Education is a hundred years old, science and technology support
Add science and technology to education
Since ancient times, education has been called a hundred-year dynasty. It means that education is the cornerstone of the future 100 years ahead of national and social development. Although the method of education after the initial education and institutionalization has changed, its importance has not faded. Even when Eastern and Western education pursued different theories and philosophies, the meaning of the etymology was the same. In order to “nurture children on the right path,” education has been recognized as important, transcending time and boundaries.
Regardless of East and West, education aims to ‘nurture children on the right path’. ⒸGetty Image Bank
But now, education faces the greatest crisis ever since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared a global pandemic. It is a crisis that occurred when ‘contact’, which is fundamental to educational activities, was banned. This is because the situation where teachers and learners do not come into contact has never been imagined in the educational field.
Fortunately, cooperation is taking place in various fields to overcome this crisis. In particular, the new educational method presented with science and technology as the main axis is a solution to overcoming the crisis and has emerged as a new paradigm at the same time. If education is a big plan to prepare for the next hundred years, science and technology seem to be willing to support it.
‘0’ of education, faithful to the content of education
Humans have passed on and developed knowledge and culture to the next generation through education.
The first education is known as the coming-of-age ceremony. The coming-of-age ceremony was a group-level education in which the parent or the head of the community, who is the trainee, taught their children how to learn the rules of the group and how to protect themselves from the external environment.
Although there are some differences in the times, the education ideology of ancient Greece that influenced education in Europe and education before the Three Kingdoms period in Korea mainly focused on what to teach. The ‘Eight Laws’ of Gojoseon educated human moral life and ethical values, and the ancient Greek educational thought that influenced European education emphasized the harmony of mind and body and the importance of home education.
Afterwards, the tribal community expanded into the concept of the state, writing was invented, and social institutions were born, and education also flowed into the system. Therefore, the contents of education became vast, and methodological concerns about what to teach and how to teach began in earnest. Of course, the methodology at that time focused on teaching methods, but the methodological concerns that started from that time came to include teaching methods, curriculum, educational systems, educational administration, and educational engineering in a wide range.
Starting from ‘0’ in education, various branches of education have been treated as important for different reasons. And the meeting of education and technology that has recently received the greatest attention is probably Edutech.
The ‘0’ of education mainly focused on what to teach. ⒸGetty Image Bank
Edutech, a new paradigm of future education
Edutech is a compound word of ‘Education’ and ‘Technology’, and provides new education based on major technologies of the 4th industry. Basically, smooth internet infrastructure and the development of smart devices are the growth factors of the edutech market, but it is different from E-Learning that was previously provided through the internet.
E-learning is a method of converting existing offline lectures into online lectures or delivering educational contents led by instructors. Edutech, on the other hand, provides customized education for learners using big data, artificial intelligence, and IoT. Therefore, it is mainly growing in the fields of customized learning services, game-based learning, foreign language and coding education.
In fact, in Korea, the transition to a new paradigm is very slow due to the high barriers to entry for public education. As a result, the private education market had to be at the center of Edutech as well. However, when an education gap occurred due to COVID-19, remote classes were started to minimize this, and changes began to occur in education.
With the development of COVID-19 and 4th industrial technology, edutech has emerged as a new paradigm for future education. ⒸGetty Image Bank
As of December of last year, the US already has 8 unicorn companies in the edutech sector, so the growth is so steep. According to Holon IQ data, spending on edutech grew by about $24 billion despite the global woes in the education sector. Before Corona 19, Edutech showed a whopping 16.3% growth rate in 2020, surpassing the forecast that it would grow at an average annual rate of 13.1% until 2025.
In addition, teaching-learning activities using online systems such as MOOC, Minerva School, and Kahn Academy at the university level are already actively being developed, suggesting a blueprint for the future school.
This change is expected to accelerate with the development of major ICT technologies such as VR (virtual reality), AR (augmented reality), AI (artificial intelligence), big data, and smart devices.
