ICT Use in Vocational Education

in house training institutes and universities of technology.

Finally the content can be divided into direct and indirect information about vocational education. Direct information is information concerning institutions, ways of learning and policies, while indirect information refers to guidance counseling, qualifications for jobs or education, recruitment information, the labor market information, and job information.

2. Current situation of ICT use in vocational education

There is little ICT use in vocational education in Korea. At present, adapting education to the information age has focused on the construction of EDUNET, ICT use in educational administration, ICT use in libraries and construction of educational networks. Thus, ICT use in vocational education has been neglected. Although the 2002 Promotion Plan for ICT use in Education includes the construction of databases for the staff of technical colleges and the construction of Career Net, there is still no master plan for ICT use in vocational education. The current status of ICT use in vocational education is described below divided by type of institution.

Part-2

SECTION 2. ICT Use in Vocational

Education

A. Current situation

a. Vocational high schools

Some of vocational high schools have constructed homepages in order to provide information about the school. The Offices of Education in Incheon, Gyunggi and Choongnam also provide information about vocational high schools and their entrance information. EDUNET provides information for vocational high school students, divided into agriculture and life science industries, information industries (commerce), technical industries and fisheries. It also provides information about technical college entrance requirements and employment.

On April 24, 2002, as the greatest achievement of ICT use in vocational high schools, the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development launched the Viva Vocational High School (www.viva.re.kr) developed by the Center for Career Development of Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training. This website seeks to help vocational high school students find jobs or enter colleges, and, linked with the Career Net, provides specialized services for students, their parents, and teachers in the vocational high schools.

The Viva Vocational High School provides in-formation and guidance concerning employment and college entrance and conducts open or closed consultation between teachers and parents.

It supports students in planning for active and confident futures, helps teachers guide students according to their interests and aptitudes, and

assists parents in finding appropriate education methods for their children. The Viva Vocational High School is divided into three parts: guidance counseling, guidance helpers and various career and aptitude tests and advisers.

b. Technical academies

Technical academies do even not have a homepage because of their small size. They are also not the subject of a governmental plan for ICT use. The only available service is a database for academies or training schools provided by some Offices of Education.

c. Technical colleges

All technical colleges have homepages. That is not to say that a homepage is enough to support students’

needs. In any case, a homepage provides rough information concerning majors, professors, curriculum and facilities. The Korean Council for College Education also supplies a great deal of information about technical colleges. For example, it provides school searching services, lists of entrance requirements for each college, and other policies or news articles. It also functions partly as a community for professors and deans, and helps them exchange information.

d. Technology institutes and in-house training institutes

There is only one technology institute and one in-house training institute. Because there is no need to provide information to the public, they have no homepage.

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e. Universities of technology

The universities of technology provide proper information to students and the general public through its homepage. For universities of technology, the Korean Council for University Education (www.kcue.or.kr) provides a service similar to that provided by the Korean Council for College Education for technical colleges.

f. Career Net

Career Net is managed by Center for Career Development of Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training. Targeting all students from elementary schools to colleges, adult learners, as well as parents and teachers, it provides the following services: job information, license information, guidance counseling materials, tests for interest, aptitude, maturity or the sense of vocational value, and counseling services. From August of 1998

until May of 2002, the Career Net has had a tremendous number of users(See <Table 2-12>).

3. Next steps

The following tasks are proposed to improve the quality of vocational education and increase informatization.

- First, we must draw a comprehensive picture of ICT use in vocational education. An annual plan should distinguish tasks for government, tasks for educational institutions and tasks for the public. Also, in that comprehensive picture, ICT use in the labor market and on the job should be included in the vocational education program.

- Second, it is urgent to promote ICT use in higher vocational education and in educational institutions that are relatively neglected by the government.

Part-2

2002 (Jan.- May) Year

Service

1999

(Aug.-Dec.) 2000 2001

6,156 126,035 374,351 534,605

Guidance information

1,473 5,302 7,590 4,144

Guidance counseling

591 88,404 219,102 118,675

Psychological tests

38 359 128 83

Consultation for institutions

7,370 13,972 10,842 5,610

Guidance education

15,628 234,072 612,013 663,117

Total

<Table 2-12> Current status of users in Center for Career Development (Unit : person)

* Source : Career Development of Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training (May 2002).

- Third, governmental intervention may be necessary to prevent market failure. That is, the government should provide information on vocational education and requirements for certification: otherwise, some people may be prevented from receiving such information.

- Fourth, an administrative database must be constructed to make policies for ICT use in vocational education.

1. Overview

Since 1998, the government has devoted itself to making Korea the best country in computer utilization. In March 1999, it established the Comprehensive Plan for Developing ICT Use in Education. In 2000 this became the Promotion Plan of ICT Use for 10 million people. According to this Plan, the government was expected to provide education in ICT use to the classes excluded from ICT use, including soldiers, housewives, the handicapped, the elderly, inmates, the middle aged, farmers and fishermen, while promoting ICT use in education from 2000 to 2002.

Under this Plan, as of March 2002, 10,860,000 people have received education in ICT use. The government completed the Promotion Plan of ICT Use for 10 million People earlier than expected and continues to promote ICT use among the general public.

To complete the Promotion Plan of ICT use for 10 million people, not only public education institutions but also private institutions such as universities, enterprises and computer institutions have actively participated in ICT use. In addition, the demand for ICT education has increased dramatically as the general public considers ICT utilization skills as a skill prerequisite to social activities.

ICT education in the private sector consists of vocational training institutes, lifelong education centers in universities, culture centers in department stores and the press, as well as private computer academies. While the private sector has produced a large quantity of human resources, there are no accurate statistics regarding its production. The content and the levels of ICT education offered by the private sector varies from basic ICT utilization skills to professional ICT training.

2. Current situation

A. ICT use in vocational training institutions

Vocational training for IT was conducted more widely in 2001 than in previous years. This was because the government implemented various plans to support the unemployed and their job training. In 2001 the Ministry of Labor established an IT training plan for the unemployed and provided high and middle quality IT training to approximately 30,000 people. In September 2001, the government spent 15 billion won to provide additional IT training to 8,000 unemployed

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