Seoltap, Education Trends to Watch This Year: 'Untact, Hyper-Personalization, AI'

Announcement of Education Industry Trend Keywords Through Data Analysis

Onui, the operator of SKY tutoring platform 'Seoltap,' selected 'non-face-to-face, hyper-personalization, AI' as the key education trend keywords for the new year after summarizing last year's trends in the education industry.

Seoltap announced on the 21st that based on data analysis within the platform, which includes approximately 5.6 million tutor matching, lessons, and self-study data with a cumulative subscriber count of 530,000, it identified 'non-face-to-face' as the changing education channel, 'hyper-personalization' as the changing education paradigm, and 'AI' as the changing education method as the main trends.

First, according to Seoltap, the normalization of non-face-to-face education is expected to accelerate further this year. As COVID-19 persisted for a long time, non-face-to-face education became widely used, proving its effectiveness, which is interpreted as the reason why more students are gradually using it as their main educational method. In particular, during the pandemic, the technological aspects of non-face-to-face education greatly advanced, increasing convenience, and teachers’ proficiency in video education also improved. As non-face-to-face education has become embedded in daily life, this trend is expected to continue for a long time even in the endemic period.

This change is also reflected in statistics. According to Seoltap’s survey, the proportion of students who study exclusively through Seoltap, a non-face-to-face tutoring platform, rose to as high as 63.4%. This means that more than six out of ten students focus on learning using only Seoltap without relying on other private education such as academies or face-to-face tutoring.

Furthermore, Seoltap reported that due to increasingly advanced edutech, even the traditionally conservative education sector is embracing 'customized hyper-personalized education' using new technologies as a trend. Through non-face-to-face classes, learning records have been digitized, enabling the evaluation of individual learning abilities and personalized education. Accordingly, there is growing demand for personalized teaching methods tailored to each individual using data, rather than the conventional unified knowledge delivery method.

As the education paradigm shifts from teacher-centered to student-centered, the need for personalized learning tutors is being emphasized. With the introduction of AI diagnostic and tutor services across the education field, there is growing anticipation that these will assist teachers in enhancing learning effectiveness and maximizing potential. Unlike before, AI is not only used for simple learning data analysis but is advancing to diagnose learners’ weaknesses and suggest future learning methods, highlighting the importance of tutors even more.

The demand for personalized education from students and parents appears to be high. According to a survey conducted by Seoltap in December last year targeting 400 students and parents, more than half (59.5%) responded that they would like to use AI services as diagnostic and tutor services that provide academic achievement diagnosis and ways to overcome weaknesses. Additionally, 23.7% of respondents expressed a desire to receive recommendations for learning-related content. In line with this trend, Seoltap stated that it is actively working to provide personalized education through AI adoption within the year.

Amid the full-scale introduction of AI, paradoxically, the presence of mentors is also gaining attention. According to Seoltap’s survey, 97% of respondents answered that 'the role of teachers remains important even in the AI era.' This is interpreted as AI being specialized in knowledge delivery but unable to fully replace teachers’ roles such as mental care, sharing entrance exam know-how, and character education. Among the survey respondents, 81% said they have concerns about learning motivation and career paths. Seoltap currently has a tutor pool of over 10,000 tutors, including not only SKY graduates but also those from KAIST, POSTECH, medical schools, and veterinary schools, considering the diversity of students’ career paths.

Go Ye-jin, CEO of Onui, said, "In the future, education platforms that can maximize the potential of each student beyond knowledge delivery will be spotlighted," adding, "Seoltap will do its best to create an educational environment where the strengths of human mentors and AI tutors harmonize."