The Division of the Understanding Korea Project at AKS’s Center for International Affairs hosted the “Academy of Korean Studies & Russian Academy of Education Online Textbook Seminar” over two days from November 26 (Monday) – November 27 (Tuesday), 2020. The seminar included four presenters from Russia including: Svetlana V. Ivanova (head of the UNESCO Chair on Global Education, Institute for Educational Development Strategy, Russian Academic of Education, Ministry of Education), Irina M. Elkina (Assistant Director of International Affairs), Irena V. Robert (chief researcher), and Olga A. Francuzova (Assistant Director, Humanities and Social Science Institute). More than 30 people from the Institute for Educational Development Strategy attended the seminar online.

This seminar was hosted online due to the continued global spread of COVID-19. On the first day of the seminar, participants from Russia and from AKS’s Division of the Understanding Korea Project discussed the current situation and future of online and offline education during the COVID-19 pandemic in each country. The second day consisted of discussions regarding the future of education in each country in a post-pandemic world.

In addition, the Russian participants agreed to cooperate in preparing plans to increase more active academic exchange in the future in order to revitalize education and academic exchanges with AKS. Also, they shared their views on the importance of the role of future educational experts for children during the COVID-19 pandemic and the importance of each country’s educators’ efforts.

In particular, the Russian participants were interested in Korea’s online education, digital textbooks, and remote education. They discussed in-depth strategies for developing online educational platforms in each country for the future and ways that these platforms can improve education. The participants stressed the fact that resolving issues related to the future of education is not restricted to any one country, but a problem that must be faced and taken on by the whole world.

The online textbook seminar participants from AKS and the Russian Academy of Education’s Institute for Educational Development Strategy are closely watching the development of the COVID-19 pandemic. They praised Korea’s system for controlling the pandemic and the excellence of Korea’s online education. They showed hope that participants could visit each other’s countries after the pandemic is slowed to share experiences and discuss the future of education cooperation between the two countries. In addition, they promised to discuss the selection of topics for future discussions on more active educational cooperation between the two countries.