Multilayered Ecological Structure of Blended Learning in Science and Engineering Education in Korea

This chapter examines how blended learning has been implemented and impacted access to quality higher education. Historically, blended learning in Korea has taken varying degrees and configurations with the increasing adoption of online learning as an important means to enhance access to higher education and lifelong learning opportunities. In this chapter, blended learning is viewed as a complex system with multi-actors and multilayers spanning from policy initiatives (macro) to implementation practices (micro). To illustrate the multilayered structure of blended learning in the disciplines of science and engineering education in the Korean context, we selected cases that represent vertical and horizontal moves of blended learning in three groups: (a) university-level blended learning programs such as cyber universities and brick-and-mortar universities specialized in the science and engineering fields, (b) cluster-level initiatives where a cluster of universities specialized in science and technology collaborates to provide blended learning courses to both students and the general public, and (c) nationwide programs of blended learning (e.g., K-MOOC, KIRD). Overall, this chapter shows that the Korean universities have undergone the transformative process to restructure and redesign their curricula to meet the social needs and changes through educational innovations to train creative talents in the workforce of science and technology. With the descriptions of blended learning at each scale, this chapter contributes to advance our knowledge concerning how a whole nation can move toward the adoption of blended learning to educate the science and technology workforce with the multilayered ecological structure.