Recruitment for AR·VR Applied Immersive Education Experience Schools

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 5th that it will recruit 'Immersive Education Experience Schools' that utilize educational content applied with immersive technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) in classes starting from the 7th.

Immersive education using VR and AR is expected to enhance students' immersion and understanding of learning content, improving educational effectiveness compared to traditional textbook-centered education based on text and images.

In particular, by vividly experiencing situations that are difficult or impossible to experience in reality through VR, it can fundamentally overcome the spatial and temporal limitations of education. For example, immersive education content on the theme of 'Circulation in Our Body' faithfully reproduces the shapes of the heart and valves and the size differences of blood cells, allowing students to experience the blood circulation process as if they had entered the body.

This is expected not only to provide additional information necessary for learning quickly and easily, inducing active learning among students, but also to enhance their understanding of the learning content.

The recruitment announcement for this experience school will be conducted until the 5th of next month, targeting middle schools and alternative schools. The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to select a total of 17 immersive education experience schools in 2020 and support the use of immersive education content. Selected experience schools will be provided with VR devices, tablet PCs, etc. for immersive education, and the content will be applied in connection with autonomous club activities during the school's free semester program.

Since 2019, the Ministry of Science and ICT has invested a total of 4 billion KRW over two years in the immersive education enhancement project, completing the development of a total of 32 immersive education contents, including 15 career experience types and 17 curriculum-linked types. The total 32 contents consist of career experience content related to promising jobs in the 4th industrial revolution such as hologram experts and unmanned vehicle experts, as well as curriculum-linked content for middle school subjects such as science, social studies/history, and art.

Song Kyung-hee, Software Policy Officer at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, “With online education being conducted due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the potential of VR and AR immersive education, which can maximize fun and immersion compared to existing online education, is emerging,” adding, “We hope that the operation of this immersive education experience school will expand VR and AR immersive education and serve as an opportunity to promote the transition to a future immersive education environment.”