Impacts of Collaborative Zoom Classes with Fairfax & Mason Korea Campus

Students from Mason Korea and Mason Fairfax campus had the collaborative class.

Photo Credit: https://masonkorea.gmu.edu/articles/15787

During the 2021 Spring semester, students, and professors in Global Affairs (GLOA) at George Mason University Korea (GMUK) and George Mason Fairfax campus have collaborated through a synchronous Zoom class. This class was unique because it gave people the opportunity to meet regardless of time, space, and nationality where both professors of Mason Korea and Fairfax campus gave out lectures along with special guest speakers. The highlight of this class was breakout groups where students discussed questions related to class material. This was especially meaningful as it gave them the opportunity to experience diverse perspectives. The Voice conducted an interview with students and professors from both campuses to see what they thought of this class format.

Jubilee Kwon (Global Affairs ’25), stated that she enjoyed synchronous classes with students at the Fairfax campus because she was able to experience how classes in Fairfax were conducted by feeling the atmosphere of the class. She also said, “It was interesting to interact with Fairfax students and listen to their viewpoints. My favorite part was obtaining new knowledge through new ideas shared from Fairfax students”. Another student who requested to be interviewed anonymously added that this class was meaningful as it helped students to directly interact and reach out to professors and peers. Hence, the class gave Mason Korea students a general idea of campus life in Virginia.

Pearl Matibe (Government and International Politics ’23) stated that the virtual meeting with Mason Korea campus was unique since she could gain knowledge from both professors at the Korea and Fairfax campus, combined breakout rooms, and guest speakers across different time zones. She also mentioned that she especially enjoyed exchanging different cultures and learning more about South Korea in particular. In terms of cultural globalization, Matibe explained this class gave her a chance to understand Korea’s soft power and how this has been intensified in K-Dramas such as “Crash Landing on You”. Furthermore, she indicated that discussing appropriate approaches of governments was an enriching experience as “this opened a window to the Seoul policymaking world giving me a broader perspective which I might otherwise not have had.”

After interviewing students, The Voice interviewed the experience that Dr. Ji Hye Lim, assistant professor in the Global Affairs program had the collaborative Zoom class with Fairfax campus. She responded that one advantage of this class is that students can draw on the expertise of two different professors. Thus, the course content could become more nuanced. She also replied that it was interesting to see a variety of perspectives in student discussion sessions. For instance, when students were asked to present their favorite foreign music, the collaborating class with both campuses tend to have more diverse answers compared to the class solely consisting of Mason Korea’s students. Dr. Lim pointed out that it is important for GLOA students to cooperate globally and practice viewing issues from an international perspective. Given that this class gathered people from different countries, it surely gave all students the opportunity to actively engage in the field of Global Affairs. Furthermore, she emphasized that it would be great to have Mason Korea’s students and Fairfax campus students engage in conversations about North Korea because a few students from Fairfax tend to show an interest in this issue.

The Voice also interviewed Dr. Jennifer Ashley, assistant professor in the Global Affairs program to share her personal opinions about this cross-campus class. She responded that she enjoyed listening to the lectures from guest speakers, alumni of George Mason University who now work in the Center for Climate Change Communication and United Nations Office for Sustainable Development. Dr. Ashley explained that this sort of guest lecture would inspire Global Affairs students to sense how to utilize their major after graduation. She also commented that her students felt more engaged when taking collaborative classes with Mason Korea, which made it more effective in covering the course material. She added that this class was meaningful because she could hear about campus life in Songdo and relate it to her experience in Mason Korea Spring 2020 semester.

The collaborative Zoom class that virtually connected two campuses of George Mason University was quite successful in providing a rich learning experience. Despite the difference in time and space, the development of technology has made it possible for people to meet. Even if classes return to hybrid or face-to-face next semester, it would be great if this collaborative Zoom class continued. This class gave students the unique opportunity that highlighted Mason Korea’s unique identity. In the future, this style of class can become more widespread as it has opened the gateway for people to interact actively despite the time differences.

Written by Soram Hong, Staff Writer