Effects of Distance Education via Synchronous Video Conferencing on Attitude Changes of Korean and Japanese Students

This study seeks to prove three points through the research. The first point is to examine the changes of international attitudes with actual experiences using synchronous international distance learning. The second point is to examine the effectiveness of a synchronous international distance system. And the final point is to compare international attitudes among middle school and undergraduate school students in Korea and Japan. The study used the DVTS for audio and video communication tools and automatic translating chat as a text communication tool. This combination of communication tools was very effective for students from both countries to communicate for international collaborative learning activities. The study found several interesting patterns of attitude change from the results of the study. For whole category analysis, there are positive changes in four categories of international attitudes: consciousness to foreign countries, consideration for other's viewpoints, motivation for international education, and recognition for the counterpart country. However, there was no change in the nationality category.