Towards a Framework for Virtual Internationalization
Towards a Framework for Virtual Internationalization

Summary/Abstract: Digitalization, internationalization, and an expansion of flexible distance provision are among the trends which the higher education landscape is experiencing in many countries today. At the intersection of these trends, the traditional boundaries between distance and conventional education are becoming blurred (Guri-Rosenblit, 2014; p.114; Naidu, 2003; p.350), with distance and on-campus education both embracing online learning that can be accessed easily from anywhere on the planet. Virtual transnational education (TNE) and massive open online courses (MOOCs) are prominent examples of higher education crossing borders (Knight, 2016; p.328). Furthermore, the aim to internationalize the curriculum is playing an increasing role in traditional and distance education today. Institutions, instructional designers and instructors have stepped up efforts to internationalize the on-campus classroom as well as distance education with the help of information and communications technology (ICT). These efforts find their expression, for example, in attempts to introduce intercultural awareness into online course development (e.g. Gunawardena, 2014), as well as in virtual mobility and collaborative online international learning (COIL) projects in on-campus higher education (e.g. Guth, 2013). In an endeavour to conceptualize the abundance of approaches aiming at internationalizing higher education via virtual media, this paper proposes an approach to formulating a comprehensive framework for virtual internationalization by focusing on its global, intercultural, and international dimensions.

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