By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
Head of the biggest online university in the U.S. underlined on Wednesday Korea needs to avoid negative stereotyping on cyber education and forecasted it will be the way of the future.
``You might think online schools are less personal than traditional schools, but it’s not. I believe our students and others in other cyber universities get better attention in the online environment,’’ said Jones International University (JIU) President David E. Leasure who visited Seoul to build ties with Seoul Cyber University.
The reasons, the president pointed to the change of communication tools in our daily life and the fact that people today spend more time online than offline.
``In a traditional class, you might ask one question a week, but in online you can ask a lot of questions through e-mail. Students can learn more independently and instructors can discipline the students well in online,’’ Leasure said in an interview with The Korea Times.
``Also they can interact with other students through bulletin board and chatting rooms. As they convey their ideas on written form, they have to think more before posting comments online.’’
In the U.S., cyber universities can charge higher tuition than offline schools by average 20 percent more, according to the president.
``Americans now put higher value on online programs than formal classes as they have more options and choices. Online schools have huge competition in the United States,’’ Leasure said.
The president sees the mainstream will move to Korea soon and the Korean government would provide master and doctor’s degree programs through online schools.
``Similar patterns in America have occurred in Korea. We also had a lot of controversy when the government gave credit to our school in 1999,’’ Leasure said.
Also Leasure pointed out the government and institutions are the main groups that resist change. However, he believes they will have to adapt to the changes soon and try to find a solution to online education.
``It is very hard to change the way of thinking. Cyber universities will continue to advise and cooperate with other universities,’’ he said.
Lastly, the president confirmed that the online education market would grow quickly as the economy needs a well-educated workforce who are working and studying at the same time.
Graduated from Kansas State University, Leasure gained PH.D from University of Kansas. He served as vice president of academic affairs and director of compliance for Colorado Technical University before heading JIU.