Online Learning in a “Fancy Prison”: The Impact of COVID-19 on the International Student Academic Experience While Living in a Quarantine Hotel

Abstract

The rapid development of the COVID-19 pandemic during the spring 2020 academic semester resulted in many international undergraduate students evacuating the United States to return to their home countries. Some faced government-mandated quarantine in a designated quarantine hotel upon their entry into the country which overlapped with the end of the spring semester or start of summer term. Interviewers conducted qualitative interviews on Zoom with international students enrolled at American universities regarding their experiences with online learning while in isolation. This extreme environment had negative implications for their psychological well-being as well as their ability to self-motivate. Researchers formulated best practices based on the data to assist instructors and institutions in making better decisions regarding the academic experience of students who may be forced into quarantine in an unfamiliar environment in the future.