Daegu Cyber University Supports IT Education for Developing Countries
Daegu Cyber University Supports IT Education for Developing Countries
  • Yeon Choul-woong
  • 승인 2010.11.08 21:12
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Lee Young-sae, president of Daegu Cyber University

It has already been a decade since Korea launched its first cyber universities in 2001. In the era of knowledge and information, there are currently over 90,000 students studying at 19 cyber universities. Such phenomenal development was made possible by the efforts of numerous people involved, one of whom is the president of Daegu Cyber University, Lee Young-sae.

Cyber University: official educational institution subject to higher education laws

After launching Daegu Cyber University (DCU) in 2002, Lee Young-sae, President of DCU, noted as one of his most rewarding achievements during his tenure as the chairman of the Association of Korea Online Universities, explained that cyber universities became official educational institutions, like regular universities when they became subject to higher education laws.

In fact, cyber universities were recognized only as institutions for continuing education in the beginning, which not only prevented them from establishing graduate schools, but resulted in discrimination in which the graduates were subjected to suffer despite having earned bachelor's degrees or diplomas. After the reform of higher education laws, Korean cyber universities have shown remarkable development as they can now compete on a level playing field with conventional universities.

Today there are a total of 19 cyber universities in Korea: 12 in the metropolitan area and 7 in other provinces, and 17 of them are four-year universities and two are vocational colleges. In terms of the number of students, four of the cyber universities are teaching over 8,000 students and six universities enrolled over 5,000. Nationwide, more than 90,000 students are studying through a cyber universities and the number is gradually increasing. With the development of cyber universities in general, DCU has also achieved rapid growth.

The option for specialization is what makes DCU especially competitive. From the modest number of 100 students enrolled in its first year, now the university has become an competent educational institution that produces 1,500 graduates per year with its expertise in handicap education, counseling psychology, speech therapy, art therapy, play therapy, social welfare, etc.

DCU is also focused on globalization, working on many projects to build advanced cyber educational systems in less developed countries. After signing an MOU with Thai Nguyen University in Vietnam, DCU is teaching 200 Vietnamese students who are conferred bachelor degrees issued by DCU President after completing required 4-year courses. This program called, "TUBA joint academic program," named after the initial Thai Nguyen University of Business Administration, is playing a leading role among cyber universities, benchmarked as a model of cyber university's successful joint degree program with foreign schools.

The university is also participating in the collaboration project of "Korea-Asian Cyber University" promoted by the Korean government and Asian countries like Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar, as part of a collaboration project for cyber education signed up by President Lee Myung Bak and ASEAN summits in 2009.

 

Distance Education

President Lee explained, "Korea has already been a huge influence on Asian countries in the entertainment field via TV dramas and pop music. Also, in the education field, cyber universities are leading the Korean wave. The advantage of cyber education is that it provides opportunity for economically disadvantaged countries in Asia to enjoy high levels of education at a low cost. For instance, in the case of Vietnam, people who graduate from Daegu cyber university and find a job at a Korean company in Vietnam are expected to earn, on average, three times more than those who graduate from a Vietnamese university, which explains why so many talented Vietnamese people opt to attend Daegu Cyber University."

"When you look at the G20 Summit Projects," he added, "the main agenda includes the stabilization of financial system, solution to exchange rate crisis, reform of IMF governance, and support for developing countries. And developing countries can be best supported by building an IT infrastructure and providing education opportunity which include cyber universities."

If off-line university education was the 'cottage industry,' cyber university would be the 'automated machine industry"

Alvin Toffler once said, "Lifelong learning is the virtue of future generations because through further education more creative individuals can be nurtured." President Lee compared regular off-line universities to a 'cottage industry' where only limited number of students can be taught face to face, while cyber universities are more like the 'automated machine industry' in its educational system where virtually unlimited number of students can be taught online with much cheaper cost.

President Lee said, "In order for cyber universities to parallel the machine industry, we need to put in more effort than regular universities to improve the quality of educational content. We are confident that the educational content provided at DCU is in line with global standards. Also, we have secured a remarkable faculty in order to improve the quality of education. Over the last few years, many professors competent in different fields, such as social development studies and brain science, have joined us and internationally renowned scholars listed in "Who's who", whom conventional universities in general cannot afford to recruit, have also been hired for students studying at their home."

During the interview, President Lee emphasized that it is beyond question that cyber education will create a new paradigm by networking the globe in this era of an information-based society. He also added that with the rapidly developing mobile environment where people can learn anytime and anywhere, now Cyber University is the most suitable educational system for the 21st century. He finished the interview with a big smile, saying anybody who would like to achieve their dreams through a high level of education can knock on the door of cyber universities.


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