With the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the education sector has experienced an unprecedented upheaval in terms of its operation and management. Particularly in higher education, students have experienced a number of changes to traditional education norms and been faced with many restrictions. For example, COVID-19 has forced classes to be conducted online and has limited in-person interactions. However, one of the biggest restrictions had been on the opportunity for students to go on exchange programs overseas.

The prolonged influence of COVID-19 has led to rapid and widespread digitalization in education. It has been argued that this change in the education sector would have occurred sooner or later and that COVID-19 has simply been a catalyst for the emergence of a new era in education. In this situation, students have experienced limitations in their exchange experiences. However, Korea University (KU), alongside other prestigious universities around the world, has adopted an appealing new alternative for study-abroad exchange programs: The Virtual Student Exchange (VSE) program.

A Virtual Exchange Experience at Home

The Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) is a network of 55 prestigious universities in the Asia-Pacific region. Since its establishment in 1997, it has been conducting various projects under the mission of “[bringing] together thought leaders, researchers, and policy- makers to exchange ideas and collaborate on effective solutions to the challenges of the 21st century.” In 2020, when COVID-19 led to many significant changes in the education sector, the APRU came up with the VSE program.

The VSE program has been established under the purpose of “[making] international education accessible by allowing students to take academic courses and participate in co-curricular programs without the need to leave home.” According to the APRU, the VSE program allows students around the world to not only earn credits by attending classes offered at other universities online, but also reach out to students and educators in other educational institutions. Before officially launching the VSE program, the APRU conducted a trial semester in the second half of 2020.

According to Kim Jung Ho, the former Vice President for International Affairs, “KU joined the APRU in 2008 under the purpose of expanding its ability to achieve globalization and develop innovative research programs.” Kim explains that since KU became a part of the association, the school has been actively involved and KU’s President Chung Jin Taek has assumed the role of Commissioner of its Steering Committee since June 2020. By doing so, Kim explains that KU aims to overcome the obstacles of COVID-19 and take the lead in international exchange programs.

KU’s Involvement in the VSE Program

Kim explains that “due to COVID-19’s unprecedented impact on society, there has been active discussion on implementing the VSE program as an alternative to overseas exchange programs.” He mentions that “an online exchange program allows the exchange of educational content between different schools around the world without restrictions of time and space.” KU was the only university in South Korea to take part in the program during the second term of 2020. According to Kim, KU decided to join the VSE program in order to be a leader in a new form of international exchange that is expected to continue and expand in the post-pandemic era.

In the VSE program, KU offered various courses to students from other universities, such as Marketing Strategy, Introduction to Korean and East Asian History, and Introduction to Media. Kim states that the courses offered were centered on studies of South Korea and have been selected based on the interests of potential students. According to KU, of the approximately 200 students who participated in the trial semester, 63 enrolled in and attended lectures offered by KU. Kim adds that the school also offered international students an opportunity for the non-academic experience of South Korea and KU by taking them on a virtual tour around the campus and providing special lectures on the history of Korean pop (K-pop).

Kim reveals that KU students were not able to participate in the trial semester of the VSE program because the regulations for online credit transfers were not established at the time. However, KU’s participation in the trial semester was successful, and it is expected that the official implementation of this program will attract the attention of the students. Therefore, KU has decided to officially provide its students with the opportunity to take part in the VSE program under the newly established policy called Virtual Student Exchange.

KU’s Position in a New Educational Environment

Virtual Student Exchange will go into effect starting from the first semester this year. With the official establishment of this policy, KU will allow students to take online courses offered by other universities around the world and earn credits at the same time. Students who wish to attend the VSE program can visit the APRU website and enroll in one of the courses offered during the designated course registration period.

An appealing feature of the program is that no additional fees are charged for participation. More detailed information is provided by the KU International Mobility & Cooperation Team on the official KU website. Kim explains that KU plans to offer eight different courses for the first semester of the official implementation of the policy, which include Korean History and Mass Media and Popular Culture in Korea. He states that “currently, about 40 students from 10 different universities have enrolled and it is projected that KU will see the number increase every semester.”

Kim believes that the demand for online education will further expand in the post-pandemic era, which he believes is a good reason to develop the Virtual Student Exchange further. “The Office for International Affairs is not planning to settle for the positive outcomes it has achieved so far. Rather, it plans to continuously pursue an appropriate form of education for the current shift in society and be a leader in the new paradigm of e-educational globalization,” he says.

Participation in the VSE program is not the only form of action that KU has taken. The 2020 KU International Winter Camp (IWC), which accommodated approximately 550 students, was also successfully held online. As such, KU has been taking the initiative to prepare its students for the era of digitalized education as the new normal. In this sense, KU has demonstrated that COVID-19 offers new opportunities for students to develop a more diversified and globalized perspective.