By Victoria Surla
With the world still in lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic, travel bans and health regulations have made the opportunities of studying abroad feel practically impossible for current post-secondary students. While those studying at George Brown College (GBC) this semester may not be able to embark on their exchange journeys physically, online alternatives have been made available in hopes that students will still be able to reap some of the benefits of abroad learning.
GBC’s Global Mobility, International Field Education & Study Abroad now offers options for students to enrich themselves in global learning atmospheres via their computer screens in the comfort of their own homes.
Aida Viveiros, administrator of GBC’s International Field Education & Study Abroad, says that being forced to improvise new online exchange opportunities amid the pandemic has significantly widened the potential for students who may have not been able to consider studying abroad before.
“It’s really made us think about how we can still give students the international opportunity, but in a safe environment,” said Viveiros. “We also know that, previously, there have been barriers for some students to be able to go study abroad, whether they can’t afford it or due to different commitments at home. But we think it’s important for all students to do well in the global economy.”
COVID-19 has encouraged new and innovative ways of learning as well as program delivery.
“We had an Understanding Japan course that was supposed to run through intersession week, and we cancelled that. We’re lucky as one of our academic partners in Japan prepared an online Japanese language preparation program.”
Viveiros says that although students were disappointed by the cancellation of the trip, feedback about their outbound remote experience has been positive. Time difference has also been a factor to consider for many students, but it hasn’t stopped their interest in the course.
“Some students say it has motivated them and it has actually helped encourage them to structure their days, so they can study for both their GBC program and also self-study this Japanese language program.”
“We’re trying to think outside the box, like many people are.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has prohibited all current physical study abroad opportunities for the Winter 2021 semester.
Viveiros says that regardless of the pandemic, exchange participation at GBC has been fairly modest over the years. This is why Global Mobility is currently in the works of innovating new features and opportunities to attract new students to consider the study abroad program.
“Even that number that we had, it’s 1.5 per cent of students that participate in an outbound activity. We really want to, over the next few years, offer greater opportunities for students.”
While fingers stay crossed that life will soon return to normal, Global Mobility’s efforts remain dedicated to improving the current available study-abroad options for the GBC community.
“Obviously, we want the situation to improve so students and faculty can travel again, safely. But it’s an interesting time to come up with new ideas and new ways of doing them that maybe we might not have thought about previously,” says Kristina Miller, Administrator of Inbound Mobility at GBC.
