Gyeonggi Province’s GSEEK online education program is outperforming similar regional programs in terms of both quantity and quality, according to the provincial office.

GSEEK offers some 1,200 massive open online courses for residents of Gyeonggi Province, six times more than the average for other provincial programs. Whereas other educational programs are typically one-way, with professional educators leading a group of learners, Gyeonggi Province’s program is more flexible and encourages the province’s residents to open their own courses.

According to the Gyeonggi provincial government, its online courses provide a platform for those who wish to be trained to develop and deliver courses in their fields of specialization. It also offers training programs to help them improve their ability to create high-quality lectures and materials.

Of all the courses offered through the program, 186, or 13.6 percent, are provided by the residents. Opening the doors for residents to give online lectures is seen as an innovative approach, reflecting the current trend toward increasing numbers of independent content creators on social media.

While collective education courses often end up being a one-time experience, Gyeonggi Province said it intended to increase its support for wider access to educational content.

“Gyeonggi Province will be reborn with GSEEK, which will embrace 10,000 Gyeonggi resident lecturers, and it will provide lectures both online and offline,” Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung said.

The Gyeonggi provincial government also vowed to make efforts to establish an online education industry that can provide learning opportunities for the people amid the fast-changing society and a job market that is increasingly influenced by the fourth industrial revolution.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)