The paper discusses trends and barriers to South Korean K-12 teachers’ technology adaptation, focusing on digital textbooks; digital versions of printed textbooks, with multimedia and interactive features without limitation of location and time. Employing the learning sciences framework, the paper aims to comprehend literature around the status of technology and digital textbook implementation in South Korea over time more holistically. As textbooks are one of the core materials that guides teaching and learning, the shift of modalities and its impact on teachers and students are crucial to be investigated (Kim & Jung, 2010, p. 258).
In South Korea, digital textbook implementation has been centralized by the government and Ministry of Education (MOE) with Education Reform. Although policies are getting refined, there has been teachers’ persistent dissatisfaction and low utilization of digital textbooks. Most importantly, as MOE announced the nationwide implementation of AI digital textbooks from 2025, K-12 schools will use AI digital textbooks integrated with AI to analyze learners’ progress and personalize contents. Since South Korea would be the very first case in the world for this national digital textbook use, it is significant to explore existing research and determine the support teachers need. Therefore, the main points to be discussed from this literature review are around addressing (a) consistent and changing barriers for South Korean K-12 teachers to utilize technology and digital textbooks in their classroom and (b) what aspects of learning science have been discussed to facilitate teachers’ technology and digital textbook adaptation and its remaining gaps.

Authors:
Seeun Jeon, University of Minnesota, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Tina Jeon is a Ph.D. student in the Learning Technologies program. She is interested in what education means in different contexts and how to support teachers and students from diverse backgrounds.

See this presentation on the full schedule – On Demand Schedule

Bookmark