ICDL’s Incorporation into the Curriculum Raises Student ICT Levels – Anyang University, South Korea
About Anyang University
‘Anyang University’ is a very well-known university in South Korea. It is a private university and it offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and research programmes. The main campus is located in Anyang City, a satellite city of the Seoul metropolitan area.
The university has a population of 4,468 students, and employs over 200 staff & faculty members.
Why ICDL was Chosen by the University
As a result of the South Korean government’s ICT-centred policies, college students have developed a high level of ICT literacy from an early age as part of their primary school education. Anyang University was interested in building on this level of ICT literacy and was already considering offering internationally recognised certification programs for their students prior to the ‘Korean Productivity Centre’ (KPC), the ICDL National Operator in South Korea, introducing them to the ICDL programme.
The University expressed interest in ICDL due to its worldwide reputation and competitive pricing structure, when compared to competitors’ offerings. Another decisive factor was KPC’s credibility as a public organisation: KPC possesses a well-established reputation as a highly effective NGO within South Korea. The University’s Faculty of General Education decided to revise its pre-existing computer education curriculum to incorporate the globally endorsed skill sets of the ICDL syllabus. This curriculum revision has made ICDL available to the entire student population and encourages students to achieve ICDL certification.
This move has been well-received by students and staff alike. For instance, ICDL provides ICT skills development that students need to have before they graduate from university and it is also a reliable assessment tool for their professors. Furthermore, students with strong ICT skills were interested in the opportunity to benchmark their ICT skills to an internationally recognised certification. ICDL training also offers students with weaker ICT skills the opportunity to gain confidence and to build on their current level of ICT literacy.
Delivery Details
Anyang signed an Accredited Test Centre agreement with KPC after it decided to adopt ICDL as part of its academic curriculum, becoming an ICDL Accredited Test Centre in 2010, and it commenced testing a year later. The University runs all ICDL training courses during the semester in modern computer labs with full internet access. The ICDL programme’s training costs are included as part of each student’s tuition. All ICDL candidates are supported by certified tutors and courseware is provided by KPC. At the end of the semester students takes exams in the ICDL Word Processing and Spreadsheets modules. Both ICDL modules are designated computer subjects and form part of the general education curriculum. The results of tests are sent to the Faculty of General Education and therefore become part of the students’ overall score credits.
In order to facilitate ICDL testing, KPC has made a special website available for each class; once students are ready to take an ICDL test, they can go online and make a test reservation. The ICDL testers and KPC support the whole test session and provide close supervision.
ICDL Going Forward
To date, the University has over 2,500 candidates who have successfully completed the following ICDL Modules: Word Processing and Spreadsheets. Over the next 1 - 3 years, more than 3,000 students are expected to take ICDL training courses and tests. These figures will represent an increase in the number of certified students by more than 100%. In its activity of helping to build on the success achieved by Anyang University in delivering ICDL, KPC is contributing to its ongoing effort to promote ICDL within the South Korean Education sector.
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