Seoul, South Korea – The Korean Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Korea Education and Research Information Service (KERIS) and textbook publishers, has unveiled a comprehensive "Textbook Book Information Database (DB)" on its integrated reading education platform, "Reading Road" (https://read365.edunet.net), on March 6th.

This initiative addresses the previous inconvenience of accessing textbook-related book information solely through printed textbook appendices. The new DB consolidates and categorizes this information by school level, grade, and subject, facilitating more efficient and integrated use.

Key Features of the Database:

Comprehensive Information:The DB includes essential details of books featured in textbooks, such as titles, authors, publishers, and publication years.
It also provides context by including textbook-specific information like subjects, curriculum details, publication years, school levels, grades, textbook titles, publisher names, and the relevant textbook unit or page numbers.
The database covers diverse fields, including literature, history, science, and social studies.
User-Friendly Access:Accessible through the "Reading Road" platform after teacher or student verification and login.
Users can search and filter information by grade and subject.
Data can be downloaded as files for further use.
Direct links to school library catalogs allow users to check book availability and reserve rentals.
Data Collection:The database information collected until december of 2024.
The database contains information from 16 textbook publishers.

Educational Benefits:

The Ministry of Education anticipates that this DB will significantly enhance students' reading activities and information seeking.
It will also serve as a valuable resource for teachers in their lesson planning and subject teaching.
It supports a more connected experience between curriculum and extra reading.

Future Plans:

Initially, the database will be accessible to students and teachers during the first half of 2025.
The Ministry plans to expand access by making the data publicly available later in 2025, promoting broader use.
Ongoing collaboration with textbook publishers will ensure the database remains up to date, and that the database will be further enriched.
This initiative represents a significant step towards promoting integrated reading education in South Korea, leveraging technology to make educational resources more accessible and user-friendly.