This project was a good one for my mind. I think it helps to write down goals in order to make it real. Once we have the goals written down we can refer back to them in the future. I think it is also good to know how these course can help my business. The main purpose of attempting my masters was to prove to myself that I can do it. What I didn’t realize is that I think these classes will really help grow my business. I like the idea of using what we learn to our real life. It seems to me that 5302 will help show the ideas on using technology and adapting and changing as technology changes. This class is really beginning to change my mind with how to incorporate technology to help my recruiting business. I came up with a great idea that I really think will help my students. I think I could use Youtube to help students anticipate some things before moving to the U.S. I also think the students that have already come over with me would be willing to talk to students thinking about coming over and I can get this done through something like zoom. The assignment is posted below.
Learning Manifesto
By: Allison Parsons
The Importance of Education:
What is something you do 12-16 hours a day every day? Perhaps for you, there is nothing that you do for that much time every day. However, if you were a Korean child the answer is easy, the answer is study at school. The Korean school culture is highly demanding and highly competitive and for this reason students’ study at school 12-16 hours a day. That does not include the time they spend studying at home. You see, all of this studying is in preparation for a cumulative test called the Suneung. The Suneung is the College Scholastic Ability Test that is accepted by all Korean universities. This exam determines the university you are able to attend and therefore the university determines your future job, which in essence, determines your future. Rules that all Korea follows when the Suneung is being administered:
- All planes are prohibited from taking off and landing from 1:05 p.m. -1:40 p.m. during the English listening portion of the exam.
- Any planes in the air during this time must fly at least 3 km above ground until the test is completed
- All protests are put on hold
- Working hours will be delayed
- The test begins at 8:45 a.m. and will conclude promptly at 5:45
- Extra buses, trains and subway cars are made available to ensure easier ability to make it to the test on time.
- 800 public cars are made available for those students who may have car issues that can be requested by calling the transportation agency.
-according to Korea JoongAngDaily.
This test is only offered once in a lifetime for each student, hence why Koreans work so hard to make sure this one day that is held on the third Thursday of November runs without a hitch. This also creates an enormous amount of stress on the students who are taking the test for that year. Imagine preparing for something for 18 years that will determine the rest of your life and once it is completed you have to wait weeks for the results. Self-doubt sneaks into many young students’ minds and many do the unthinkable because they feel their performance will not afford them a promising future. That is where my company steps in. I experienced all of this as a Korean student. I spent 18 years of my life working towards this test; however, I was fortunate whereas my parents felt it was not the end all for my future back then. Thankfully they were right. As a liaison between Korean and U.S. universities I work with those schools that are not the top elite schools because those students already will have plenty of opportunity. I like to work with those schools and students who do not have many of the same opportunities and give them a blueprint or opportunity to make a new path for themselves. There is something true about the American Dream still being alive. Perhaps some don’t see it because those people are too close to the trees to notice they are standing in the forest, but for those like myself who have been transplanted into the American culture it is very noticeable. It is my belief that the American Dream is attainable through education.
Passion and Drive:
My passion is to give those students who did not do the best on the Suneung a chance to achieve greatness to have a second chance. Other than your score on the Suneung, another highly thought of resume builder for companies is English proficiency. Companies like Samsung, LG, POSCO and others demand high TOEIC scores for their employees. To show a company that you are deserving of that good job, one can show they studied overseas in an English-speaking country. Many students do not know how to even start the process to study overseas. Even if they wanted to study overseas many are stonewalled with lack of knowledge and their dream evaporates into a dream. However, as my company visits with students at these universities, kids are smiling and dreaming as I discuss the opportunity to study overseas. The promise of assistance to make their dream a reality is met with unbridled enthusiasm. The hard work and countless hours spent working on paperwork is all worth it when students meet their dream and thank me for making their dream come true. It is worth more than one could ever monetize.
Areas of Growth for my business:
What I have noticed is that when students start the process the expectation does not meet the reality. When this occurs, some students push through and work to push through this fear or unknown while others quit. The quitters are the ones I think can be helped and at the same time those that would push through will have an easier go of it due to the fact that they will have better information. The two major stumbling blocks within the process of studying abroad are the visa process and all that is needed to complete, and the cultural knowledge and language needed when getting to the United States.
The visa process is very difficult. All the forms are hard to fill out and research is needed to get the right papers for each question asked. The cost of obtaining the visa is rather high as well. If a mistake is made in the paperwork, or if the authorities do not like one of the answers, then one must start all over and pay the fees again. All of which can be very difficult for one’s psyche. The last part of the visa process is the interview. This is the make or break part of the process. This final hurdle for many students is the first time they will be face to face with a native English speaker in a high-pressure situation. Many freeze up and can’t answer the questions asked during the interview process. This causes them to fail the visa after spending months and months preparing. This devastation can end the dream right there.
Cultural knowledge and language needed for when students arrive in the United States is much different than what has been learned in school in Korea. In Korea we learn the grammatical way of English. Nearly any Korean can tell you why in English you would say the big, red, hard, plastic ball instead of the red, big, plastic hard ball. They would explain all about the order of adjectives and based on this list the adjectives must go in a specific order, however I would venture to say that very few if any Korean would be able to answer the question for here or to go.
How can technology bridge the gap and solve solutions:
Technology can help solve both of these issues. In terms of the visa process, having a video library of each form needed to get a student visa and how to fill it out correctly. A step-by-step version for each form. Technology can spawn into a community of travelers or students who study abroad to help each other out as they fill out the forms. Perhaps a business can be created where students use the business to double check their work and make sure it is correct prior to sending off to the embassy. I feel a community involving those that are interested in coming over to the United States and those that have already studied and those that are currently studying abroad. This community can solve the issues with common questions that students should know prior to moving. This would decrease the learning curve when studying in the U.S. thereby giving more time to delve into the culture and studies. Time spent overseas as a student is limited so if one can reduce the uncomfortable adjustment time when moving that means that uneasiness is lessened garnering deeper growth and learning.
Lastly, I think it is important to mention that as technology changes so must our approach to preparing students. For example, I believe there is a major opportunity within the VR field to use this technology to have students experience culture without leaving their living room. Through VR these communities can take on a new look and the same participants can meet in the virtual world to discuss their experiences.