▲ International students participating offline event held by ISC (Photo by Office of International Education)



 

On April 18, the government withdrew all social distancing restrictions, which lasted about two years anda month. This movement seems to change society in COVID-19toregaina safe daily life. At this moment, SeoulTech also gradually began toswitch to offline classes this semester. Then, we can wonder how the COVID-19 situation is in SeoulTech after the offline classes, and how the university life of students who have experienced online classes and shifted to offline classes is.



Status of International Students After Transition to Offline Class



 

The number ofinternational students gradually decreased during 2020 when interactions of each country became difficult due to COVID-19.

Since 2021, international student enrollment has gradually increased. According to data from theOffice of International Education (OIE), the number of undergraduate exchange students

has grown from 37 in2021 to 104 in 2022, and is gradually rising again. However, the number ofundergraduates and undergraduate freshman students has not recovered significantly.

Since the shift to offline classes, the OIE and the International Students' Club (ISC) have been planning various events to help international students to hang outwell in Korea. On March 10 and 11, the ISC held its first cultural event with the club fair organized by the Club Union. As such, the OIE and ISC should continue to make many opportunities for international students to get along well in Korea and interact with Korean students.

 

SeoulTech's Effort : Direction of Offline Class

The number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in SeoulTech increased rapidly until early March after offline classes began inthefirst semester of 2022. However, this was a time when COVID-19 confirmed cases in Korea, especially Seoul, were widely exploding, so the SeoulTech Healthcare Service Center (SHSC) doesnotseethecause only as the result of resuming offline classes. In fact, although offline classes are still being conducted, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in the university has dropped sharply since mid-March andis still on the decline.

In order to conduct offline classes, the SHSC decided on the following principles.

① In offline classes, students can sit side by side if there is a partition, but if not, students can sit in one seat and leave the next seat as space or keep a distance of 2m (at least 1m) between the desks.

② Must wear a mask (not allowed to enter unless wearing a mask).

③ Check students' body temperature before entering class.

④ Conduct classroom disinfection (before and after a class).

⑤ Keep hand sanitizers in each lecture room.

⑥ Conduct ventilation before and after the class (also open windows frequently during the class).

⑦ Not allowed to eat in the lecture room.



 

In addition, the way SHSC responds to COVID-19 is as follows.

① Infectious disease prevention management: organizing infectious disease management, quarantine rules, and a reporting system for the occurrence of infectious diseases.

② Infectious disease prevention education: COVID-19 prevention education for university members. SHSC operates a COVID-19 communication channel on the university website, sends announcements through personal SMS, and also posts posters to prevent infectious diseases in each department and college.

③ Purchase and distribution preventive supplies.

④ Consultation and treatment for infectious diseases: counseling and treatment for COVID-19, and guidance of antibody screening tests if necessary.

⑤ Conducting epidemiological investigation: lf COVID-19 occurred, they conduct their epidemiological investigation and cooperate with the local community health center.

⑥ Check whether the confirmed patient is completely cured and whether the person in self-quarantine (a person with close contact) has been released from quarantine.

⑦ Identifying the occurrence of COVID-19 infections in the university.

 

Student's Point of View : An Interview with an International Student

What do international students think about the sudden change in offline classes? As the proportion of exchange students continues to increase compared to last year, we conducted interviews with international exchange students to find answers to questions. The reporters prepareda total of 7 questions and listened to the opinions of international students living in Korea.



 

Hello, we are The SeoulTech English newspaper reporters. Nice to meet you! Please introduce yourself and tell us how long you've been in Korea!

W: Hi! I'm Wendy, and I'm 22 years old. I'm an exchange student from Spain. I have been in Seoul for 8 months already and will stay until the end of this semester.

Y: Hello! My name is Yan Yeng Ma and currently, I have been in Korea for 2 months and a bit for this trip.

 

What do you think about online and offline classes?

W: I think both systems have strong and weak points forexchange students.

Y: I'm not entirely sure if it's 100% safe yet to have offline class fully, but as the country opens up and regulations are being withdrawn, it would be weird to keep students in their homes and have online classes. However, it is good tohave offline classes again as some classes are easier to concentrate on the offline.

 

How do you feel as SeoulTech changed from taking an online class to the current offline class?

W: I'm happy about it sinceI can meet more classmates and feel more integrated.

Y: I don't have many feelings about it. But as I don't live in the dorms, it does take me a little while traveling from my Airbnb to the campus. However, it doesn't really bother me that much.

 

What do you expect or worry about from the offline class?

W: I expect that having offline classes will have somegroup assignments tomeetmorepeople.

Y: I just expect it to be the same asbefore the pandemic (although I wouldn't really know as I didn't have offline class in Korea before the pandemic). Insomeclasses, partitions make me a bit hard to concentrate.

 

How did you feel about our university's prevention of COVID—19 when you came to Korea?

W: I think it's working well.

Y: Good! It prevented students from going to the campus when the situations are not good.

 

Do you think the there was a big difference between your homecountry and Koea in terms of COVID-19 safety?

W: Having recorded classes was new for me. So,I can say it feels different.

Y: A very big difference. Korea is more serious with their rules.

 

You came to study abroad when the world was having a hard time due to COVID-19. Was there anything hard and difficult for you? If so, how did you overcome the difficulties?

W: People were more afraid of meeting international students, and oriline classes madeus feel not integrated.

Y: A lot of paperwork and stress. But it was ok if I kept up with the deadlines and regularly paid attention to my coursework.

 

Reporters can confirm from the above survey that students have both concerns and expectations with regards to offline classes. As offline classes are currently running, opportunities for international students to meet Korean students and to experience Korean culture will increase. In addition, with these changes, many international students seem tolook forward to living in Korea. On the other hand, there are stilla lot of worries about resuming offline classes. This is because no one knows when the COVID-19 confirmed cases will begin to explode again.

However, we can't delay the chance to learn in a better environment and have better quality classes. Surelya fear of offline classes remains, but this might be also a gateway for students to overcome this pandemic situation. If individuals observe quarantine guidelines and principles well, students will be able to learn and study freely in a safe environment. As Korea's COVID-19 caseload trends downward, more classes are gradually transitioning to offline. In response to this transition, our reporters hope that SeoulTech helps students keep current about campus life so that they can adapt well to our university and make great memories.

 

Reporters,

Minju Kim alswn020716@g.seoultech.ac.kr

Yoojin Park dreamingloveyoo@seoultech.ac.kr