The Current Status of E-learning and Strategies to Enhance Educational Competitiveness in Korean Higher Education

Junghoon Leem,Byungro Lim

doi:10.19173/irrodl.v8i1.380

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the current status of e-Learning in Korean higher education and find ways to encourage the further use and development of e-Learning systems that aim to enhance Korea's academic competitiveness. A total of 201 universities in Korea (27 national and public, 163 private, and 11 national universities of education) were examined in this study. At the time of the study, 85 percent of the universities and colleges had investigated implemented e-Learning. There were special e-Learning teams in most national and public universities, as well as private universities and colleges. Findings from this study found that both teachers and learners alike, lacked meaningful support systems and opportunities to actively participate in e-Learning programs. Although such lack of support was found to be endemic, such lack of support and opportunity was found to be more accute in private universities, private colleges, universities of education, than mid-sized, small-sized, and provincial universities and colleges. Except for a few mid- and small-sized universities and colleges, most large universities and colleges were equipped with technical support such as infrastructure and operational platforms. These same schools, however, did not provide institutional support, nor did they employ appropriate policies needed to further the quality and enhancement of e-Learning offerings. Also, there was no meaningful link found between schools and industry, nor was there adequate financial support in place for the implementation of e-Learning systems, simply because many universities failed to allocate sufficient funding for e-Learning.

Highlights

The role of universities is to produce, distribute, and apply knowledge to various contexts (Brown & Duguid, 2000; Duderstadt, 2000)
Tremendous effort will be needed to achieve Duderstadt's (2000) goals. This can only be achieved through the provision and application of information and communication technology (ICT) designed to establish universities as both knowledge servers and learning communities
Using e-Learning systems, course lecture contents such as that delivered in traditional classroom settings, can be saved to the 'knowledge server' to add the cumulative knowledge stored by a university

Summary

Introduction

The role of universities is to produce, distribute, and apply knowledge to various contexts (Brown & Duguid, 2000; Duderstadt, 2000). Tremendous effort will be needed to achieve Duderstadt's (2000) goals This can only be achieved through the provision and application of information and communication technology (ICT) designed to establish universities as both knowledge servers and learning communities. In this effort to innovate universities, the introduction and utilization of e-Learning will be a critical component. Using e-Learning systems, course lecture contents such as that delivered in traditional classroom settings, can be saved to the 'knowledge server' to add the cumulative knowledge stored by a university. Since e-Learning is based on self-regulated learning, universities should evolve to become learner-centered educational entities, further contributing to the continued innovation of any Korean university

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Conclusion