초록/요약

This study aims to identify the characteristics of AI curricula in major countries and analyze China’s AI curricula and textbooks for elementary education, which implements AI education from basic education, in a way to develop elementary AI curricula for the academic year 2022 in Korea. For this purpose, first, we examined the characteristics of the Chinese curricula compared to AI policies and curricula of the developed countries. Second, we analyzed China’s elementary school textbooks—three published by East China Normal University Press and 12 by Henan People’s Publishing House. This study achieved a meaningful result in two aspects. First, AI curricula of the leading countries in education are categorized into UK and others. UK does not directly cover AI technology itself but helps students understand the basic structure of AI based on algorithms and programming languages. On the other hand, other countries deal with the basic knowledge and programming of AI and AI technology and emphasiz the technology’s social impact and ethical aspects. In contrast, China’s AI curricula focuses on programming and algorithms, helping students learn physical computing to understand machinery and programming principles. However, they cover neither the technology itself nor its potential adverse effects on society. Second, the Chinese AI textbooks published by the two publishers focus on programming and clearly show level differences by grade. However, all of them have insufficient content for the emotional and ethical aspects of the technology. When comparing textbook content by publisher, East China Normal University Press emphasizes the convenience and usefulness of AI as a learning topic, whereas Henan People’s Publishing House is more student-friendly, using games as one of the learning tools. In conclusion, this study implies the need for developing elementary school students’ literacy on AI education and science technology appropriate for the purpose of elementary education and the development stages of children. It also suggests a constant need for research on the implementation of ethical education and ensuing issues concerning AI education for elementary students.