South Korea pilots use of robot English teaching assistants

SGGPO 11/29/2023 5:13 PM

From 2024, Seoul city, South Korea will pilot the use of English teaching assistant robots at elementary and middle schools in the city.

Small robots have been used as teaching aids in Korean kindergartens. Photo: Getty Images

Yonhap news agency quoted information from the Seoul Metropolitan Officeof Education as saying that from March 2024, a total of five schools will be selected to pilot the teaching assistant robot model. The city government will provide each school with an English teaching assistant robot.

This is part of an effort to improve the effectiveness of English teaching in the public education system, while reducing the burden on parents of the cost of extra English lessons for their children.

Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. Photo: IANS

This robot was developed by a private company.

In form, the English teaching assistant robot is similar to the robot serving at restaurants, but is equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) applications capable of conversing in English 1-1 with students, and will also act as a teaching assistant with the ability to converse in English like a native speaker.

In the classroom, robots will act as teaching assistants for teachers, carrying out activities appropriate to students' levels such as correcting pronunciation and practicing English.

In addition, Seoul City will also pilot both a smartphone app and a chatbot to help improve English listening and speaking skills in some public schools. The chatbot app will have the ability to converse in English with students based on situations they set up.

To improve the effectiveness of foreign language teaching and learning, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said it will expand the implementation of international exchange classes - classes with online exchanges between Seoul students and foreign students through a modern translation and interpretation system. Currently, 198 schools in Korea are establishing exchanges with partners in 18 countries.

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