It is our hope that this first article will stimulate
interest from fellow international students to use ISUnion and voice your
perspectives on the IS program. The IS program at FSU has been attracting
streams of international students from China, Korea, Australia, and more
recently, from Singapore to mention a few. Yanghee Kim and Sunyoung
Joung from Korea, Helen Hu Haihong from China, Deborah Bradford from
Australia and David Yeo from Singapore were kind enough to respond and offer
their views for this article.
Profiles
Yanghee and Helen were teachers while Sunyoung completed her MS in IS
and MS in Management Information Systems. They are all currently pursuing
a doctoral in IS. Deborah and David are here to pursue a Masters in IS,
and are representing the Australian Army and the Singapore Army
respectively. They will use their newly acquired skills and knowledge in
the field of IS, to contribute back to their organizations upon
graduation.
Why IS? Why FSU?
All of the international students believe in the importance of
life-long learning, and more importantly, they believe that effective
learning should contribute to organizational results. IS would certainly
be the appropriate field, and FSU the right place to get an IS Masters.
IS is recognized as the answer to developing organizational training
needs. For example, in the military, where training has to be developed
quickly and for many troops, IS is the answer. In addition, IS
definitely provides a very marketable skill for a prospective career.
FSU's reputation is well-known as the pioneer in this field. FSU has been mentioned
in books and articles for its contribution to educational and training
development in the military, public education, and programs and research.
This information turned up in web searches for Instructional Technology
or Instructional Design books and articles. Independent university
survey articles also listed FSU as one of the top universities for the
IS program, serving to reinforce FSU's excellent reputation in this
field.
Challenges
Language and culture. This is especially true and expected for the Koreans
and the Chinese where English is a foreign language. Terminologies differ.
Even for Deborah and David where English is spoken and used daily, there are
still "minor language barriers between labels used in US and those used in
Australia", said Deborah, and confirmed by David. What does it mean for an
international student? Well, the student has to be prepared adequately or
be able to learn and adapt quickly. What would it mean for FSU, to take
more of an international focus? To have a truly world class IS program, FSU
should systematically examine the issue, and determine if changes are
necessary. As the world shrinks with the speed of communications, and
globalization enhances and encourages outreach, the prospects of
internationalization certainly look promising!
International life after graduating with a MS in IS includes:
- teaching
- consulting
- academic improvement
- gaining work experience in the IS area
- contributing by applying IS skills and knowledge
- being an active alumni and maintaining networks and professional ties
with FSU and the IS community
In what direction do you wish to see the IS program go to better suit your needs?
Interesting, responses varied to suit different individual's needs -
- Integrate relevant business modules, IS exist in a business world out
there
- Learn about adapting IS to a business setting
- IS as applied to performance and instructional excellence, not
necessary for business, but from a holistic view
- Learn about adapting IS to a different cultural setting
Contributors:
- Yanghee Kim - Korea
- Sunyoung Joung - Korea
- Helen Hu Haihing - China
- Deborah Bradford - Australia
- David Yeo - Singapore