The purpose of this study is to explain the needs of distance education in the lifelong learning society, to analyze the current status of distance education of virtual universities through survey and to deduce the problems which virtual universities in Korea have.
Finally, it provides recommendations on how to improve the quality of distance education provided by virtual university.
A survey was performed through E-mail. A total 90 students enrolled in cyber universities in Seoul gave responded to the survey. The items of survey consist of personal characteristics of respondents and their perceptions of cyber education which they received.
This paper suggests the following in order to improve the quality of cyber education:
1. The school board and educational administrators should come up with specific plans to encourage the participation of the people who are under financial difficulties.
2. The distance educators and educational administrators should develop a specialized curriculum for improving the student’s job skills.
3. The school board should secure teachers who are well organized and the better qualified as distance educators.
4. The distance educators should try to improve the quality of their instruction.