Impacts of Transitioning to an Online Curriculum at a Graduate School in South Korea Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Abstract

This study focuses on the impacts of implementing an online curriculum at a graduate school in South Korea in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A framework distinguishing impacts to academic, educational, and institutional stakeholders from the virtualization of curricula as well as general COVID-19 prevention measures is invoked to help understand the impacts of these changes. These impacts are sourced from general graduate school operations, course evaluations for two compulsory courses, and unofficial interviews with students and professors. A statistical evaluation of the course evaluations suggested no significant difference between the online format of 2020 and the traditional in person formats in prior years in terms of academics and education. Unofficial meetings with students and faculty revealed technical issues throughout 2020, which many could not be resolved due to the variety of different computer systems at the school as well as limited technical support. Most importantly, students stated they were suffering from prolonged mental and emotional distress such as feeling isolated. Lessons learned include having academic institutions prepare for difficulties in technical support, educational infrastructure investments, compliance, as well as student body mental health.