SOUTH KOREA’S CULTURAL DIPLOMACY DURING COVID-19 AND IMPACTS OF ONLINE LEARNING: A CROSS-CASE ANALYSIS OF PAKISTANI AND AFRICAN STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS
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Abstract
The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of South Korea’s excellent Information Technology infrastructure on students learning in online classes amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey was administered on Pakistani and African (N=156) students to investigate their perceptions regarding new paradigm shift towards online learning through correlational and cross-sectional study design. Results show a significant difference between African and Pakistani students on mean scores of teaching mode and learning environment in online classes in the year 2020; t (156) = -5.353, p < .001); indicated an insignificant difference between Pakistani and African Students on mean scores of personal characteristics and factors towards online classes; t (156) =-.716, p-value .095. According to hierarchical regression, the country of the respondents emerged as the strong predictor of attitude towards online teaching that accounted for 16 % of the variance in total attitude towards online teaching, β =.38, t = 5.39, ***p < .001. Personal attributes also emerged as a significant predictor for attitude towards online teaching, β =.30, t = 4.30, ***p < .001 which accounted for 9 % variance in the attitude towards online teaching.
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References
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