Sustainable Transition to Studying Abroad Online during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Ecological Perspective

Peiru Tong (), Linda Tsung, Irene Shidong An and Yijun Zhou
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Peiru Tong: Institute of Education Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Linda Tsung: School of Languages and Cultures, FASS, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
Irene Shidong An: School of Languages and Cultures, FASS, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
Yijun Zhou: School of Languages and Cultures, FASS, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 23, 1-21

Abstract: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, study abroad (SA) programs have undergone an urgent transfer to the online format. Although SA online has many merits toward sustainable international education in the post-COVID era, assuring the quality of these programs and sustaining students’ learning motivation have been key issues of concern. Moreover, there is still a lack of evidence derived from in-depth qualitative inquiries. To address these gaps, this study takes a close look at an individual’s story using a narrative approach to data analysis and employs an ecological perspective focusing on intentionality as the theoretical framework for exploring how the participant conquered the challenges when they transitioned to SA online. Successful plots identified include setting up the online learning environment, optimising the benefits of online learning, and sustaining students’ motivation to study. Several obstacles remained unsolved, such as the loss of interpersonal connection and empathy in online communication. This study concludes that the participant’s successful and unsuccessful encounters in enacting the affordances of online education were manifested by developed or undeveloped intentional actions as a result of individual-environment mutuality. Some implications are offered for constructing sustainable online SA environments that can diversify and innovate future international education experiences.

Keywords: studying abroad online; emergency remote teaching; COVID-19 pandemic; sustainable international education; ecological perspective; affordance; intentionality; narrative inquiry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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