[Square] New Normal Era, Prerequisites for AI Education Triggered by COVID-19

Jaejin Lee, CEO of Woongjin ThinkBig

The reality has arrived where students who used to go to school every day are now receiving online education at home. After spending two semesters like this, we are faced with the significant issues of learning loss and widening learning gaps.

According to the Ministry of Education's "Remote Education Experience and Perception Survey" conducted on about 850,000 teachers, students, and parents, 79% of respondents answered that the learning gap between students has increased. Additionally, various mock exam results show that the middle tier has disappeared, reflecting the reality of academic polarization.

The academic burden on students and parents is also increasing. A survey conducted by the Gyeonggi-do Education Research Institute on 56,000 elementary, middle, and high school students, parents, and teachers found that 29.6% of respondents said that the time spent attending private academies and tutoring increased compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, 53.1% answered that the time spent preparing homework and performance assessments at home increased.

To address the increasing learning gaps and academic burdens, the most effective method proposed is artificial intelligence (AI) education. AI analyzes each individual's learning level and capabilities to provide customized learning like a personal tutor.

AI learning services can analyze students' concentration and learning patterns to compensate for the shortcomings that may occur in online classes. Research results also show that AI learning improved the correct answer rate by an average of 10.5 percentage points. When learning coaches used AI learning coaching, the correct answer rate improved by 15.7 percentage points.

AI education, highlighted as a solution, is also being rapidly introduced in the public sector. The Ministry of Education has introduced AI learning in mathematics for 1st and 2nd graders in elementary school. They plan to introduce AI learning in high schools by selecting 22 pilot high schools.

For AI adoption to be effective in solving learning gaps, it must develop algorithms based on large amounts of big data on students' learning to provide "personalized educational services." In other words, AI must be able to understand each student's learning habits and derive individual difficulty levels, error rates, and appropriate solving times to help address learning disparities.

However, it is necessary to carefully examine whether many services claiming to be AI education are truly operated based on appropriate algorithms and big data derived from students' learning data. Very few have been verified for effectiveness through research or academic papers. The indiscriminate proliferation of AI education services could bring great expectations and disappointments to parents and students suffering from COVID-19.

Efficient online education methods are also needed. Since 2015, video classes have been conducted for members of our company, and for elementary students, the "1-to-4" class format, with one teacher and four students, was the most effective. For young children, the "1-to-2" class format is effective.

As the number of participating students increases, concentration decreases. Active exchange of opinions becomes difficult, making interactive classes impossible. For young children, who have short attention spans and are not accustomed to group classes, short classes in 30-minute units are effective. A detailed learning management system should also be established to support the learning flow by placing concept videos and quizzes before and after online classes, helping students grasp the concepts learned that day.

In the new normal era following the COVID-19 crisis, the education market is undergoing unprecedented changes. The education industry should focus not only on AI-driven marketing but also on finding appropriate difficulty levels that challenge each student to motivate learning.

Especially, it is time to take the lead in making AI helpful in solving learning disparities, which have become a social issue, by making learning enjoyable. Studying is necessary but always difficult. It is even more so in the COVID-19 era. Students need an "AI study friend" suited to the new era.