For many university students, study life has changed dramatically in recent months. It has taken some time to get adjusted to the new normal. If you actively seek it, there are plenty of resources, workshops, meetings and support available virtually. For me personally, there has been multiple opportunities to participate in and learn from a range of workshops and sessions all accessible from my own home. Just today, I attended a session about writing in new spaces. The facilitators discussed how researchers can find new ways of being productive from home, taking care of mental health and having suitable work-life balance in our day to day routine. Perhaps without always realising, I have established effective means of maximising the time I spend studying which include going for runs and timing the hours I work each day. Small tasks but ones I have found quite beneficial.
It’s not only our life-style that experiences change. The ways we conduct our research will most likely have been influenced by the presence of COVID-19. I attended a workshop that explored the ways in which research across various disciplines may adapt to new circumstances. Following this workshop and discussion with my supervisors, I realised how significant the effects of COVID-19 will be on my study. My research is focused on how international students in higher educational settings use their languages and cultures in their learning. I am also interested in how the students themselves, interpret the role of their languages and cultures in their learning. There are several papers and articles that emphasise how higher educational sectors around the globe will be transformed by COVID-19 since the travel of international students has dramatically decreased.
As such events are taking place, the demographic of students in Australian higher educational institutions is changing as well. The impacts of COVID-19 on higher education globally is a growing conversation. As my research is centred on the learning of students in these settings, there is definitely a need to acknowledge these developments and their effects on learning lifestyles. As this is a constantly changing landscape, my research will have to continue to monitor the changes and impacts.
We are now at a point where dealing with uncertainty is more prominent in research. It is a dynamic space and certainly an area that I will continue to pay close attention to in my work. In many ways there have been positive outcomes including reflecting, connecting with people and establishing effective working techniques that will continuously benefit my research.
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