# Korean teachers make $10 million/year by producing online resources


I just came across [a
newsreport](http://svtplay.se/v/1679125/larare_tjanar_50_miljoner_i_sydkorea)
on the Swedish television site (in Swedish) about "top teachers" in
Korea. This teachers work at the different cram schools, and their
lessons are also filmed and made available online for a subscription
fee. Some of these teachers have become virtual superstars, making more
than \$10 million per year, and having their lessons viewed by more
people than the most popular soap operas. This is of course related to
the academic culture in Korea, where there is a very strong focus on
math and natural science, and an enormous pressure to perform well on
various entrance exams. It would be interesting to know whether they
only produce video, or also much more integrated and interactive
websites, and discuss the pedagogy of different media. It would also be
interesting to understand more about what makes these lessons so
attractive to students, and effective -- too bad I cannot understand
Korean.

I wonder what impact this phenomenon will have on various OER projects -
would teachers be as willing to publish their materials free of charge,
if they thought they could make a lot of money by selling them? Of
course, the people in the newsreport are not necessarily representative
for teachers. The [various OCW projects in
Korea](http://www.kocw.net/index.html) seem to be thriving and growing.
I wonder if there are any high school students that use OCW videos when
cramming for exams, that would be an interesting study, and a great
example of a setting where effective OER is needed, and where
accreditation is not an issue.

Stian