Perspective Chapter: Current Practice of Massive Open Online Courses in South Korea

Abstract

This chapter reviews the current operation of Korea Open Course Ware (KOCW) and Korean Massive Open Online Course (K-MOOC), which have emerged as Open Courseware in Korea and show the empirical research on the students’ opinion of usefulness and future participation willingness to K-MOOC non-credit program and the students’ satisfaction with an online program in N university. Korean OCW starting in 2007 has received content from universities and institutions, and shared educational materials in the form of videos, documents, or e-learning. Korea also started MOOC in 2015, like KOCW. The college students at N University highly recognize the usefulness of K-MOOC and have the willingness to participate in KMOOC program in the future. Both learners and instructors can use open courseware according to various purposes and interests, suggesting the continuous development of open courseware for lifelong learning in South Korea.

1. Introduction

The development of information and communication technology has brought about changes in all industries, and education has moved away from school-centered education and ushered in the era of internet-based distance education. The basic concept of courseware is a compound word integrating course and software in terms of etymology. In other words, courseware can be said to be a program that helps users learn [1]. An ideal courseware can be defined as one that is carefully devised and produced to lead learners to their intended learning goals and supports learners to achieve the best individual learning [2].

Courseware is the most representative example of the Open Educational Resource (OER) movement. Open Course Ware (OCW) was launched to spread knowledge-sharing culture by publishing courseware online. Through OCW, learners around the world can take the classes they want. In Korea, Korea Open Course Ware (KOCW) was introduced in 2007 and system construction started, and after trial operation in December 2008, the service started in March 2009 [1]. In addition to KOCW, the Ministry of Education wanted to build a world-class MOOC in Korea and started Korean Massive Open Online Course (K-MOOC) in 2015. Therefore, it can be seen that there are currently two large open coursewares in Korea, KOCW and K-MOOC.

Open courseware can be used for various purposes at the level of individual learners and can be used as various teaching materials at the level of instructors in higher education institutions. It can be used as a teaching material for blended learning or flipped learning, as a pre-learning or supplementary in-depth learning material. Blended learning has various definitions, such as mixing media and teaching methods and using various teaching methods, but generally refers to the appropriate mixture of online and offline classes. Flipped learning means that students watch the teacher’s class at home through videos, etc., and at school, they do assignment activities or enrichment activities under the guidance of the teacher [3].

In this chapter, a brief review of the current situation of KOCW and KMOOC, two major open coursewares in Korea, will be followed by empirical research of K-MOOC and online course in a university. The commonalities and differences in the educational use of two open courseware focusing on blended learning and flipped learning will be discussed. These research results emphasize that open courseware can be used as an important method of teaching-learning by learners and instructors and will contribute to broadening the scope of its use.

2. Theoretical background

2.1 The concept of distance education

Distance education is a real and academic field of education that has developed in the last 20–30 years. The beginning of distance education, which we refer to today, is correspondence education. The term distance education was formalized in 1982 when the International Council for Correspondence Education (ICCE) changed its name to ICDE (International Council for Distance Education) [4].

The person who gave a comprehensive definition of distance education is Keegan [5], who sees that distance education has the following characteristics. Namely, the separation of learners and teachers, the use of technological media, two-way communication, individual learning, the importance of institutions and organizations providing distance education, participation in industrialized forms of education, and the privatization of learning. A more general definition of distance education is proposed by Holmberg [4]. Distance education is various forms of noncontiguous lessons and learning in schools or all types of education. It refers to non-continuous education that is far away and does not receive immediate supervision from the teacher.

The development of distance education can be largely divided into three eras. The first-generation distance education was the era of correspondence education using the postal system, emphasizing the expansion of educational opportunities for adults, and the second-generation distance education. In the era of industrialized distance education using mass media, educational opportunities were further expanded and diversification of education methods was pursued. In the era of education, the quality improvement of teaching-learning activities in the remote education environment was more emphasized [6].

Distance education is used similar to correspondence education, home study, independent study, external studies, distance teaching, and open learning [3]. Distance education can be said to have started with the postal system. Correspondence education, which can be traced back to the 1720s, has been developed through the 1830s in which teachers and students receive education through self-instructional texts and correspondence [4]. In the late nineteenth century, what were known as correspondence schools provided education for out-of-school children, such as in Australia, where there were similar correspondence schools away from villages [7, 8]. Distance education has also provided an effective second opportunity for those without a diploma or qualification, and for clients who wish to improve some professional knowledge or skill. Particularly in the 1960s, distance education brought about a dramatic change in traditional education methods [8]. In developed countries in Europe, distance education has begun to be implemented for adults who do not have a diploma or certificate. This was mainly caused by the rapid rise of the idea of equality in education, and the UK’s Open University is a representative example. However, efforts to secure highly educated human resources were also an important cause, and recently, it has become common because of efforts to meet lifelong educational needs such as vocational education and continuing education [8].

Distance education started in Canada and New Zealand, mainly in remote areas with low populations, but gradually spread to densely populated areas. However, distance education in the 1960s was a very rudimentary form and was completely different from today. Recently, the speed of development is rapid, such as the use of this distance education even in places with severe traffic congestion. This is due, among other things, to the development of information and communication technologies and educational technology. But it is also argued that next-generation education should be a form that considers students’ learning objectives, learning environments, learning experiences, and readiness, rather than by fixed teachers or class programs. It is also because of this increase [9].

In distance education, learners do not attend in-person classes subject to a specific location or time constraints. Therefore, distance education is characterized by noncontiguous communication because it does not rely on direct face-to-face relationships between teachers and learners, but rather on media [4, 8]. Interaction between teacher and learner is necessary, but it occurs after a period of time. Therefore, it is an interaction by means of electronic or radio waves rather than a direct encounter with each other. Of course, there are cases of direct teacher-learner contact, but this is usually when the institution providing learning is large. This is called the non-face-to-face feature of distance education. Distance education is also characterized by openness. This means that the facilities that provide learning are not fixed. It also means that programs, classes, and assessments are not static. The range of choices and the process of learning vary depending on the learner’s learning speed, time, and the characteristics of the program. Of course, there are places that request formal admission procedures, but the openness of distance education can be meaningful only when the content of learning and the teaching method are considered at the same time [8].

2.2 History of distance education in Korea

Globally, internet-based distance education is rapidly expanding based on the advantage that anyone can learn anytime, anywhere to overcome time and space constraints. Distance education in Korea can be said to have started with the opening of the Korea National Open University in 1972. In the 1980s, companies such as Samsung and Hyundai conducted distance education, and from the late 1990s, virtual universities were established, contributing to the vitalization of distance education [10].

Korea National Open University is the first national distance university in Korea, and it is also the second distance university in the world after the British Open University. KNOU opened in 1972 as a 2-year education affiliated institution of Seoul National University and became an independent university in 1982 with a 4-year undergraduate course. In terms of size and university awareness, it is the most widely known among remote universities in Korea. Because it is national, the tuition is very reasonable compared to private schools, so the cost-effectiveness is good. It is an educational institution that mainly office workers and international students visit as part of an extension of education. Even after graduating from KNOU, it is common for students to re-enter another major and continue their studies. KNOU is composed of each department under the composition of four colleges, and regional universities are located in 13 special cities and metropolitan cities. As of 2021, it is a large university with 103,009 undergraduate students and 2291 graduate students [6].

Even in Korea, distance education is developing by leaps and bounds thanks to the government’s policy consideration and the active participation of the private sector. In August 1996, the Ministry of Education of Korea selected “operation of cyber universities” as an educational reform task and conducted policy research on the introduction of cyber universities and conducted research on institutional and legal requirements. The pilot operation took place over 2 years with the participation of 65 universities and 5 companies and showed the possibility of establishing a remote university. As a result, the legal foundation necessary for the establishment of a private remote university based on advanced information and communication technology according to the Lifelong Education Act was prepared. In 2003, a total of 16 distance colleges, including one distance college, conducted professional bachelor’s or bachelor’s courses. As of 2023, there are 19 cyber universities, and there are two lifelong education facilities in the form of distance universities, so a total of 21 cyber universities exist [11].

A cyber university refers to a university that provides an educational method in which students can take lectures and obtain degrees using the Internet. Also called an online university. In English-speaking countries, it is called a virtual university. It is a higher education system that grants a bachelor’s degree or professional bachelor’s degree when learners learn educational services provided by instructors through the Internet without limitations of time and space and complete certain credits. Academic affairs are operated by students taking classes, taking exams, and submitting assignments through the Internet. Educational information is stored and managed in the form of a weblog, and students can take courses at convenient times at places equipped with computers and the Internet. It has the advantage of being able to receive a degree by taking classes at home without having to go abroad to study [12].

Since its opening in 2001, Korea’s cyber universities have experienced explosive growth, starting with 5000 new and transfer students. As of 2018, the total number of enrolled students is about 100,000 and the cumulative number of graduates is about 240,000. It is a compressed growth unprecedented in the history of Korean education. The background of these causes can also be analyzed in three major ways [13].

First, the reason for this is the inconvenience and low graduation rate of the education demand class due to education only through broadcasting excluding the Internet, real-time education, attendance classes, and absolute evaluation tests of “National Korea Open and Correspondence University,” which was in charge of major adult education at the time. A large part of the current student demand for Cyber University is in charge of the demand for Korea Open and Correspondence University. It is also objective evidence that the number of students enrolled at the National Open University of Communications has plummeted due to the demand for voluntarily moving to Cyber University, which is about five times more expensive than the National Open University’s tuition. The second was a complacent response method that recognized the demand for lifelong education at existing offline universities as just education at the level of ‘social education centers and lifelong education centers’. The demand for education, which was thirsty for an adult higher education institution that could receive specialized and timely education to cope with an increasingly sophisticated and rapidly changing society, was flocking to low-cost, high-efficiency cyber universities that transcended time and space and allowed entry without the CSAT. As a result, major cyber universities in Seoul have more than 10,000 students per school and mammoth departments with more than 1000 students per department [11].

Third, it is thanks to the education authorities’ “breakthrough change in perception” of cyber universities. Of course, not all ministries, including the department in charge of offline higher education in the Ministry of Education, showed a favorable view of the growth of cyber universities, but it was thanks to the appropriate judgment and support of the education administrator in charge of cyber education at the time. In particular, the cyber university, which was unable to properly conduct higher education due to the legal system at the time of its opening in 2001, was changed from a “remote university-type lifelong education facility” to a “higher education institution” according to the Higher Education Act (Law No. 8638) amended in 2007, it can be said that the biggest impact was that it was able to grow into an “online university that is an adult higher lifelong education institution” in name and reality. As a result, the legal basis for online higher education, which can provide complete education from undergraduate to graduate school, was established. This was in accordance with the Distance College System Improvement Promotion Plan announced on July 4, 2006, and the main revision at that time was the addition of the Higher Education Act so that distance college-type lifelong education facilities would have the same legal status as the National Open University [14].

3. Current situation review of KOCW and K-MOOC

3.1 KOCW

KOCW (Korea Open Course Ware) is a joint utilization service for higher education teaching and learning materials that shares information on lecture materials in connection with OCW (OpenCourseWare) of domestic universities and overseas open education resources (OER: Open Education Resources). It is provided by KERIS (The Korea Education and Research Information Service). OER refers to free teaching-learning materials that are publicly provided so that instructors, students, and learners for the OCW program can use them for education and learning. Representative OER institutions include MIT, UNESCO, and GLOBE, and OER uses CCL (Creative Commons License) according to free open conditions for loaded information.

KOCW started with the opening of a pilot service in 2007, and as of October 2019, 18,388 lectures and 270,443 lecture materials from a total of 215 institutions, including 188 universities and 27 related institutions, are being provided in Korea. In the case of overseas, a total of 12 companies are participating, including 9 universities and related organizations and 3 OAI (Open Archives Initiative), and 33,914 lectures and 417,505 lecture materials are provided (see Table 1).

Classification		No. of Institutions	No. of Lectures	No. of Lecture materials
Domestics	Universities	188	16,013	265,623
	Related Institutions	27	2375	4820
	Total	215	18,388	270,443
Overseas	Universities & Related institutions	9	15,526	16,593
	OAI	3	—	130,469
	Total	12	15,526	147,062
합계		227	33,914	417,505

Table 1.

Status of registration of KOCW lecture materials.

Source: http://www.kocw.net/.

Lecture materials provided at KOCW are largely composed of videos, documents, and e-learning, with videos taking up the most at 64.1%, documents at 28.8%, and e-learning at 5.3%. About 58.8% of KERIS holds the original text, and 40.7% of cases receive and provide lecture URLs from corresponding universities and institutions (Table 2).

Classification		Numbers(%)
Lecture materials by file type	Videos	175,611 (64.9%)
	Document	77,849(28.8%)
	e-learning	14,433(5.3%)
	Others	2550(0.9%)
	Total	270,443
Lecture materials by service type	Original text	158,926(58.8%)
	URL connection	110,039(40.7%)
	Others	1478(0.5%)
	Total	270,443

Table 2.

Classification of KOCW lecture materials.

Source: http://www.kocw.net/.

3.2 K-MOOC

K-MOOC (Korean Massive Open Online Course) means a web-based (Online) course that can be taken by anyone (Massive) without any restrictions on the number of people (Open). In October 2015, K-MOOC selected 10 universities and opened 27 courses to start a pilot service.

In 2015, when the K-MOOC service started, there were 27 courses opened and 55,559 course registrations. Due to the increase in the number of college students and adult learners due to COVID-19, the number of course registrations in March and April 2020 (178,687) increased by 78% compared to the number in March and April 2019 (100,534).

Although the K-MOOC business has grown quantitatively since the start of the service, such as the number of courses opened and course registrations, there are opinions that improvement is needed in the educational effect of learners and the operation and support of K-MOOC. Since the fields and topics of the open courses are not diverse, learners’ choices are limited, and the course completion rate is low. Due to the K-MOOC platform developed overseas, it is difficult to apply teaching and learning methods to enhance the educational effect of learners. There is also an opinion that there is difficulty in activating K-MOOC policies and systems due to a lack of a promotion system [15].

The number of courses offered is increasing every year from 27 in 2015 to 143 in 2016, 324 in 2017, 510 in 2018, and 745 in 2019. The number of participating institutions is 10 in 2015, 28 in 2016, 31 in 2017, 18 in 2018, and 29 in 2019 [15] (see Figure 1). As shown in Table 3, by field, humanities accounted for the most at 28.0%, followed by social studies at 23.7% and engineering at 21.2% [5].

Figure 1.

No of courses and No. of institutions by year [3].

Classification	No. of Lectures	Per cent (%)
Humanities	143	28.0
Social science	121	23.7
Education	19	3.7
Engineering	108	21.2
Nature	58	11.4
Medicine	29	5.7
Arts and sports	32	6.3
Total	510	100

Table 3.

Number of K-MOOC courses by academic field.

Source: Ministry of Education [16].

4. Research on K-MOOC and online courses at N university

4.1 K-MOOC as non-credit course program

Namseoul University, located in Cheonan, provides MOOC as non-credit programs to students to strengthen the key competencies of the university (Communication, Collaboration, Glocal, Convergence, Creativity) and provides points upon completion. When students accumulate points, they can convert them into cash and receive tuition reductions. In 2022, a total 52 programs were provided as K-MOOC non-credit programs. On December 2022, 940 students who participated in the program were asked about the usefulness of the K-MOOC completion program and their willingness to participate in the future.

The evaluation of usefulness was 3.48 points (SD = .833) on average out of 5 points, and the willingness to participate was 3.35 points (SD = .907). Usefulness and willingness to participate were analyzed by gender with t-test. The perception of the usefulness of K-MOOC was significantly different by gender (t = −6.639, p < .001). Female (M = 3.62, SD = .81) thought the K-MOOC program’s usefulness higher than male students (M = 3.62, SD = .81). Also, the opinion of willingness to participate the non-credit K-MOOC program in the future was significantly different by gender (t = −7.283, p < .001). Female (M = 3.53, SD = .91) expressed their willingness to participate in the program in the future higher than male students (M = 3.10, SD = .83) (see Table 4).

Classification	Gender	M	SD	t
Usefulness	Male	3.26	.81	−6.639*
	Female	3.62	.81
	Total	3.48	.83
Willingness to participate	Male	3.10	.83	−7.283*
	Female	3.53	.91
	Total	3.35	.90

Table 4.

Usefulness and willing to participate of K-MOOC in N-university.

*

P < .001.

4.2 Exploring factors affecting university satisfaction in online learning

N University is a traditional four-year university that focuses on offline classes. However, there is a system that recognizes the online credits including K-MOOC as graduation credits by 24 credits. Due to COVID-19 in the first semester of 2020, professors took classes in various types using Real Time Online Conference Programs (e.g., Zoom, WebEX), using MP4 videos from PPT with voice and images, or using open source such as YouTube, KOCW, K-MOOC, were conducted. Classes using KOCW and K-MOOC can be called “external learning content type.” The students’ opinions on the online classes, including this Open Courseware, were examined. After the first semester of 2020, the online survey link was sent to students, and a total of 733 respondents were analyzed. The questionnaire questions used the four-point Likert scale.

At N University, even open-source programs such as K-MOOC and KOCW were connected to the LMS (Learning Management System) in the school, so the professor managed the class and interacts with the students. Therefore, the satisfaction of the support system and the satisfaction of the professor’s activities were examined. Each variable consists of five items and Cronbach α is .827 and .863, respectively (Table 5). Satisfaction with the online support system means university guidance, ease of downloading learning materials, interaction and feedback with professors, feedback from friends, and technical support. Satisfaction with online instructor activity means using cases, pictures, videos, etc., reflecting the latest trends, providing additional explanations and information, and providing feedback and objective evaluation. Satisfaction with the online support system’s mean was 2.11 out of 4 points (SD = .65) and satisfaction with online instructor activity’s mean was 2.56 (SD = .66).

Variable	Contents	No. of items	Cronbach α
Satisfaction with online support system	University guidance, ease of downloading learning materials, interaction and feedback with professors, feedback from friends, technical support	5	.827
Satisfaction with online instructor activity	Using cases, picture, videos, etc., reflecting the latest trends, providing additional explanations and information, providing feedback and objective evaluation	5	.863

Table 5.

The variables’ contents, number of items, and reliability.

Satisfaction with the online support system and online instructor activity were analyzed by gender with t-test (Table 6). Satisfaction with the online support system was significantly different by gender (t = −3.175, p < .01). Female (M = 2.16, SD = .63) satisfied with the online support system higher than male students (M = 1.99, SD = .67). Also, satisfaction with online instructor activity was significantly different by gender (t = −2.232, p < .05). Female (M = 2.60, SD = .63) satisfied with the online instructor activity higher than male students (M = 2.47, SD = .72).

Classification	Gender	M	SD	t
Satisfaction with online support system	Male	1.99	.67	−3.175*
	Female	2.16	.63
	Total	2.11	.65
Satisfaction with online instructor activity	Male	2.47	.72	−2.232**
	Female	2.60	.63
	Total	.256	.66

Table 6.

The gender differences in two variables.

*

p < .01.

**

p < .0.

5. Discussion and conclusions

The educational use of KOCW and K-MOOC at the individual level of learners is as follows. In the case of college freshmen, basic knowledge and humanities lectures are shared, students on leave of absence and military service students can use them for class preparation and hobby activities, and workers can use them for vocational and job training. It can be used for major department and career exploration. Undergraduate (graduate) students can attend assignments and prepare for mid-term and final exams, graduates and job seekers can take classes on English, licenses, and entrepreneurship, and retirees and lifelong educators can take special lectures, liberal arts seminars, and self-development, can be utilized. Analyzing the best use cases of KOCW, high school students took in-depth learning while listening to KOCW lectures in a small group study, college students studied formal wear for their major study, prepared for certification, and office workers acquired the latest knowledge in related fields and linked it with work. A case in which performance was achieved by doing so is reported [17].

At the university level, instructors can have students watch KOCW/K-MOOC lecture videos related to the class. Video viewing can be provided as material before class (preparatory study), can be viewed together during class, or can be provided as in-depth learning material after class. Open educational materials provide students with files such as lesson plans, lecture notes, quizzes or tests, answers, and lecture videos or audio.

The flipped learning material is a method that can be used more extensively than a simple lecture video. Both KOCW and K-MOOC can be used for flipped learning, and the actual K-MOOC homepage emphasizes the use of flipped learning in K-MOOC. In other words, open-source videos can be provided as preliminary materials in flipped learning, which is being actively discussed recently. Originally, flipped learning refers to a method in which the main class in the classroom and home learning are crossed, the main class is conducted at home, and in-depth learning (team project, discussion class, etc.) is conducted in the classroom. Prior learning can be provided with materials from various media, such as newspaper articles, theses, textbooks, and videos. In recent years, the most common form of prior learning in universities is to provide video lectures that have the same depth and content as the main learning in the classroom, and instructors who try flipped learning record lectures in advance and provide videos to students [18].

As a pre-learning video material for flipped learning, KOCW and K-MOOC have a common feature that can be used. However, there are some differences in how the two OCWs are utilized. First of all, as mentioned earlier, KOCW allows both instructors and learners to watch a specific video even without logging in, so Professor A selects a specific week from his 16-week lecture by flipped learning and plays the video corresponding to that week. KOCW’s video lectures can be specified. In other words, you can select only one video out of one KOCW course. However, K-MOOC allows both instructors and learners to register for a specific course and use only the registered videos for flipped learning. Rather than selecting only a part of a specific video, a specific course is designated as a lecture for pre-learning, and all classes for each week are flipped. The difficulty of progressing with learning follows. If the course registration period does not coincide with the start of university lectures, it is also difficult to designate flipped learning as pre-learning material. In other words, all students participating in offline classes at the university register for a specific K-MOOC course, take the K-MOOC course at home, and use the reverse process of discussions and projects in the classroom. Learners have to do quizzes and assignments in K-MOOC, and professors at offline universities can use K-MOOC flexibly, which is a complete course that allows quizzes, assignments, and Q&A through tutors.

This chapter briefly overviews the construction status of KOCW and K-MOOC, two open courseware built in Korea, and discusses educational utilization plans that can be utilized at the level of learners and instructors. Open courseware such as KOCW and K-MOOC is a tool that enables learners to learn according to their individual learning needs and strengthen individual capabilities at the individual level. It has the advantage of being a reflective tool for planning and improvement. In addition, at the university level, the competitiveness of universities can be strengthened by sharing and disseminating excellent lectures, and socially, it can be seen that students’ right to learn and opportunities for lifelong learning are expanded [17].

Among the dissertations written between 2001 and 2019, 9 papers related to OCW and 48 papers related to MOOC were analyzed. OCW was searched in RISS of the Korea Research Institute of Science and Technology with the keywords KOCW and Open courseware, and there were a total of four master’s theses and one doctoral thesis [17]. On the other hand, it can be seen that a lot of recent research on MOOCs has been conducted not only in Korea but also in overseas MOOCs. This is because the MOOC system is spreading abroad and domestically and is being used educationally in various ways. However, as discussed above, currently, MOOCs in Korea are registered for each course and managed by tutors, so it is difficult to take classes without registering for classes, content download is restricted, and there are limitations in using only certain parts in class. Therefore, to be used as a teaching-learning medium in a more flexible way, it is hoped that it can be used as an open material in a flexible way like KOCW.

K-MOOC, which is led by the Korean government, has been able to maintain a steady increase over the past years, excluding profit, because the central government has continuously supported course development and operating costs based on Open edX, a free platform since its launch. However, the government cannot support the budget just in line with the increasing number of courses. Care should be taken in such an environment because an unexpected tragedy of the commons, such as mass production of low-quality content and consequent alienation of learners, may occur. Over the past years, the Ministry of Education, the overseeing institution of K-MOOC, and the National Institute for Continuing Education, the leading institution, have faced these problems and attempted to make desired changes in operation, and in the process, it has been confirmed that they are constantly reflecting the trend of overseas MOOCs [16].

Eom et al. [19] analyzed the learning experiences of MOOC learners at K University and reported that the students valued the MOOC contents as they are made by university professors and requested that the method of delivering the learning content be designed in various ways so as not to be boring and to be composed in a sense of reality.

Recently, by diversifying development subjects, it actively reflects various social needs, continuously induces learning of related courses, creates an environment where learners can always learn, and further introduces overseas platforms and MOOC courses to provide opportunities for comparative development. However, if the Ministry of Education had focused only on the quantitative expansion of K-MOOC, now is the time to seek a new change in qualitative expansion as a turning point for sustainable growth [20].

Author note

This chapter is basically based on Jun’s paper in 2019 titled “Exploration on educational use of open course ware: focusing on KOCW and K-MOOC” [17] and in 2021 titled “Exploring factors affecting university satisfaction in COVID-19 online learning” [18].