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Effective Education in South Korea and Saudi Arabia

Name

Institution

Table of Contents

Abstract…………………………………………………………………………

Introduction…………………………………………………………………….4

History in South Korea……………………………………………………………………..5

Education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia………………………………………………………6

Thesis statement………………………………………………………………...7

Effective Education……………………………………………………………7

Skilled Teachers in S.K………………………………………………………7

Technology Usage in South Korea…………………………………………..8

Classroom management………………………………………………………9

Communicate………………………………………………………………...11

Skilled teacher K.S…………………………………………………………12

Using Technology in the Classroom………………………………………………………………........12

Classroom Management.……………………………………………………….13

Communicate………………………………………………………………..14

Student perform SK……………………………………………………………14

Grades Scores………………………………………………………………...14

Improvement………………………………………………………………........15

Student performance in KSA………………………………………………………………...................16

Teaching methods – in SK…………………………………………………….17

Using Technology………………………………………………………………17

Collaborative teaching………………………………………………………….19

Teaching methods-in KSA……………………………………………………..22

Using Technology………………………………………………………………22

Collaborative teaching…………………………………………………………24

 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..26

Summary………………………………………………………………………27

Similar…………………………………………………………………………..27

Difference………………………………………………………………………27

Limitation………………………………………………………………………28

References………………………………………………………………………29

Abstract

Effective education is considered to be vital for any society regardless of the level of development of the society. In most countries, governments set aside huge budgetary allocations towards the improvement of education. South Korea and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are some of the countries that have take action to ensure that their educational institutions are performing in the best manner possible. This is in the form of budgetary allocation, legislations and reforms that are meant to revolutionize the sector. However for education to be effective, teachers and students have to take action. The teachers need to have the necessary skills and use a variety of methods and technologies to ensure diversity in teaching for the benefits of the students. Students must also perform as a way to affirm the success o these methods of teaching. A combination of these factors proves the effectiveness of education.

Introduction

Education has always been considered to be one of the building blocks of any society. This importance cannot be overemphasized and almost all societies and indeed civilizations have gone the extra mile to ensure that education is a priority since this was synonymous to the advancement of the society. Like the old adage goes, knowledge is power and this can be proven by the amount of debt that parents, institutions and even entire governments have gotten into ensure that people of all ages get the necessary education (Gitsaki, 2011).

Most societies ensure that educational principles are instilled in members of the society from a very young generation. In modern times however, even people in more advanced stages are going to get education. All this reinforces the need for having a good education. The concept of education has come a long way since it was established in its most rudimentary form. Education or rather institutions were learning were began in the earliest civilizations such as in ancient Greece and other ancient civilizations of the Middle East.

These civilizations saw the need of education and reinforced the need introducing children to the same. Suffice to say, the boy child was more exposed to educational benefits compared to the girl child. In such time educational lessons were limited to broad topics such as philosophy, wood work, medicine, art, masonry and even metal work. Over time and depending on discovery, educational topics improved in complexity.Teaching were not as technical as it is in today’s society.

During ancient times, education was on topics that could be directly applied to real life situations. Nowadays education has some advantages that make it all the more appealing. Education has been known to build character, enhance time management and progressing of society. Due to the importance of education there are a lot of parties that are interested in the same and are instrumental in making the same a success in different societies.

In any civilization, one common element is the teacher. The teacher is the educator that facilitates education and is largely responsible for those being educated grasping the necessary knowledge. In order to do their work effectively, teachers have come up with teaching methodologies to help them execute their mandate even more effectively. In addition to this technology has also factored in a lot when it comes to ensuring that education is dispensed in the best way possible.

Like mentioned above, education is one of the main pillars of any society. In today’s society countries spend billions while parents collectively prioritize schooling and education high on their budget priorities. Different countries have different approaches to education. This can be in terms of budgetary allocations for education, the schooling system format and even the education curricula. South Korea and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are two such countries. Both have long histories of education and the evolution that the educational system has undergone.

History Education in South Korea

Education has always been a part of the history of Korea and South Korea. Since the 19th century both private and public forms of education were present in the country. The educational format that is in the country presently were established and implemented in the latter part of the 19tth century. Currently, both private and public schooling systems are thriving in the country. The reason for this is the fact that they are supported by a large part by the government in place and any government that was in place since the establishment of the country.

While all levels of education are considered to be of great importance, it is important to note that higher education is considered in especially high regard. This is because this stage of education is largely considered to be launch pad to a career and therefore a better live depending on performance at this level. IN addition to this, the importance of this level of education has cultural significance in South Korea with those who have attained higher levels of education getting considerably better standing in society compared to those that might have failed.

Education in the Kingdom of South Arabia

Saudi Arabia officially became a nation relatively recently in 1932. In the early years, education was rather limited. This means that education was only limited to a few schools that were monotheistic and leaning towards Islamic affiliation. Over time education has evolved to become inclusive and open to all Saudi citizens on all levels of education (Hefner & Zaman, 2007). It is important noting that the educational system in Saudi Arabia is famous for its rather excessive religious content. For example as of 2016, religious studies took a bulk of the time, taking up 9 lessons in a week considering that all the other lessons combined only take 23 hours (Gitsaki, 2011). Schools are generally mixed but this was not always the case. There were no girls schools since 1956 and the first two girls schools were privately owned. Over time, more and more schools girl’s schools were opened and operated by the state.

Thesis: The school systems in both countries have a lot in common and thus, for education to be effective teachers must be skilled, students must perform and various teaching methods used in the classroom.

Effective Education

There is need for effectiveness in public school systems the world over. The governments of both South Korea and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have done a lot male education the most efficient. This is in the form of allocation of budgets, teaching methods, teaching skills and even class room management. The governments of South Korea and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have different methods of approaching and implementing effective education.

Effective Education in South Korea

In order to make education more efficient in the work place, skilled teachers play the biggest role. Most teachers in South Korea use a three pronged approach. These includes

1. The use of technology

2. Class management

3. Communication strategies

Skilled Teachers in South Korea

It is an actual fact that education has contributed a lot to the economy of the South Korean country. As such the country has invested a lot in the education of teachers and arming them with the skills necessary to ensure they can dispense educational services to those in need with the most efficiency as possible. For example, the government embarked on ambitious reforms on the ministry of education to ensure that the ministry is as efficient as possible (Hefner & Zaman, 2007). The reforms were implemented as they continue to enjoy a lot of public, professional and private support. The broad spectrum of the society in South Korea acknowledges the act that education is important concept and a precept for both economic and social improvement. This ensures that skilled professional educators are highly sought after and have a high standing within the rest of the society.

Technology Usage in South Korea

The typical class room in South Korea is packed with technology. The government mandates that there must be technology in class rooms. This includes but is not limited to computers, internet, LCD screens and smart boards in the class rooms. Skilled teachers use all these equipment to dispense their services more effectively (Carlsen & Willis, 2007). This is compared to the more traditional method of teaching whereby teachers had to rely on text books and their communication skills.

Technology is a great asset and is used by teachers for a variety of reasons. First, it offers student differentiated learning. This means that students can break away from the monotony of traditional learning. This ensures that students are more receptive the concept being taught to them. Another advantage to using technology to teaching in South Korea and really any other place is the fact that it avails a wealth of information to both the students and their teachers.

This has the added advantage of efficiency since only a few equipments are needed for education for both the teachers and their students. With technology however arises the need for skilled educators in the classrooms. Technology such as the internet can be a substantial distraction to students constantly interrupting them from learning. In addition to this, despite the fact that there is wealth of information availed by technology and the internet, not all of it is credible.

Teachers need to step in to ensure that students remain focused and they do not get distracted when they are using technology in the class room. This has been the case in most schools in South Korea as can be evidenced by increasingly better performance as evidenced by school evaluations and the overall support for the usage of technology in the classroom.

Class Room Management in South Korea

In a typical classroom, there are many strategies that can be used as a tool for education. Some of them are more effective than others. The government in South Korea through its ministry of education has not established a nationwide standard for classroom management. This means that different classrooms employ different classroom management techniques while conducting their mandate and trying to be efficient as possible (Kampylis et al., 2013). There are some classroom management techniques however that are commonly used by most public and private schools for the success of the teachers and their students. These include;

1. Lesson planning

1. Engaging and inspiring students

1. Preparation before teaching

1. Building rapport

The lesson planning stage

The lesson planning stage is not only important for the teacher, but extremely important for the students as well. Teachers in South Korea ensure that they prepare a lesson plan way before the semester begins and go over it before each lesson. This serves a number of purposes. The first is the fact that teachers are able to complete the course work in time without having to rush the students. Students are able to manage their time better as long as the teacher is able to pal their lessons.

Engaging and Inspiring Students

Educators in South Korea engage in activities that are sure to engage and inspire their students. The reason for this is because of the fact that this is really the only that students will respond as appropriately. This is especially the case when it comes to educators who teach younger classes of students. Younger students are easier to distract and often lose focus without the proper engagement. Educators in South Korea understand it is their responsibility to engage their student in a manner that they will concentrate on learning for a considerable span of time. Teachers in schools in South Korea do this by employing a variety of methods such as walking around the classroom and talking to random students during the lessons so as to make the students feel engaged (Kampylis et al., 2013).

Building a rapport

Teachers in South Korea strive to know their students at a deeper level. This is so as to build a rapport with the students by cultivating a more personal relationship with every student within the right parameters. Having a rapport also means understanding the students at a deeper level. This enables the teachers within the South Korean schools systems can build lesson plans around this understanding of their students for even more effectiveness.

Communication in South Korea Schools

Communication is essential for effective education regardless of where the class room is located. The ability of the teachers to communicate directly corresponds to the ability of the students to grasp the concepts that are being taught. It is important to realize that education has links to globalization. Students need to be prepared for the global stage and teachers realize this. The concept of teaching students in English has therefore caught on in the country regardless of the fact that students in South Korea talk Korean when not in school. Teaching using the English language while important has a set of challenges since it is a second language.

Educators in South Korea have resulted in some techniques to ensure that communication is as efficient as possible. The first technique is hitting the ground running. This means that no preparation is required. Educators who use English and other foreign languages just use the language first then ease the students in it. Another technique that teachers use is the application of non verbal communication. Non verbal communication is considered the bulk of communication even more than verbal communication (Kim & Lim, n.d.). Teachers therefore employ non verbal communication when taking in a foreign language so that students can associate what they are unfamiliar with gestures that are deeply embedded in their psyche.

Finally, consistency is vital when it comes to communication. This is especially the case when using a secondary language. The reason for this is the fact that consistency helps the students adopt the concepts that are being taught to them even better. Communication challenges are not always focused around the language being used. The verbal exchange is also an important component for teachers in that it can either draw the students or turn them away.

Skilled Teachers in Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a rather unique approach to education. The motivation to ensure that effective education is facilitated to the students. The country has a set of goals to achieve by 2030 and in order to achieve these goals, the country is aware of its need of local, skilled and education workforce. Towards this end, the country has ensured that it has hired the most qualified teachers for the students. This includes teachers from foreign countries who come and get tenure in institutions of higher learning especially when it comes to teaching languages. Teachers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also use technology, class management and communication techniques to ensure that they dispense education with as much efficacy as possible (Al-Soraiey-Alqahtani, 2010).

Using Technology in the Classroom

Teachers in Saudi Arabia have seemed to realize that it is the age of technology and are using technology to their uttermost capability so as to ensure that they conduct their mandate in the best possible way. The emergence of technological information and teaching or instructional technologies and the influence that they have had on learning in general has brought forth changes in the academic environment of the country. Technology is a trend and is completely ever changing. Teachers in KSA have ensured that they keep up with the trends and the country has also taken measures to ensure that teachers have the necessary skills to deal with the challenges.

E learning was began in most public schools in KSA in 2002 and since then has gained considerable recognition and interest in most institutions, educators and even students. Global trends in e learning have increased pressure to the government and educators to adopt technology uses in the classroom. Some of the advantages that can be attributed to the use of technology in education in KSA include convenience and efficiency for both teachers and students. Students have access to a wealth of information. Teachers have started adopting online teaching whereby they teach students without physical presence which breaks monotony and ensures students have access to their teachers without hassle.

Classroom Management

For effective education, teachers also employ classroom management techniques. IN the Arab world, class room management is focused and meant to attain order in the classroom and enhance learning. Effective learning is largely considered by educators in the KSA to be based on achieving order in the classroom and between the balance between the teachers and their students. Achieving order means understanding the temperaments of the different students in the classroom and finding a way in which to build rapport between the teachers and the students.

There are a number of class management techniques that teachers in KSA schools have adopted for maximum effect. First, teachers in the KSA take the responsibility in providing a suitable environment for the students to learn. This environment consists of the physical and psychological dimensions. Teachers are also responsible for the making, implementing and enforcing rules and laws in the classroom. These laws provide boundaries within which students can operate. Such boundaries allow the students to be free within acceptable boundaries for educational purposes.

Another classroom management technique that seems to work for teachers in KSA is taking measures and decisions before starting teaching. Teachers that are proactive minimize the chance of getting surprised by incidences of student misconduct or other management issues. Establishing a positive rapport with the student is also an effective classroom management technique that is commonly adopted by teachers in KSA. Interaction with the students in a cordial manner helps student have a relationship that fosters education. In addition to fostering interaction between the educators and their students, teachers also ensure that they advocate for meaningful interaction and educational discourse within the student body. This ensures that students are able manage themselves while conducting group work studies or class projects.

Communication

Teachers in KSA schools also employ communication techniques so as to teach as effectively as possible. Teachers in KSA have resulted in the more common communication techniques to communicate as effectively as possible. Teachers use verbal and non verbal communication techniques to ensure that the message they are putting across is as effective as possible. When considering communicating, teachers in the KSA also consider the component of structuring communication. Teachers use rhetorical techniques to ensure that they have structured the communication in such a manner that it resonates with the students. Some of the techniques of structuring communication include observation of student body language, clarification of the purpose of the class and even the physical organization of the class.

Student performance in South Korea

Grade Scores

Schools in South Korea are known for their high performance. Regardless of this fact, the government and other stakeholders are continually passing reforms that are supposed to make education performance even better. Two major interventions that have been undertaken by the South Korean government include the Schools for improvement plan and the multicultural education. The South Korean schools have participated in international performance test programs such as PISA and TIMMS and has continually performed exceptionally well in all the disciplines (Lin & Wang, n.d.).

Korean students perform the best in subjects such as reading mathematics and science and their academic standards are confirmed by the NAEA. The increasingly better performance can be affirmed by the fact that research shows that the percentage of underperforming students between 2008 and 2012 declined from 7 percent to just 2.3 percent (Mok & Welch, 2003). The performance can be directly attributed to the national character regarding education and the educational culture regarding education.

Improvement

The Korean culture towards education is that education is a major contributing factor towards leading a good life. Devotion to study is highly valued and highly respected in the society which increases the motivation to perform better. Teachers are proud of the students that perform well as it is proof of their skills. Teachers then embark onto ambitious plans of communication, class room management and even new technology in order to dispense the best quality of education possible.

Student Performance in KSA

The KSA has always intended to implement universal education in the country. This effectively affected the performance of students in KSA to the negative. Being a highly developed country, the government has allocated generous resources to ensure that education is dispensed in the best possible manner. However, KSA has not yet established a national assessment system to show statistically how well students perform. Trends as shown by the TIMSS show that performance on key subjects such as mathematics show that student performance skew towards the negative. The government has taken measures to ensure that students’ performance improves.

Improvement

IN order to improve student performance, the KSA has resulted to measures that have proven to be successful in other countries. The task of ensuring better performance is taken by all parties involved such as the government, the students, the parents and the teachers. Some of the measures taken by the government include hiring if more qualified expatriate teachers and larger budgetary allocations for the public schools (Synott, 2002). Teachers and students interact better in the classroom by using better classroom management practices and the utilization of better communication techniques.

TEACHING METHODS IN SOUTH KOREA

Using Technology Collaborative Methods

South Korea is a country that parents spend a lot on education of their children which is more than any other nation. Most of the things right from their social status to their marriages and jobs is really determined by the institutions they went for their higher education. Parents are judged on where they have taken their children too. By doing so, both the parents and their children are really motivated when it comes to education. IT industry has remodeled and redefined the education system (Grzybowski, 2013)

Teachers are another factor that helps so much in the success of the students. They work smart and always do more than is expected of them. They are paid very well and thus they enjoy a high social status. Because of this reason, teaching has become a top career choice for most of the young Korean’s in the country. The Korean government has always made changes to ensure that the education sector in the country is successful. For example the government offered subsidized computers in 2008 to those schools in the rural areas so as to ensure that they are on the same level as those in the urban areas hence giving the pupils in rural areas an equal chance of success as those in the urban areas.

South Korea is quite savvy when it comes to leveraging the technology to improve their education institutions. The country topped in PISA’s digital literacy exam in the year 2009. Almost every school in the country has high speed internet to ensure that they are always updated on educational matters. They have digital textbooks to ensure that learning materials are more accessible especially to the lower income pupils.

The government has ensured that each and every textbook can be accessed from a computer, tablet and even smart phones in all schools in the country. The government then created a Cyber Home Learning System which is an online program that was carefully designed to help the kids with their learning during the times that they are at home or when they are away from school. The year 2005 was the time that South Korea started distributing and mostly utilizing the communication technologies.

Some English teachers from Philippines usually teach students in the elementary schools the English language. There are robots such as the EngKey that has been developed by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology. This type of robot is usually used and controlled by teachers who are not in the country who usually communicate by use of embedded microphones and speakers. This robot has some features such as the display of a woman’s face which by doing so mimics the facial expression of the given teaching individual.

Another version of this type of robot usually doesn’t have the students to teachers connections but uses voice recognition technology that is designed to help the students practice their pronunciation and dialogue in the English language.

Cloud Computing is also being used to make sure that all the data and information or even the teaching materials are moved to an online platform and hence made available to anyone in any area to access and with little or no risk at all regarding ant potential problems or damages to the devices that they are using. Different schools are able to share what they are have with others and hence they are all at the same level. The South Korean government plans to replace the primary level of education with digitalized materials by 2014 and deliver computer notebooks to all its middle and high level schools by 2015 (Grzybowski ,2013)

Collaborative Teaching in South KOrea

Collaborative teaching is also used and the government has put a lot of emphasis on it because this leads to a lot of educational social networking which will hence lead to an improvement in the quality of education. The social networking form are used for many ways. For instance they are used to ask different kinds of question regarding education and it doesn’t matter the field or area of specialization since teachers who are qualified in those areas are always standby to answer them (Hanson-Smith. 1997). The social networking has also helped the students to develop the interactive social skills.

Another solution that is so common and applied in the ICT education system is the Internet Protocol Television. This is a kind of television service that is usually delivered using the internet. It really helps and enables the broadcasting of classes or lectures and lessons through the online channels to those students usually chose or are being forced to learn while at home any other place for any reason e.g. if the student is sick in a hospital. This solution has been of great help in eliminating the negative consequences of the absence from schools for different reasons.

The government had a put a deadline in digitalization of schools which was to be 2015. It had aimed in replacing all paperwork the digital textbooks. This would help especially for the reasons that incase the government wanted to updated any books, it would do so easily and costs would be quite low. One of the most important feature of the digital textbooks is multitasking which means that apart from education matters, they would provide different types of multimedia and would be used as browsers of all knowledge sources.

When the learning tools are usually digital, it becomes no longer important for students to go to school since they can learn from any place that they are at their own convenient times. There are a lot of games that have been created in Korea to help the students learn the English language. Some of them are Toca train and Make-up Salon. They help the pupils to be creative and learn at the same time in ways that seem to be so funny but are indeed helping the children

(Minjeong, 2014).

The SMART education was set available to all students in the country especially the young hence giving them equal chances of success. E-learning has twice an approach that provides a clear difference between the employees and those graduates who are still unemployed and thus offering to them different learning platforms. The domain dream.go.kr was created so as to help the women who wanted to go back to the workforce after their maternity leave was over. Its aim was to provide education to them that was necessary.

The cyber home learning system helps the pupils to undertake more classes when they are free so as to help them acquire more knowledge. This also helps the parents spend less on hiring teachers. There is also the cloud based testing whereby exams and tests are done by students using their numbers and not their names. The Cyworld standardized platform is used to share contents and spreading the news regarding education and keeping each other updated on class matters. Cyworld is really important to those students who miss their classes for different reasons because they will see what others have shared on the platform.

Teachers in South Korea have been coming together so as to share what their experience have been and hence improve each other’s level of knowledge. Collaboration has been rooted in the social area of education whereby groups of individuals who share an interest in the education sector through regular interactions learn how to do teach better. The teachers usually view one another as part of group that is working hard towards the achievement of different goals that they have set aside.

Collaborative learning in South Korea is quite evident in that, there is collective knowledge whereby the teachers of a certain teaching and learning community engage each other in a serious dialogue about the knowledge they have been achieving, interpreting it communally and the sharing it among themselves. This helps them to be able to teach easily using different tactics to make sure that their students are able to understand and pass.

The most effective teachers will be fostered by the grounding professional development in the collaborative learning communities that usually highlight the teachers’ mutual engagement in different actions they are involved in. It makes them feel valued and hence they are able to talk about their different experiences or even understandings.

The collaborative process helps in engaging different types of teachers in joint reviews and giving feedback while trying to really encourage them to work together so as to consider, explore and reflect on the different types of issues and approaches that are related to questions and issues that have been raised and shared. By doing so, the students are the ones that benefit since their teachers will be more knowledgeable on most issues regarding their fields of expertise.

Teaching in Saudi Arabia using Technology and Collaborative methods

Education has always remained as one of the most important indicator of economic development in Saudi Arabia. This is quite evident in the developments and enhancements that are being made by the government. In 2007 the government of Saudi Arabia invested almost 2 billion pounds in the education sector which was used in reforming and improving the education using the modern technologies. Furthermore the curriculum was revised electronic gadgets were introduced so as to facilitate the teaching. In the year 2015, about 25% of the country’s total budget was dedicated to the education sector. This money was used to implement new technology and also improve the ICT facilities in the different schools (Ministry of finance, 2015).

The SMART technology is really of great help to the students and teachers in the country in the processes of accommodating both the technology and new information that comes up. The SMART technology has enhanced the flexibility within the education systems hence improving the education at large (Smith & Abū ʻAmmuh, 2013). The application of the technology has helped the young pupils to interact, share and discuss information that they have acquired from their teachers. The students are able to explore different digital lessons, form teams of discussing different topics in education and also take part in types of educational games that have been developed to help them have a clear understanding of what they are learning.

The teachers in Saudi Arabia have lessons that they attend so as to ensure they are taught how to use the technologies that are at their disposal in their classes. The head teachers have also been encourage embracing technology in their schools so as to improve the quality of education offered.

Classroom teaching practices in Saudi Arabia that involve collaborative learning are an important innovation. Collaborative learning plays an important role in in the process of delivering and following up professional development workshops. Teachers in Saudi Arabia have been collaborating in the social media so as to change different views that they may have on certain aspects about education in their country. Educational technology plays an increasingly important role in the teaching and learning process. (Gashan & Alshumaimeri, 2015 )

Saudi Arabia introduce the Interactive Whiteboards in their schools. This has increased the students’ motivation and focus while they are in their classrooms. The interactive whiteboards have introduced new learning methods that are either audio or even visual hence enabling the importation of various resources, offer greater lesson planning for the teachers and hence present learning resources in the best possible way.

The effective use the Interactive whiteboards has required the educators to have a good understanding of the methods of interactive teaching by using the available technology to influence and improve the students learning. The teachers have had trainings like the large scale project of 2007 called the King Abdullah project for General Education Development that was launched to train the teachers on matters of technology and about collaborative learning.

Through collaborative teaching, the teachers in Saudi Arabia have been able to learn more about the interactive whiteboards and hence they have had their confidence levels improve as well as improving their creativity. This has in turn had a positive impact on the students since the teachers are now able to convey their information in the best possible ways.

Collaborative Teaching in KSA

According to the Communications and Information Technology commission, Saudi Arabia is one of the fastest growing economies in the world in terms of e-learning. The collaborative learning approach has been able to play quite an important role in the enhancement of the effectiveness of the e-learning. Collaborative e-learning has been having many advantages in Saudi Arabia in that students are able to interact and share what they know with each other and their teachers (Carlsen & Willis, 2010).

The collaborative e-learning has helped students in the country who are quite shy in having face to face discussions, to participate in the online discussions that offer and receive critiques, negotiate and even build a given consensus. This has really helped the students in Saudi Arabia because face to face interactions between the two opposite genders aren’t often an option. The schools in Saudi Arabia are providing the training and technical support to their staff as they change their teaching materials and methods of teaching.

In the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia, dedicated teachers, school administrators and supervisors who were interested in technology have come up with ways of using technology in their schools. Technology programs were designed which have reflected on the educational needs others were programs that were used for schools’ management. The government had not been so supportive in the early stages but has since come to the rescue and helped integrate technology in the schools country wide.

Since then, confidence, competence and accessibility to technology have been the areas the government has concentrated on so as to integrate technology in schools. This has then improved performance and collaboration hence having a positive impact on learning outcomes.

Saudi Arabia has worked to modernize the educational process by introducing computers to the education field for more than a quarter of a century.(Alturki, 2014) These websites offer theoretical and practical information regarding what the students need. The use of sites such as YouTube has been of great importance to the teachers and students as a learning aid since they are able to clarify anything or use it as an example during lectures.

The government has been conducting surveys so as to discover what hindrances there may be to effective use of technology. Teachers have been asked to attend the trainings so as to acquire more knowledge on the use of technology. The government has also hired private investors to aid in teaching and distributing technological materials to different parts of the country. The size of the country and students in different parts of the country have gained positively from the use of internet since they are able to socialize with the others hence learn from each.

The government of Saudi Arabia, though facing numerous challenges continues to make huge steps in ensuring technology is widely used in the education sector. The government is trying to make sure that the teachers find time to use technology in their classrooms. The government has been showing teachers how to prepare for teaching materials using technology and also encouraging head teachers to allocate more time for lessons for the teachers so that they can use the available technology effectively. The Internet is a powerful tool for communication between teachers and students, among teachers and among students. In the Saudi context, it offers a cheap and convenient way of communication. (Al-Maini, 2011).

CONCLUSION

All over the world education will continue being integral in the development of different nations. Saudi Arabia and South Korea are some of the countries that have invested a lot and also tried very much to embrace technology in their schools. This has not come easily as they have faced numerous challenges over the way but also have gained a lot.

The government of Saudi Arabia was in the early stages not so supportive of the technology in education there by those individuals that were involved faced rather a very difficult time. There has always been questions raised on various projects that the governments undertake since they do not seem so clear in the eyes of the citizens (Aldossari, 2009). Sometimes the governments change the curriculum without having engaged the stakeholders in an adequate manner there by having difficulties in implementing the strategies.

All in all technology and collaboration in these countries has helped achieve new levels of education that would otherwise be so difficult to achieve without them. Technology continues to evolve each day hence the governments are trying as much as they can to keep up with the developments (Ally & Khan, 2007). Students have been able to learn a lot and furthermore become more creative hence helping the country in different areas and helping the government achieve their development goals.

The governments should undertake surveys so as to know what areas they need to improve on in their respective countries. Many other countries are using them as roles models for what they have achieved so far. Students should also be involved in curriculum developments since the curriculum applies to them. By doing so, great strides will be made in achieving the education goals that have been set.

The educational systems in both Saudi Arabia and South Korea have made strides in the right direction. This is so as to improve the quality of education that the students receive which will make the students better reproductive members of the society.

Some of the similarities include;

1. Both countries put a lot of emphasis on the importance of education.

2. Education for the younger generation is considered to be mandatory in all schools.

3. The number of expatriate teachers in both countries is on the increase considering that none of the countries are native English speakers.

4. Both countries are advocating for trends on education such as the use of technology in education and international exchange programs.

5. The governments of both programs have seen the need of education reforms and ultimately embarked on programs that have been proven to work.

The countries are also vastly different when it comes to their approach to effective education. Some of the differences include;

1. The education system in KSA seemed largely reflect religious undertones while education in South Korea is more contemporary.

2. Education in South Korea seems to be more advanced with students performing better in subjects that are considered core such as Mathematics and sciences. On the other hand, KSA schools are noted to experience a decline in the same categories.

3. Finally, South Korea schools have already established a student assessment system based on the results of the students both locally and internationally while schools in KSA despite considerably larger budgetary allocations have not established such a system yet.

Limitations to the study

Although the study met its intended requirements, there were some limitations to the research. The first limitation was the fact that the time needed to research such a broad topic was not the time available. One therefore had to rely too heavily on online research albeit on credible library resources. Another limitation of the study was the limited sample size possible to obtain for the research. This effectively limited the data that could be used for the analysis. Finally, some information regarding student grading is considered confidential which resulted in overgeneralization which might not exactly represent all schools’ performance.

References

Aldossari, A. (2009) Classroom management approaches of primary teachers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Ally, M. & Khan, B. (2007) International handbook of E-learning.

Al-Soraiey-Alqahtani, A. (2010). The effectiveness of using E-learning, blended learning and traditional learning on students' achievement and attitudes in a course on Islamic culture. Durham: University of Durham.