The global outbreaks of the COVID-19 significantly changed higher education in China
and the United States. Universities and colleges from the two countries had to move their faceto-
face classes fully online, which posed many new and significant challenges to both faculty
and students.
From late February 2020 (the beginning of the Chinese spring semester), all colleges
and universities in China unprecedentedly moved their traditional face-to face-classes fully
online. From Mid-March, the American schools had to move their face-to-face classes online.
Our study focuses on one MLIS program from the United States, one MLIS program,
one liberal arts program and one sci-tech program from China. We collected data over the whole
Spring Semesters of these American and Chinese programs to compare the teaching and
learning behaviors before and during the outbreaks.
Specifically, we examined impacts of emerging technologies on LIS education and other
academic programs. It will benefit the global higher education from the perspectives of
Information, Technology, and Communications
