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A classroom of high school seniors in Gangwon Province is seen through a pair of smart glasses. /Yonhap

During the first-semester final exams at a high school in North Jeolla Province, a student repeatedly touched the frame of their glasses. A teacher supervising the exam noticed a green light reflected in the glasses. After the exam, the teacher discovered that they were smart glasses equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.

In Jeju, a teacher who had received a tip from another student spotted an examinee switching from regular glasses to smart glasses during an exam.

The Ministry of Education announced Monday that it had confirmed four cases of cheating using smart glasses in school exams this year, following a nationwide survey of all 5,679 middle and high schools conducted from Oct. 27 to Nov. 3.

The findings included two previously reported cases at a middle school and a high school in Seoul, along with one additional case each at high schools in North Jeolla Province and Jeju.

Three cases occurred during first-semester final exams, while one took place during second-semester midterm exams. 

In Seoul, teachers became suspicious after students who did not normally wear glasses showed up wearing them during exams and repeatedly touched the frames.

The student in Jeju was caught on the second day of midterm exams and later admitted to having worn smart glasses on the first day as well. The school gave the student zero scores for exams taken on both days.

The other three students received zero scores in the subjects in which they were caught cheating.

Three high schools also imposed separate disciplinary measures.

The high school in Seoul ordered the student to complete three days of special education, while the school in North Jeolla Province imposed four hours of community service. The student in Jeju received a five-day suspension.

"Unlike other national examinations, teachers supervising school exams know their students well enough to recognize what their glasses normally look like, making it easier to detect cheating," said Kim Han-seung, director of the Ministry of Education's Curriculum Operations Support Division.

Starting with second-semester final exams, the ministry plans to remind students of prohibited items, including smart glasses, on exam days and establish procedures for collecting any such devices before exams begin.

The ministry will also distribute educational materials describing the cheating cases, along with guidelines for exam supervisors, to schools nationwide.

Smart glasses will also be prohibited at test centers for the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), South Korea's national college entrance exam, scheduled for Nov. 19.

The ministry plans to instruct examinees nationwide at 8:05 a.m. on exam day to hand over any smart glasses they have brought with them.

"Smart glasses currently on the market can be detected through proper training of exam supervisors," a ministry official said.

"It would be difficult for an examinee to take the CSAT while wearing smart glasses without being caught."

                                                                                                           Kim Nam-hyung