A Comparative Study on ICT Policy in Education in Korea and Japan

Korea and Japan have been making a continuous effort to build information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure in schools, and integrate ICT into curriculum by training teachers based on own ICT policies in education. ICT policy in education isparticularly diverse and challenging, in part because the rapid development of ICT continues to create new possibilities for use and demands the transformation of the ways we teach and learn. The present study is to analyze ICT policies of Korea and Japan, between 1980's and the present period, in a larger educational and historical context. The study reviews chronological changes in major streamlines of ICT policies of both countries, and discusses in detail changes in two aspects of ICT policies in education, that is, ICT infrastructure and teacher training. The paper points out convergence and diversity of ICT policies in two countries and concludes with a set of guidelines for ICT policy makers.