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Before COVID-19, online learning in higher education was more of a choice than a requirement. The majority of universities in South Korea are currently not utilizing an evaluation index tailored specifically to online courses and are instead using the traditional in-person class evaluation standards. The study, hence, examines the factors that could be used to evaluate the quality of online learning in higher education taking place due to the COVID-19 pandemic from the point of views of the main subjects of online education: e-learning system administrators, instructors, and students. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method was used to determine the relative importance of factors in evaluating online learning. The conclusions derived from this research can be used as foundational material for evaluation factors of online learning in higher education.

Before COVID-19, online learning in higher education was more of a choice than a requirement. The majority of universities in South Korea are currently not utilizing an evaluation index tailored specifically to online courses and are instead using the traditional in-person class evaluation standards. The study, hence, examines the factors that could be used to evaluate the quality of online learning in higher education taking place due to the COVID-19 pandemic from the point of views of the main subjects of online education: e-learning system administrators, instructors, and students. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method was used to determine the relative importance of factors in evaluating online learning. The conclusions derived from this research can be used as foundational material for evaluation factors of online learning in higher education.

Maritime education and training (MET) for seafarers who operate ships has struggled to flexibly adapt to technological and environmental changes. In particular, as social demand for online MET arose due to COVID-19, the need for sustainable MET beyond traditional teaching methods grew exponentially. In order to identify the most optimal MET methods among face-to-face and online methods, this study reviewed the concepts and applications of existing MET methods, grouped them using a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process, and supplemented this structure through a designed survey. The results showed that the online methods had the greatest weight, and the “XR (extended reality) within the metaverse” teaching method had the highest priority. This study identified which MET methods should be prepared for the post-COVID era through quantitative analysis. We confirmed the need for attention to XR within the metaverse as a field of online methods in the future. Furthermore, our findings reveal that online education platforms via metaverse-based “expansion” and “connection” are needed, and pave the way for future research to expand empirical studies on MET satisfaction regarding existing International Maritime Organization model courses.

Maritime education and training (MET) for seafarers who operate ships has struggled to flexibly adapt to technological and environmental changes. In particular, as social demand for online MET arose due to COVID-19, the need for sustainable MET beyond traditional teaching methods grew exponentially. In order to identify the most optimal MET methods among face-to-face and online methods, this study reviewed the concepts and applications of existing MET methods, grouped them using a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process, and supplemented this structure through a designed survey. The results showed that the online methods had the greatest weight, and the “XR (extended reality) within the metaverse” teaching method had the highest priority. This study identified which MET methods should be prepared for the post-COVID era through quantitative analysis. We confirmed the need for attention to XR within the metaverse as a field of online methods in the future. Furthermore, our findings reveal that online education platforms via metaverse-based “expansion” and “connection” are needed, and pave the way for future research to expand empirical studies on MET satisfaction regarding existing International Maritime Organization model courses.

International students enrolled in the long term are considered habitual residents. They act as hosts to their friends and relatives, generating word-of-mouth recommendations and revisiting the host country. In order to facilitate inbound tourism in post-COVID-19 tourism, it is necessary to understand their risk perception, place image, and loyalty and provide meaningful insights for tourism markets. This study explores how social and personal risk perception of COVID-19 and cognitive and affective place image explain place loyalty. International students for degree programs comprised the sample population for this study. Findings revealed that social risk perception negatively shapes cognitive and affective place image, while personal risk perception only explains affective place image. Both cognitive and affective place image significantly affects place loyalty and mediates between social risk perception and place loyalty. The research provides new evidence on the risk perception of COVID-19, showing that internal factors such as social and personal risk perception may cause somewhat different results contrary to previous studies. Although gender moderates the relationship between cognitive place image and loyalty, the influence of gender on the theoretical and empirical relationships between risk perception, place image, and loyalty is not significant for international students. Implications for theory and practice, limitations, and future studies are discussed.

International students enrolled in the long term are considered habitual residents. They act as hosts to their friends and relatives, generating word-of-mouth recommendations and revisiting the host country. In order to facilitate inbound tourism in post-COVID-19 tourism, it is necessary to understand their risk perception, place image, and loyalty and provide meaningful insights for tourism markets. This study explores how social and personal risk perception of COVID-19 and cognitive and affective place image explain place loyalty. International students for degree programs comprised the sample population for this study. Findings revealed that social risk perception negatively shapes cognitive and affective place image, while personal risk perception only explains affective place image. Both cognitive and affective place image significantly affects place loyalty and mediates between social risk perception and place loyalty. The research provides new evidence on the risk perception of COVID-19, showing that internal factors such as social and personal risk perception may cause somewhat different results contrary to previous studies. Although gender moderates the relationship between cognitive place image and loyalty, the influence of gender on the theoretical and empirical relationships between risk perception, place image, and loyalty is not significant for international students. Implications for theory and practice, limitations, and future studies are discussed.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, educational institutions were forced to turn to online classes that are either recorded or taught live on virtual meeting platforms. Students could, therefore, attend classes from virtually any location using their mobile devices and Internet access. Despite the prolonged pandemic, little attention has been paid to whether offering courses on a virtual meeting platform is sustainable. This study, therefore, explores the antecedents of students’ intentions regarding the sustained use of virtual meeting platforms for academic courses. We investigated the relationship between technology readiness (TR) and perceived social presence (SP) within a virtual communication setting with course satisfaction and sustained use intention. Data were collected via a survey from 525 college students in South Korea who had attended classes using a virtual meeting platform. Serial mediation analysis revealed a pathway in which SP and course satisfaction in series fully mediate the positive relationship between technology readiness and sustainability. This study discusses the implications in relation to the sustainability of virtual technology-based courses as a replacement of live classroom-based courses from a user perspective. Further research is needed to understand users’ negative experiences of attending courses on virtual meeting platforms.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, educational institutions were forced to turn to online classes that are either recorded or taught live on virtual meeting platforms. Students could, therefore, attend classes from virtually any location using their mobile devices and Internet access. Despite the prolonged pandemic, little attention has been paid to whether offering courses on a virtual meeting platform is sustainable. This study, therefore, explores the antecedents of students’ intentions regarding the sustained use of virtual meeting platforms for academic courses. We investigated the relationship between technology readiness (TR) and perceived social presence (SP) within a virtual communication setting with course satisfaction and sustained use intention. Data were collected via a survey from 525 college students in South Korea who had attended classes using a virtual meeting platform. Serial mediation analysis revealed a pathway in which SP and course satisfaction in series fully mediate the positive relationship between technology readiness and sustainability. This study discusses the implications in relation to the sustainability of virtual technology-based courses as a replacement of live classroom-based courses from a user perspective. Further research is needed to understand users’ negative experiences of attending courses on virtual meeting platforms.