Abstract:

Moving courses online because of the COVID-19 conditions has certainly resulted in multiple challenges for schools, colleges and universities. Travel restrictions initially halted the possibilities of international exchanges of students and faculty, but later provided invaluable opportunities for virtual mobility.

Virtual mobility had already been used in situations in which physical mobility was not possible, such as lack of economic resources, lack of time for travel/staying abroad, health problems, and certain disabilities; problems with obtaining traveling and students visas, political restrictions, and security risks in different destinations, personal and family influences, among others.

In a private university in Puebla, Mexico, because of the transition to online education and the possibility of virtual mobility, students with a reduced budget were able to benefit from virtual exchanges that they could not afford if they had to travel and pay their lodging expenses abroad. Professors who had other responsibilities, for example, home duties and caring for small children or other family members, also had the possibility to participate in virtual exchanges, teaching in universities across the globe. Virtual mobility also helped attract a larger number of exchange students from different countries.

One of the main challenges that local and foreign students, as well as faculty, had to face with regards to virtual mobility was dealing with different time zones. Students from Europe and Asia were among the most affected. Different actions were taken to solve this problem. Some courses were developed in a completely asynchronous format, while others were recorded and recordings were made available for students, who could, later on, watch the courses. The main problem that this created was the lack of immediate interactions, but it was solved through the use of virtual forums for questions and comments.

This article describes different ways in which virtual mobility was used to enhance the experience for both the students and faculty during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords:

Virtual mobility, pandemic, time zones, asynchronous.