ABSTRACT
In the Republic of Korea, the COVID-19 pandemic coincided with the start of the 2020 academic year and saw emergency remote teaching (ERT) emerge as a way of maintaining educational continuity for millions of students. While ERT was new and unplanned at the time, the practice became sustained over the semesters that followed, marking a shift from ERT to sustained remote teaching (SRT). Questions remain, however, whether students' experiences and perceptions with learning remotely would improve as a result of institutional preparedness and faculty experience. Given this, we investigated exchange students', a unique group of students who are historically interested in having place-based residential education, experiences, and perceptions with SRT while attending college in Korea. We administered a survey to 140 (spring 2020), 93 (fall 2020), 141 (spring 2021), and 143 (fall 2021) exchange students where they rated their perceptions of teaching and learning processes, student support, and course structure with their SRT learning experiences. Independent-samples one-way ANOVAs comparing perceptions between Semester 1 and 2, Semester 2 and 3, Semester 3 and 4, and Semester 1 and 4 indicated several statistically significant mean score increases, though the scope and degree of the changes are ultimately minor improvements and interpreted as insignificant. Implications for SRT policy and future research are discussed.
ABSTRACT
The closure of university campuses and the suspension of international student mobility programs have been common as a result of COVID-19, though not all programs have closed their doors. In the Republic of Korea, the relatively successful management of the pandemic allowed borders to remain open, nor have any national lockdowns been incurred to date, making student mobility possible throughout the pandemic. This case study reports the arrival and quarantine experiences of 10 exchange students at a university in Seoul, Korea. Findings from interviews revealed eight major themes: (a) commitment to conducting the exchange, (b) re-appropriation of time and funds, (c) confusion, disorientation, and frustration, (d) inadequate preparation and misinformation, (e) mutual support and co-quarantining, (f) inaccessibility to local services, (g) dependence on local altruism, and (h) view of Korea as a responsible and safe country. Students' views and expectations of Korea as a safe study destination amid the pandemic were juxtaposed with decidedly difficult and tumultuous arrival experiences. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the academic exchange life cycle and the importance of resource and service accessibility amid new pandemic-based norms with the addition of a new exchange life cycle stage.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic forced schools worldwide to suddenly transition to remote learning. The change forced students, who might not choose to take distance education courses, to adjust to a new way of completing their coursework. Further, this impacted certain student groups like exchange students more adversely since distance courses complicated academic exchanges by rendering short-term exchange students isolated on an empty campus in a foreign country, all while recently arriving to both. There are many intrinsic hardships to academic exchanges but there is a lack of research on exchange students' experiences learning online when immediately transitioning from face-to-face courses to emergency remote or online courses under such circumstances. This exploratory descriptive study investigated exchange students' experiences learning online during the COVID19 pandemic in the Republic of Korea. 140 exchange students responded to a survey about their experiences and perceptions of their online courses. The quantitative results in this study show a relatively ambivalent experience in terms of quality "Teaching and Learning Processes," "Course Structure," and "Student Support," although students had both good and bad experiences. Qualitative data provided insight into the desired but missing aspects of exchange students' ERT experiences: communication from faculty, interaction with other students, and feedback on their work.