The emergence of the cyber-university and blended learning in Korea

Okhwa Lee, Yeonwook Im

ith the rapid development of information and communication technolo­gies (IGT) and the increasing demand for education, interests in the po­tential of e-learning have accelerated. Simply stated, e-learning uses ICT to supplement and enhance education across all sectors. After e-learning came blended learning, defined as a type of learning that includes the use of IGT and face-to-face instruction in varying degrees. Given the definition of blended learning, the majority of learning in higher education these days might be deemed blended learning. In fact, according to a study conducted in 2002 and 2003 (Allen & Seaman, 2003), one of the major findings is that both campus-based uni­versities and online universities are focused on blended learning and the quality of e-learning.

The widespread growth of blended learning has found its way to Korea. According to a white paper published by the Ministry of Education and KERIS (Korea Education and Research Information System, 2003), blended learning was used in about 63 percent of university education courses in Korea in 2002 and 67 percent in 2003. According to statistics from June 2003, among the 204 universities in Korea, more than 50 percent of classrooms are now equipped with technology that might enhance the opportunities for technology use and blended learning (KERIS, 2003).

The extensive use of blended learning in Korea is due to the prevalence of Internet access and well-planned and well-supported infrastructure. In fact, Korea

The Handbook of Blended Learning

holds several world records in Internet usage and availability, including the high­est broadband diffusion rate, the longest Internet access time, and the highest per­centage of streaming media applications (World Economic Forum, 2004). Currently more than 65 percent of Internet users in Korea use audio-video streaming services. This pervasive Internet presence helps people become famil­iar with and take advantage of e-learning. At the same time, the Net generation in Korea seems to take for granted the ability to work and learn in cyberspace.

The trend to blended learning in Korea began in cyber-universities: those that offer courses online via cyberspace as a form of distance education. Courses in cyber-universities in Korea were exclusively online at first. Interestingly, they later began to offer face-to-face courses themselves or allowed students to take these courses in their affiliated campus-based universities. Some courses in cyber-universities incorporate both online and face-to-face elements in their design. Also, the learning community in cyber-universities uses both online and face-to-face modes. Students at cyber-universities meet regularly in formal study groups as well as casual social meetings. Given this history and sudden emergence of cyber-universities, the observations about cyber-universities in Korea in this chapter should clarify recent blended learning trends and practices.

The Cyber-University

As every country has its own educational environment, Korea is unique in its educational resources and demands on those resources. By the year 2002, the number of authorized entrants at Korean universities (723, 683) exceeded the number of high school graduates (670, 713). At the same time, there remains a high demand for quality higher education. Such trends and demands have caused a serious imbalance in student enrollments among universities. In fact, a severe disproportionality of entrants at Korean universities has caused competition and innovation within their respective educational services. Uni­versities now recognize the need for educational reform that leads to student-oriented education and cost-effective management of an e-campus and e-learning. Part of this recognition stems from the fact that they have begun to reap enrollment gains from enabling students to work at their own pace at their own convenient time and place.

In 2001 Internet industries began to seek massive application of technology within higher education in response to the prevailing view that higher education was not as well equipped with IT as primary and secondary schools. In 2001 the Korean Ministry of Education (МОЕ) finished the first stage of support for ICT in­frastructure in primary and secondary schools and was ready to begin supporting

The Emergence of the Cyber-University and Blended Learning in Korea 283

Korean higher education with Internet infrastructure and applications. At that time, the Korean government encouraged universities to apply ICT in instruction and pro­moted the trial of the cyber-university within Korea. With strong political support from the government and a need for a new market for the booming IT industries in 1998, a consortium of universities and colleges for online learning opened in sixty-five universities and fourteen companies, which was the basis of the pilot project for a cyber-university in 1999 and 2000. The pilot cyber-university project was so pop­ular that the МОЕ accepted more cyber-university applications than originally planned. Most of these trial cyber-universities were campus-based university consortiums located next to or within the traditional campus.

Due to the success of the pilot project, the government launched a new higher educational system, cyber-universities, in March 2001. A cyber-university is a unique instructional medium modeled after student admission policies used in the Open University. To date, these cyber-universities have drawn extensive attention from university administrators, the public, and the Korean media. The growth of the Korean cyber-university project from 2001 to 2004 is detailed in Table 20.1.

In 2001 the first nine cyber-universities, with thirty-nine study areas, were authorized by the Korean Ministry of Education and Human Resource Devel­opment, the actual enrollment rates in 2001 varied across the cyber-universities from roughly 89 percent of the authorized total (Kyung Нее Cyber-University) to a low of 38 percent, according to the educational statistics from the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development (2004).

With the continued popularity and growth of cyber-universities, six more universities were authorized in 2002, which increased the number to fifteen, with seventy-nine study areas and 16, 700 new entrants authorized; however, the actual enrollment rate varied greatly among the universities, from a high of nearly 90 percent at Seoul Cyber-University to a low of almost 10 percent (Ministry of Education, 2004).

In 2003, one more new cyber-university was authorized, bringing the total to sixteen cyber-universities and 149 study areas. Finally, in 2004, one more cyber-university was authorized, increasing the total to seventeen cyber-universities, including 2 two-year colleges and 15 four-year universities) with 23, 700 students authorized and 162 study areas. While five universities received less than 20 per­cent of the students authorized, the total actual enrollment across these seventeen cyber-universities and colleges continued to climb to nearly 40, 000.

Enrollment Rates

The total number of new entrants authorized has rapidly increased since the first year, but it is expected that in the short term, the number of new entrants

284 The Handbook of Blended Learning

TABLE 20.1. CYBER-UNIVERSITIES AND AUTHORIZED NUMBER OF NEW ENTRANTS PER YEAR, 2001-2004.

Name