The big topic in current education is AI digital textbooks. This is expected to be introduced in the first half of 2025, and it introduces a state-of-the-art system to prepare for future education. Prior to the introduction of AI digital textbooks bef...
The big topic in current education is AI digital textbooks. This is expected to be introduced in the first half of 2025, and it introduces a state-of-the-art system to prepare for future education. Prior to the introduction of AI digital textbooks before 2025, AI courseware Peng Tok and Smart Mathematics Expedition were introduced. These programs are based on the student's learning data, and AI recommends customized learning to the student's level, and learners induce learning using this. The AI digital textbook is a series of characteristics of these AI courseware. Therefore, AI digital textbooks provide customized education tailored to each student's individual level.
Customized education is in line with the individualized education plan of special education. This is because the big key in special education is to conduct individual learning according to the characteristics of each student's disability and learner's level, and to induce participation in learning through instructional modifications. Therefore, there is a lot of interest in classes using AI digital textbooks even within special education, and various studies on how to use them are needed along with analysis of usage patterns in the actual educational field.
However, many textbooks so far have been presented from the perspective of general class students in the common curriculum in general schools. Therefore, the special teacher and the homeroom teacher directly made instructional modifications according to the level of the special education target students assigned to the general class. It took a lot of effort because individual characteristics had to be considered later. On the other hand, AI digital textbooks focus on customized education and aim for textbooks that can be used by all students, so the textbook itself is equipped with the function of adjusting the learning level and adjusting the order of learning. Naturally, this can be meaningful in that it is possible to easily provide customized classes through textbooks in the classes of special education subjects.
The introduction of AI digital textbooks to special education subjects induces new interaction patterns based on digital devices. This will form a different student-textbook interaction from existing book-type textbooks. However, until now, research related to AI digital textbooks has focused on proposing instructional models or explaining the purpose of development, and application cases in the actual school field are insufficient. In particular, the search in the context of special education or integrated education is more insufficient. Therefore, this study attempted to explore the interaction patterns and factors affecting the interaction of students subject to special education with AI digital textbooks by adopting special classes as school sites and collecting and analyzing actual cases.
To this end, this study analyzed the interaction patterns between special education subjects and textbooks for special classes using mathematics AI digital textbooks, and identified factors that influence them. Two research questions were set. First, what is the interaction pattern between special education subjects and mathematics AI digital textbooks? Second, what are the factors that influence the interaction?
The study was a case study of classes based on the case study method, and two special classes in the 3rd and 5th grades of A elementary school in Seoul were set as spaces for the study. Two teachers and five students participated in the 3rd class and observed, and the class scene was recorded. However, due to the characteristics of students subject to special education, there were few utterances and many actions, so the researcher organized the main actions as a behavioral observation record. Before and after class, interviews with teachers and students were conducted, and the recorded and recorded interview data were used for post-transcription analysis. The collected class transcription, interview transcription, and behavioral observation data were analyzed according to the 6 steps of qualitative thematic analysis proposed by Naeem (2023).
In the study, four types of interaction were found in the interaction between AI digital textbooks and special education subjects. They are active interaction, efficient interaction, complementary interaction, and emotion-based interaction, respectively. In particular, in the case of complementary interactions, since the frequency and sub-themes were derived the most, it was found that delicate intervention of teachers is essential when special education subjects interact with AI digital textbooks.
In addition, six factors were found in the factors influencing interaction. The stability and function of the system, spatial characteristics, the shape and difficulty of tasks, the ability to use AI digital textbooks, the teacher's class progress and feedback method, and the special interests and behaviors of students subject to special education. In particular, the sub-themes of tasks reflecting individual characteristics in terms of the form and difficulty of the task were derived, indicating that the aspect of individualized education of special education subjects was also prominent in the interaction with AI digital textbooks. In addition, the special interests and behaviors of special education subjects also influenced the interaction with AI digital textbooks.
These results suggest that AI digital textbooks can actually help realize individualized learning for special education subjects when applied in the educational field. In addition, it was also found that the intervention of special teachers is essential as a point that distinguishes it from general education when using AI digital textbooks. In addition, considerations when introducing AI digital textbooks in special classes and directions for the development of AI digital textbooks in special education in the future were discussed.
This study expects that the Korean language AI digital textbook of special schools, which is being developed as a national textbook with the aim of introducing it in the second half of 2025, can be used as basic data when it is introduced to the educational field in the future. In addition, it is hoped that the introduction and spread of AI digital textbooks will contribute to the creation of a digital-based environment that realizes the main purpose of educational equality and individualized education.