Covid-19 and its influence on life content

21st Century Skills in the Real World. Higher education is experiencing global, omnipresent shock and we are all affected. For years, educators have talked about developing 21st century skills (cultural competencies, communications, working in teams, adaptability) for students. There is new opportunity to internationalize the classroom by connecting the global causes of COVID-19 with local impact. International educators must focus on discipline-based and skills-based learning over destination-based learning.

Innovation. Short-term exchanges and non-degree certifications have been growing, challenging the high costs of higher education. Virtual exchanges, global gateway campuses, micro-campus networks, international branch campuses and the use of online program management tools represent new innovations that may offer solutions to traditional exchange models in the long term.

CONCLUSION
Higher education institutions across Central Asia managed the situation with COVID-19 well. HEIs closed their campuses and switched to online teaching and working, and provided support for both international students and students who were required to stay in dormitories. HEIs trained their faculty, staff, and students to use online platforms and learning management systems (e.g., Zoom, Moodle, Webex, Google Classroom, Bitrix, Univer, Platonus, etc.). Extracurricular activities, conferences, and other events took place online too. Admission and recruitment offices also used social media and online platforms to conduct open doors, campus visits, open talks, and interviews with staff and current students.

Many HEIs remain committed to their internationalization priorities. HEIs continue to apply to grants and work on proposals for funding opportunities that appeared during the pandemic. Administrators and faculty continue to communicate and engage with existing partners. There is new attention on the concept of “internationalization at home,” to offer global prospective to students virtually now as students and faculty are not able to travel. Virtual collaborations are seen as cost effective. HEIs also continue to work with respective Ministries of Education to improve the quality of online education.

“COVID-19 may accelerate the end of the traditional semester-based system for collegiate registration, progression and graduation because Gen Z students are used to being online, all the time. Potential academic scenarios that could be implemented for the next academic semester include: delaying autumn semester in October or November; moving the autumn semester to the spring semester; creating a structured gap year, reducing the number of courses offered on campus and increasing the number of courses taught online; designing separate courses for residential and online students; allowing students to take one course at a time for three or four weeks; offering a modified tutorial model of instruction allowing students to take a common online lecture session; create a yearlong recruitment programs for domestic and international students; and, create new business models and financing options."