Main Achievements for ICT Use in Education in Korea 1996-2006

From the e-Learning International Cooperation Team of the Korea Education and Research Information Services (KERIS) and the Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development (MOE&HRD), this report details the information and communication technology (ICT) strategies of an intended shift "in traditional educational paradigms 1) from teacher-centred to learner-centred learning, 2) from focusing on uniform education to focusing on learners’ diversity and individual strengths and characteristics, 3) from stressing regulation and control to stressing autonomy and responsibility, 4) from focusing on uniformity to focusing on freedom and equality, and 5) from using conventional tools like blackboards and chalk to using ICTs."

Strategies include:

• Teacher training on ICT use and teaching-learning innovation through institutional measures to link school curricula with ICT, and practical strategies for classroom application of new teaching and learning methods using ICT.
• Development and operation of education information services, including the school-based support EDUNET, an after school internet-based learning system called Cyber Home Learning System (CHLS), the Digital Library System (DLS) for school libraries, and the Educational Resource Sharing System (ERS) promoting sharing and distribution of all educational information.
  
• Advanced e-Administration Service through the National Education Information System (NEIS), reducing teacher administrative time.
  
• Standardisation and quality assurance for developing and disseminating education information - a set of guidelines for standardising educational resources to reduce overlap of development of materials and to present a meta database for accreditation of resources.
  
• Establishment of infrastructure for ICT use in education - a physical infrastructure for ICT use in education for Korea’s primary and secondary school students and teachers at some 10,000 schools nationwide.
  
• Contribution to bridging the global digital divide in education through global partnerships in promoting international exchanges, both cooperation with advanced countries to share their know-how on ICT use in education, and providing computers, teacher training, and consultancy for 16 developing countries including the Dominican Republic, Laos, China, and Thailand.