Abstract:
The Covid-19 pandemic gave rise to unprecedented challenges faced by university students, including international students, who had to adjust to online learning as a result of emergency remote teaching, or ERT in short, within a very short period of time. This paper investigates a group of international students’ experiences of online learning during the pandemic in an English-medium university in Hong Kong, with particular attention to the challenges they faced in online learning and the strategies they adopted to overcome various challenges. It employs a sociocultural perspective on agency in understanding international students' decisions and actions taken in response to online learning in the midst of online learning.
By applying thematic analysis to a corpus of narratives collected from interviews with international students, the study found that most international students encountered challenges in online learning during the pandemic, including technical, emotional, social, and linguistic difficulties. For example, they not only experienced social isolation and emotional discomfort as a result of the lack of face-to-face contact with other students and instructors, but also encountered technical difficulties in participating in online classes and expressed diminished motivation to participate actively in online class activities. In face of the challenges, they reported drawing on a range of strategies in navigating their academic studies, including seeking support from their existing social networks and making intensive use of online resources for completing their course assignments. Their agentic choices and actions were shaped by their past experiences and their level of access to different social and material resources. Furthermore, the study found that international students’ online learning experiences impacted on their identity constructions as learners. The majority of them reported that they became more independent learners who exercised their agency in seeking out resources on their own and managing their time in a systematic manner to complete their course assignments. Yet, their feelings of isolation and disconnection, coupled with various emotional issues, adversely influenced their identities as members of the university community. Their sense of marginalization in the university community was further exacerbated by the perceived lack of institutional support and emotional support from other students during the pandemic. Overall, the findings highlight the close relationship between international students’ online learning experiences, agency enactment and identity construction during the pandemic. The study has important implications for enhancing university students’ online learning experiences in the post-pandemic era.
By applying thematic analysis to a corpus of narratives collected from interviews with international students, the study found that most international students encountered challenges in online learning during the pandemic, including technical, emotional, social, and linguistic difficulties. For example, they not only experienced social isolation and emotional discomfort as a result of the lack of face-to-face contact with other students and instructors, but also encountered technical difficulties in participating in online classes and expressed diminished motivation to participate actively in online class activities. In face of the challenges, they reported drawing on a range of strategies in navigating their academic studies, including seeking support from their existing social networks and making intensive use of online resources for completing their course assignments. Their agentic choices and actions were shaped by their past experiences and their level of access to different social and material resources. Furthermore, the study found that international students’ online learning experiences impacted on their identity constructions as learners. The majority of them reported that they became more independent learners who exercised their agency in seeking out resources on their own and managing their time in a systematic manner to complete their course assignments. Yet, their feelings of isolation and disconnection, coupled with various emotional issues, adversely influenced their identities as members of the university community. Their sense of marginalization in the university community was further exacerbated by the perceived lack of institutional support and emotional support from other students during the pandemic. Overall, the findings highlight the close relationship between international students’ online learning experiences, agency enactment and identity construction during the pandemic. The study has important implications for enhancing university students’ online learning experiences in the post-pandemic era.