“By learning about the pitfalls of ChatGPT and other tools, with careful and constructive use, they can be helpful in the way that students learn, facilitate the evaluation of learning, potentially aid in student retention, promote soft skills and strengthen more active and innovative pedagogical models.”

Grade schools also in transition

Education Minister Lee Ju-ho visits the AI camp operated by Cheonan Buldang Elementary School in South Chungcheong Province, Aug. 9. Courtesy of Ministry of Education

Elementary, middle and high schools have also been preparing for the fast introduction of digitalization.

The digital era for these schools means customized education services powered by AI will be able to be offered in accordance with the learning level of each student.

Even now, one can imagine what future classrooms with AI will be like, at least to some extent, as a variety of relevant experiments have been carried out at "digital leading schools" as designated by the government.

In August, the government designated 351 elementary, middle and high schools across the country as places to experiment and create successful cases of AI implementation.

The experiments so far showed that students do not need to put on heavy backpacks to carry their textbooks, as one digital device is all they need nowadays.

Students don't need to hold their hand up to answer a question posited by the teacher, as all they need to do is write down the answer on their digital device that is connected to the teacher’s device.

The digital era may also reduce the intensity of teacher workloads, as AI will take over the drawn-out process of grading test papers and analyzing the difficulty level of tests as well as the learning level of each student.

The vision for the digital era suggested by the Ministry of Education is the realization of personalized education for all, as it has become more and more important to cultivate the respective competencies of each student amid the decline in human resources stemming from the country’s record-low birthrate.

In February, the education ministry announced two important policies to realize this vision: creating the so-called edutech ecosystem and training teachers.

“In the digital era, one should possess the capability of critical thinking, creativity and good character in addition to knowledge,” Education Minister Lee Ju-ho said at the time. “For this, teachers should play a role as a learning designer and socioemotional leader, breaking out of their sole role as a knowledge transmitter.”

As part of its preparations for the digital transformation, the ministry has been working to expand digital-related education, such as coding training, after school hours or during vacations, which has been welcomed by parents and children.

Minister Lee noted in his keynote address during the Korea Forum 2023 hosted in May by The Korea Times and its sister paper The Hankook Ilbo that AI-powered textbooks are also being developed and will be seen in classrooms by 2025.

“These textbooks will play a role as assistant teachers offering customized education services,” Lee said at the time, adding that AI textbooks are expected to open a new market and enable related domestic firms to export their technologies overseas.

To train teachers, the ministry selected some 400 teachers and named the group “TOUCH,” an acronym for “teachers who upgrade class with high-tech.”

TOUCH members are taking the lead in exploring digital-based classrooms and participating in the policy-making process related to AI textbooks.

The ministry plans to increase the number of TOUCH members to 1,200 next year and 2,000 by 2025.