Students' Perception and Challenges towards Virtual Mobility amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic

Virtual mobility (VM) has been defined as a form of mobility that aims to expand the student’s experience and scope out of traditional mobility programs. The mobility programme was created to suit the current situation and changed into a virtual programme beginning in 2020 owing to the pandemic COVID-19. In order to promote mobility experiences throughout the pandemic and post-pandemic, virtual mobility (VM) has been introduced. The VM programme, however, may expose the participants to a variety of perceptions and experiences. This study describes a VM programme in which university students from Malaysia and Japan participated and aimed to give students the chance to experience mobility through online collaboration. To this aim, a qualitative approach, the e-interview method was used. This method is used to explicitly explain and identify the perception of the VM students about the program. The e-interview was distributed to the respondents and they submit their replies through Google form to be analyzed. Based on the perceptions of the respondents who participated in this programme, data were examined using Leximancer. The findings show that the respondent's perception of the VM can be divided into two, positive and negative perceptions. They also describe their experience during their involvement in this VM program. The respondents learn about the differences between their own culture and that of others through dialogue and group problem-solving during the VM programme. They emphasized the importance of the VM programme in assisting students in developing their intercultural competency. The findings also show that the VM is essential for a generation that will need to work in multi-ethnic and diverse teams and workplaces.