Leisure mobility changes during the COVID-19 pandemic – An analysis of survey and mobile phone data in Sweden

The COVID-19 pandemic affected travelling in general, and the leisure mobility and the spatial distribution of travellers in particular. In most parts of the world, both domestic and international travel has been replaced by restrictive policies and recommendations on mobility. A modal shift from public transport towards private cars and micro-mobility was also observed. This study seeks to trace the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for leisure mobility. We use a unique Swedish database containing daily mobility patterns of pseudonymised mobile phone users, combined with a survey on vacation transport behaviour. By contrasting mobility patterns for selected holiday days during the unaffected summer of 2019 with corresponding dates in 2020 and 2021, we are able to model and detect the pandemic effects on tourism and recreational mobility. Moreover, by identifying the general mobility patterns, we analyse whether and how the transport mode has changed. Using data on the spatial distribution of recreational amenities, we identify locations that were favoured during the pandemic. In Sweden, even though the pandemic decreased in spread and severity during the summers, most travel restrictions were still enforced, international vacations uncommon, and larger vacation spots, such as amusement parks and cultural institutions, were closed down. Swedish vacation homes in remote or rural areas were quickly booked. This change in recreational behaviour, where less populated areas, open air and nature recreation were favoured over indoor or crowded urban cultural activities, was more substantial in 2021 than in 2020. This result shows how policies can effectively be developed, so that Swedes respond properly to recommendations and adjust their vacation plans. © 2023 The Authors

Student performance under asynchronous and synchronous methods in distance education: A quasi-field experiment

This study examines student performance under asynchronous and synchronous methods in a microeconomics course during COVID-19 pandemic. We conduct a quasi-field experiment in a state university in Turkey. In the experiment, students were divided into synchronous and asynchronous groups and were taught the same weekly material of microeconomics by the methods respective to their group. At the end of the week, both groups took the same multiple question test. Our results showed that asynchronous group performed significantly better than the synchronous group. While showing the comparative advantage of the asynchronous method, our study also underlines the importance of interaction between instructors and students. We discuss our findings from a socioeconomic perspective, where we argue that the flexibility that the asynchronous method offers might have compensated for the accessibility issues (internet and/or computer) during the COVID-19 outbreak. As a policy recommendation, universities can offer lectures with a recorded option to allow students to interact with the course material multiple times.

A multilevel analysis of the contextual effects in distance education outcomes during COVID-19

The COVID-19 outbreak has forced countries to take extensive measures aimed at minimizing human contact. In this crisis period, distance education has played a crucial role in ensuring continuous learning. However, not all locations have had the same maturity level regarding infrastructure availability, and the city-level heterogeneity in socioeconomic structures might have impeded equal access to distance education. This paper focuses on the contextual dimension of distance education by a comparative approach between in person and distance education outcomes in Turkey. By a multilevel modelling approach, student outcomes are examined against a set of student-level and city-level determinants of academic success during the COVID-19 period compared to the same academic semester in the previous year. The findings support previous studies, discussing the long-term contextual effects on student outcomes and show that the digital divide between the rural and urban areas and income inequality are the main drivers of city-level variation in students' success during the pandemic.