Fulbright U.S. Education Center

On December 9th, three representatives from the University of New Hampshire visited Fulbright.   They were Christine M. Shea, Associate Dean of Graduate Programs and Research, Craig H. Wood, Associate Professor of Operations Management, and Andrew T. Sharp, Program Coordinator for the Masters of Science in the Management of Technology (MOT) program.  All three are involved with the M.S. program in Management of Technology, which has been offered in Korea for three years now.  The program is offered through the Whittemore School of Business and Economics.

The picture above (click to see a full-size version) shows Fulbright Executive Director Shim Jai Ok, seated at the left, talking with (clockwise) Christine Shea, Andrew Sharp, Craig Wood and Jim Larson, Fulbright Deputy Director.

Larry J. Musick, Director of Alumni Relations and University Events, and Buck James, Associate Vice Presidetn for Enrollment at Abilene Christian University (ACU), visited Fulbright’s U.S. Education Center on December 9.   They briefed Center staff on Abilene Christian University’s mobile learning program, an innovative approach to the use of mobile technology in education. (see the recent article in Wired Magazine)  They also discussed Abilene Christian University’s programs of interest to Korean students, with special emphasis on the new Global IT Leadership M.S. program

Pictured in the photograph (click on the photo to access a full-size version of the jpeg file) are (left to right) Larry J. Musick, Buck James, and Jim Larson, Fulbright Commission Deputy Director.

On November 4, Thomas Underwood, Regional Program Officer in the U.S. Embassy’s Public Affairs Section, and An, Sun Nam, Regional Program Assistant, visited the Fulbright Commission.   They discussed American Corners, English Education, Fulbright’s English Teaching Assistant Program and other common areas of interest.  Mr. Underwood and Ms. An are pictured in the photo below with Fulbright Korea’s Executive Director, Shim, Jai Ok.

On November 3 Fulbright’s U.S. Education Center received a visit from Joseph MacAde, Director of the English Language Institute at Texas A&M University Commerce.  He discussed student recruitment, trends in Korea’s education sector and related issues in international education with staff of the Center.  Pictured in the photo below are Director MacAde and Jim Larson, Deputy Director of Fulbright.

On November 4, Amy L. Miller, International Relations and Marketing Specialist with Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania visited Fulbright for discussions in the U.S. Education Center and with Executive Director Shim Jai Ok.  Pictured in the photo below, from left to right, are Fulbright Deputy Director James Larson, Amy Miller, and Fulbright Executive Director Shim Jai Ok.

This is the first of several posts to catch up on visitors to Fulbright Korea and its U.S. Education Center this past Fall.  On November 5, Visaken Ganeson, BBA, MBA, Director for International Education at Everett Community College in Washington visited. We had a very informative exchange about trends in the Korean education market, student recruitment in Korea, and international educational exchange more generally.  Pictured in the photo, from left to right are John Phillips, Fulbright Network Administrator, Jim Larson, Fulbright Deputy Director, and Mr. Ganeson.

The Korea Times this morning has a very informative article by Robert Dickey that summarizes the continuing strong influence of the university entrance exam (College Scholastic Aptitude Test) on Korean education.   Despite many efforts to change it over the years, “education inflation,” “teaching to the test” and the like persist.   This article is a good introduction to the current situation.

Some of you may be interested in the post on my Korea Information Society blog about the Ministry of Science and Technology’s plans for digital textbooks.

Read it here.

As reported in The Korea Times today, the state-run college scholastic ability test, which was administered nationwide yesterday, is generally less crucial than it was in the past.  Colleges these days use their own methods to select students for admission in advance of the CSAT.   A large number of students are accepted during an “early admissions” process and many universities require that those students submit the results of the CSAT test as a sort of “pass-fail” final requirement for admission.  For details, read the full article.

The Korea Times today reports that a consortium has been named to organize Korea’s new government-run English proficiency tests.  The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced Wednesday that a group consisting of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and four universities will administer the first grade-level exam of the state tests.  Grade one tests will be developed for adults seeking to attend graduate school or gain employment, while grades 2 and 3 will be used for students attending elementary to high school.

The KCCI will cooperate with Seoul National University, the organizer of the TEPS test, Hanguk University of Foreign Studies, developer of the FLEX test, Sookmyung Women’s University, organizer of the MATE test, and Korea University.