Strategies to Establish a Blended e-Learning for the Quality Education in Traditional University

Blended e-Learning, which is a blended learning mode with offline and online learning, has been expanded in terms of quality and quantity as well to improve the quality of university education in South Korea. It is recently considered as an important strategy and a policy to innovate university education because of its potential to compensate lacks of offline face-to-face learning. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to present useful strategies to establish Blended e-Learning system in traditional offline universities. To find out practical strategies, interview and survey data from professors and students at S university in Korea were collected analyzed. In addition, focus group meeting with experts was conducted and other cases were reviewed. The results showed that there were needs for better usability and stability of Blended e-Learning system, and there should be powerful top-down policies to motivate participation of professors. This paper finally suggested detail strategies in terms of three dimensions, which are university level policy support, stable infrastructure, and quality contents development. Context of the Study Blended Learning is used to describe a mixture learning mode of various ways such as face-to-face learning, eLearning, software sharing, self-paced learning, and so on. Blended e-Learning is, among these, more focused on the mixture of offline and online learning. Blended e-Learning is meant to take advantage of the merits of face-toface learning and e-Learning for effective and efficient learning. This makes it easier to change or improve traditional educational systems and to enhance the efficiency of the existing educational infrastructure, and such advantages of e-learning contribute to boosting quality education (Driscoll, 2002; Lee, Kim & Kim, 2005). This leads universities to pay growing attention to Blended e-Learning with strong expectations than ever. In fact, many universities in Korea currently apply this Blended e-Learning as a critical strategy to improve their traditional education (Kim, 2001, Lee, Kim & Kim, 2005; Lim, Leem & Kim, 2004) However, it is not easily found how to apply and manage Blended e-Learning successfully into their traditional existing system. Moreover, traditional universities are likely to face many difficulties in offering Blended eLearning if there is no appropriate perception of its need. Blended e-Learning might make users more confusing and make the system even worse if they just push it without enough considering the difference between eLearning system and existing educational system as well as the nature of ‘blending’ itself. In this context, this paper is to suggest practical strategies to help traditional universities to provide quality education through Blended e-Learning successfully. Theoretical Background What is Blended e-Learning? Blended e-Learning is based on blended learning which is the combination of different ways of teaching mode, such as media, technologies, activities, or types of events, etc. for more effective, efficient, and attractive learning. Driscoll(2002) suggested blending of offline and online instructions as a type of blended learning. Just to make it clear, in this paper, Blended e-Learning is defined operationally as a blending learning mode especially of online and offline learning among all kinds of blended learning. Then why do we take Blended e-Learning as a main policy in university education instead of just whole e-Learning? Because for professors who are hesitate, even reluctant to adopt this new technology into their traditional classroom, Blended e-Learning sounds like more flexible, less stressful, more accessible, less reluctant, so it is more applicable than ‘e-Learning’ itself. Why Blended e-Learning is needed in university education? Blended e-Learning is a great way to initiate an organization into e-Learning because it benefits learners. It allows university to gradually move students from traditional classrooms to e-Learning in small steps, making change easier to accept(Driscoll, 2002). First, Blended e-Learning may increase the efficiency of education in aspects of university curriculum. Now that, previous learning environment can be improved with combining offline and online class together. Driscoll(2002) mentioned that Blended e-Learning allows universities to compensate and even reinforce the existing classes rather than replace it. Moreover, Blended eLearning can get rid of such problems as large scale of lectures, supplementary activities, lack of classrooms, and so on. Second, Blended e-Learning can enhance the quality of teaching in aspects of instructors’ performance(Khan, 2004; Mantyla, 2001). Various potentials of Blended e-Learning, such as synchronous and asynchronous interaction between people, self-directed learning mode, repeated learning, multimedia learning materials, knowledge sharing, learning community, make it easily improve the quality of university education. Third, Blended e-Learning makes it possible to bring along to the effectiveness of learning in aspects of students’ support. It is able to integrate each strong advantage such as sharing idea with one another for offline class, and over interacting mutually above both time and place(Lim, Lim, & Kim, 2004; Lee, 2004). Therefore, with considering not only offline but also online class’s benefit, university education may offer better quality of education than ever. In sum, Blended e-Learning is a powerful strategy in order to improve instructional environment and to enlarge the effectiveness and efficiency of education with adopting various advantages of both offline and online course. How to apply Blended e-Learning in traditional university? Several researches have tried to provide some guidelines for Blended e-Learning. Recent researches have suggested what to blend. For example, Rossett and her colleagues(2003) classified learning resources according to applicability, characteristics of the learning contents, interaction method, and media usage. Leem(2003) emphasized on instructional design in consideration of learning objectives and contents for effective Blended e-Learning. He classified instructional models to problem-based learning, project-based learning, experiential learning, and explorative learning. Similarly, Valiathan(2002) classified Blended Learning into three models; skill driven, attitudedriven, competency driven. According to the type of model, Valiathan sequenced learning events; syllabus, class orientation, self-directed learning, Q/A, practical application, feedback, wrapping up the instruction, evaluation. These previous researches have suggested the guidelines which professors carry out Blended e-Learning in a class within the micro perspective. However, there aren't sufficient researches on strategies that could help university establish it effectively and efficiently. The purpose of this study was to present some strategies to help traditional universities to provide quality education through Blended e-Learning successfully.