Already ten years have passed since the first cyber university was launched in South Korea. It has now reached an impressive level in terms of the size and number of students on a national scale. Currently, in 2010, there are 12 cyber universities in the metropolitan area and seven in other regions, and over 90,000 students are running toward their dreams and future through the education offered by cyber universities.
17 of the cyber universities, in particular, have been officially approved by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology as higher education institutions, like off-line universities, which have propelled their growth. According to the survey conducted with 1777 off-line university students and 3414 cyber university students at the end of last year, 76.1 percent of the cyber university students who also have jobs answered that they are very satisfied with the courses.
They explain that it is because they can enjoy the ‘Saladent’– compound word of salaryman and student – life as they attend quality lectures wherever they are while they also go to work.
Cyber universities also contribute to the globalization of education. Developing countries in Asia such as Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar saw many projects come in to help them build an advanced cyber education system. It also corresponds to one of the main agendas of the G20 Korea-Asia Cooperation Project: support for developing countries with IT infrastructure education.
In the sixth general meeting of the Korea council for Online Universities(KCOU), held last August, Lee Woo-young, President of Korea Cyber University, was elected the 5th Chairman of the KCOU. Korea IT Times met with Dr. Lee to get a glimpse of the evolution and direction of cyber universities in the age of knowledge and information.
Q: Cyber universities have achieved an impressive level of development despite its relatively short history of only 10 years, what were the reasons behind such rapid growth
A: The reasons for the remarkable development of cyber universities lies in the high quality of lectures and education system, which I would say, is the most suitable educational system for the 21st century. The professors have to prepare the lectures more systematically, because they do not just lecture in front of a handful of students, but instead they teach many students through a screen. Also, from the students’ perspective, they prefer online university to off-line ones because they receive a high level of education at about one third of the off-line university tuition. Cyber education is creating a new paradigm by networking the globe in the era of information-based society and rapidly developing because it is beyond space and time.
Q: How are you planning to lead the globalization of Korean cyber universities
A: Currently, the Association is meeting with international organizations for online education, such as the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE), in order to find ways to progress globalization. Korean cyber universities are known for their extremely systematic contents for lectures that are organized according to the subject, introduction, main subject and summary, and the Association is planning to provide the Korean online educational system to less developed countries including Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and South Africa.
However, despite the existence of such an open system through which global education can be realized, the language barrier is an obstacle to the pace of development for now. Nevertheless, the language barrier will not be an obstacle sooner because an automatic translation system, which we’re currently developing, will solve most of the language barrier issues.
Q: What are the strong points and potential problems of Korean cyber universities
A: Cyber education is, I would say, is the most suitable educational system for the global era because it is very dynamic and information-originated. From the first semester in 2011, many cyber universities will provide new services called mobile campus which will enable students to take class via iPhone. Mobile campus will be emerging as one of the most important educational methods in the near future. Prominent universities like MIT also provide an on-line educational system as its primary system.
However, Korean society is discriminating against cyber university graduates in comparison to conventional university graduates, in contrast to many advanced countries where an online curriculum is treated equally to off-line education.
It is also a huge issue that there is a lack of focus on students’ demeanor as a result of paying too much attention only on knowledge-based education. Even in knowledge-based society, moral-based education has to be strengthened to build students’ upright character to live like well behaved individuals. I have never stepped on a flower since one of my teachers at elementary school taught me that it is wrong. Even though we are living in an information age where everything is rapidly changing, without proper instruction on the morals and ethics, education as a whole will eventually spiral downward.
Online education suggests a new educational paradigm for the global network in the 21st century, as people can now study anywhere and anytime they want. Korean cyber universities annually produce over 1,000 competent graduates in various fields. Cyber universities are the leaders for Korea’s new educational innovation.
