The Second Nationwide Three-Day Expo by Basic Local Governments Concludes with 53,000 Visitors
An Innovative Learning Space Beyond Spatial Limits Opens, Presenting a New Paradigm for 'Out-of-School Public Education'
Comprehensive Coverage from Future Education Discourse to Entrance Exams, Academic and Career Planning, Advanced Technology Experiences, and Lifelong Learning Festival
Expected to Grow into Korea's Leading Education Expo Next Year with Richer and More Substantial Content
Yangcheon-gu (Mayor Lee Gi-jae) announced on the 19th that the ‘Y Education Expo 2024,’ which encompassed all aspects of Korea’s future education in the theme of ‘The Fourth Industrial Revolution Era, Another Educational Field Outside the Classroom,’ successfully concluded after a three-day grand journey.
From the 16th to the 18th, the area around Yangcheon-gu Office transformed into a massive campus, offering a diverse range of programs across six fields and 24 thematic topics, from cutting-edge future experiences to career and college entrance planning and star mentor lectures. It is estimated that about 53,000 people, including elementary, middle, and high school students nationwide, parents, and teachers, visited the event.
While last year’s first Y Education Expo marked a successful leap by raising the key issues of future education, this year’s second edition received high praise for Yangcheon-gu, an educational city, newly realizing an innovative learning space beyond the limited confines of schools in the era of ultra-convergent big blur where all boundaries are breaking down. It presented a new paradigm of ‘public education outside school’ that local governments should pursue.
Opening Ceremony Declares a Strong Start for Y Education Expo, Exploring Directions for Future Education
The opening ceremony held at the special stage in Yangcheon Park kicked off with a special performance featuring a collaboration between an AI robot and a human violinist, befitting the AI era. Following the opening remarks by Yangcheon-gu Mayor Lee Gi-jae and congratulatory messages from many guests including Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, the event continued with a mini talk show where the humanoid robot Amy and Mayor Lee Gi-jae communicated, and a spectacular digital ceremony, proclaiming the vigorous start of the Y Education Expo.
Immediately after the opening ceremony, the first open class featured Lee Sedol 9-dan, the only Go player to have defeated AlphaGo, as a star mentor lecturer. He held a talk show on topics such as ‘Human Creativity and Intuition Surpassing Artificial Intelligence.’ He emphasized, “I faced AlphaGo in a surprise match when I knew very little about AI,” and added, “Our youth need to be well aware of the future changes brought by the AI era and prepare thoroughly.”
On the 17th, a career rock talk concert exploring youths’ dreams and ‘Real Study Y-Teachers,’ which taught self-directed learning methods, were held consecutively, attended by about 1,900 students, teachers, and parents. First, popular YouTube creator Park Wi, who overcame quadriplegia to deliver hope, gave a storytelling lecture titled ‘It Is Your Thoughts That Limit You,’ conveying a message of hope to young people.
Next, in the first part of Real Study Y-Teachers, star lecturer Lee Da-ji, an alumnus of Hangaram High School in Yangcheon-gu, delivered a passionate lecture on youth motivation and self-development under the theme “Don’t be discouraged. Everyone’s blooming season will surely come.” In the second part, study guru Kang Sung-tae shared core self-directed learning secrets such as blank review methods and English word etymology learning, drawing enthusiastic responses from students and parents on site.
The ‘Y-Education Forum,’ co-hosted with EBS, gathered four renowned domestic scholars including Chair Professor Choi In-soo, Professors Lee In-ah, Park Eun-il, and Kim Ju-ho. Over about two hours, they held an in-depth public discussion on the main theme ‘People Who Become Classrooms Themselves in the AI Era,’ covering how to create self-driven learning motivation, creativity, brain cognition understanding, and human-AI interaction.
National Career and College Entrance Expo Attended by Over 6,500, Drawing Continuous Visits from Parents
The career and college entrance expo, where current and former education experts provided strategies for entrance exams, college admissions, and career planning tailored to students’ tendencies all in one place, was held over three days amid enthusiastic responses from parents and students. This year, reflecting last year’s popularity, the scale was expanded. The ‘High School Admission Expo’ and ‘School-specific Briefings,’ which allowed a comprehensive view of admission information from 23 high schools nationwide, including local high schools, Sangsan High School, Pohang Steel High School, autonomous private high schools, and arts high schools, attracted over 5,300 parents and students, drawing great interest.
At the ‘1:1 Customized Counseling Booth,’ where current and former career and college entrance teachers and education consultants provided topic-specific close counseling, and the ‘Y-Admission Mentor Group’ composed of students from prestigious domestic and foreign universities, about 500 students and parents participated, sharing in-depth information on admission planning and future talent requirements.
The ‘College Entrance Exam Briefing and Special Lecture’ was held on the last day, marking the finale of the career and college entrance expo. Director Lee Byung-hoon, a leading domestic education expert, delivered a lecture on ‘2028 College Entrance Exam Reform and Response Strategies,’ sharing the core points of the changing college entrance reform and how to prepare for it.
Following this, in the ‘Perfect Score Talk’ session, Min Jun-hong and Song Young-jun appeared to offer practical advice most needed by college entrance exam students, such as mind control methods and study habits. The final segment, the ‘Career Leadership Special Lecture,’ featured Korean history star lecturer Choi Tae-sung, who took the stage to discuss the meaning of life and constructive future planning by looking at historical events.
Future Advanced Classrooms, Dash Robot Soccer Matches, Baby Alpha, and More: A Gathering of Future Education
The core theme of this Y Education Expo, the Future Education Expo, offered a venue for experiencing advanced future technologies rarely encountered in daily life over three days at Yangcheon Park, attracting about 18,000 visitors.
Especially at the Y Digital Class set up on the central lawn of Yangcheon Park, visitors could experience advanced classrooms in advance through AI-based learning tools such as digital textbooks, which will be fully introduced starting next year.
Additionally, 25 booths featuring the latest fourth industrial revolution technologies such as robots, virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), artificial intelligence, and makers were operated to provide diverse content. Notably, ‘Speed Touch,’ where a robot quickly touches numbers displayed on a screen using a remote control, ‘Dash Robot Soccer Matches,’ where participants directly control Dash robots to play soccer, and ‘VR 3Q Experience,’ which offers a virtual roller coaster ride experience, were extremely popular every day.
A middle school student who visited the site said, “Through various experiences like robots and drones that we usually cannot try at school, I got a step closer to my dream,” adding, “I will definitely participate again next year.”
Moreover, quadruped robots and dog-shaped Baby Alpha robots roaming around the expo area communicated with visitors and gained great popularity, while the robot barista and cotton candy robot placed at the entrance of Yangcheon Park provided unique fun.
Nationwide Competitions Including ChatGPT English Speech and Youth Drone Soccer Held with Fierce Contests
On the last day, the excitement intensified with the finals of the ‘ChatGPT English Speech Contest,’ the first nationwide event planned by the district to nurture global talents equipped with critical acceptance of future technologies and creative and logical thinking. Among 244 youth participants nationwide, 20 finalists (10 middle school and 10 high school students) presented speeches on topics such as ‘Positive and Negative Effects of Short-form Content (Middle School Division)’ and ‘Learning Methods to Foster Self-directedness in the AI Era (High School Division),’ using ChatGPT to write their English scripts themselves.
As a result, Oh Se-hoon from Jungang Middle School and Na Yoon from Cheongshim International High School won the grand prizes, receiving the EBS President’s Award and prize money of 1 million won each.
Professor Jung Young-sik of Jeonju National University of Education, who chaired the judging panel for the ChatGPT English Speech Contest, commented, “While middle school participants focused on understanding, summarizing, and verifying knowledge on the final topics, high school participants impressively used ChatGPT by continuously conversing with AI to deeply explore their own thoughts,” adding, “I applaud all participants who prepared their best despite the short preparation time and nervousness.”
Additionally, the youth drone soccer competition, featuring 23 teams nationwide, competed fiercely amid enthusiastic cheers and responses from spectators. The championship was won by the YG Dream Team from Yanggam-myeon Resident Autonomy Committee, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, a world-class team that recently placed second at the International Drone Soccer Federation (FIDA) International Drone Soccer Competition held in Songdo, Incheon. They won the Seoul Mayor’s Award, a trophy, and prize money of 1.5 million won, securing the championship for the second consecutive year.
The Largest Ever Intergenerational ‘Lifelong Learning Festival’ Held Over Three Days on a ‘Car-Free Street’
The Lifelong Learning Festival, held under the theme ‘Intergenerational Harmony Shining Through Learning and Sharing,’ attracted about 10,000 participants and filled the ‘Car-Free Street’ between paths in Yangcheon Park with eight special performances and ten experience booths over three days.
With intergenerational programs covering various genres such as performance-converged lecture concerts, musical gala shows, travel humanities lectures, yodel songs, and drawing & magic shows, the festival offered audiences the joy of learning and opportunities for rich life planning. Additionally, unique experience booths featuring crafts, woodworking, calligraphy, and trying on old school uniforms embodied the diverse value of lifelong learning, adding deeper meaning to the event.
Establishing Itself as Korea’s Representative Education Expo, Leading Future Education
The closing ceremony held at the special stage in Yangcheon Park began with an assorted musical gala performance, followed by awards for competitions and closing remarks by Yangcheon-gu Mayor Lee Gi-jae. Notably, this year’s ceremony included a presentation ceremony by the middle school division grand prize winner of the ChatGPT English Speech Contest, drawing attention.
Following the celebration of the successful conclusion of the expo and anticipation for next year, the event was spectacularly capped off with a fantastic drawing performance by ‘Painters’ and beautiful harmonies by the four-member vocal group ‘Fortena,’ marking a grand finale to the educational festival. Above all, Y Education Expo 2024 was conducted as a safe festival without accidents by deploying about 190 safety management personnel throughout the venue to control movement routes and prevent confusion, ensuring a well-organized event.
Mayor Lee Gi-jae of Yangcheon-gu said, “I sincerely thank everyone who visited the Y Education Expo held over three days in the happy educational city of Yangcheon to contemplate and experience the direction of Korea’s future education together,” adding, “I hope this event was a meaningful time for our children to nurture dreams about the future and fill themselves with curiosity and motivation. We will return next year with even richer and more substantial programs.”
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