Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education Fosters Students' Independent Thinking Skills in AI and Media Era
On the 24th, the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education hosted the '2026 AI & Media Education Forum' aimed at fostering students' ability to think and judge for themselves in the AI and media era. Under the theme 'The Great Educational Shift in the AI Era: Beyond Connection, Thinking On!', the forum was organized to discuss educational directions, policies, and institutions that focus on cultivating students' capacity to think and judge for themselves, going beyond mere technology use, and to share practical examples from school settings.
In his keynote address, Lee Geon, head of the Phones Free School Promotion Unit, addressed the shift in attitude needed regarding smartphone issues under the theme 'The Great Educational Shift in the AI Era: Why Phones Off, Thinking On Now?'. He pointed out that simply collecting devices or prohibiting their use is insufficient. Citing actual school cases, he explained that when students rebelled against smartphone restrictions, rather than imposing unilateral force, the school chose a method of explaining the problem, asking for opinions, and experimenting together.
In subsequent presentations, the focus shifted to the environment and systems surrounding students. Bae Sang-yul, a researcher at the National Youth Policy Institute, addressed 'Digital Well-being in the AI Era'. He highlighted the actual state of students' SNS usage and policy/institutional challenges for creating a healthy digital environment, arguing that usage issues should not be viewed merely as individual choices or habits. Song Tae-min, a teacher at Baegok Haesol Elementary School, shared field cases for enhancing media literacy, such as news reading and SNS privacy protection classes, and emphasized the need for students, who encounter generative AI and chatbots daily, to have the capacity to understand and judge the media environment. Jeong Hyeon-seon, a professor at Gyeongin National University of Education, proposed educational directions to help students grow into digital subjects who judge and utilize AI and media for themselves, rather than remaining passive consumers.
This forum served as an opportunity for the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education to concretize its educational philosophy of growing students into active subjects rather than passive digital consumers, ensuring they can question, judge, and use AI and media responsibly, moving beyond the perception of AI and media as simple learning tools.
