Blended learning internationalization from the commonwealth: An Australian and Canadian collaborative case study

This case depiction addresses the contentious issue of providing culturally and globally accessible teaching and learning to international students in universities in the Commonwealth nations of Australia and Canada. The chapter describes the university systems and cultures, the barriers to authentic higher education internationalization, and the problems frequently experienced by international students. Two university cases are presented and analysed to depict and detail blended learning approaches (face-toface combined with e-learning) as exemplars of culturally and globally accessible higher education and thereby ideologically grounded internationalization. Lessons learned are presented at the systems level and as teaching and learning solutions designed to address pedagogical problems frequently experienced by international students in the areas of communication, academic skills, teaching and learning conceptualization, and moving from rote learning to critical thinking. The blended learning solutions are analysed through the lens of critical theory

Innovative models for collaboration and student mobility in Europe

This report is based on new developments in higher education and international collaboration as collected by EADTU's Task Force and Peer Learning Activity on Virtual Mobility. The result is a report on three types of collaboration mobility: physical, blended and online. Main parameters for innovative education and mobility formats are defined as well as basic principles of international course and curriculum design. Examples illustrate the complete opportunity space between fully face to face and fully online collaboration. They relate to mobility within single courses, exchange mobility (classical Erasmus), networked programmes and mobility windows and joint programmes with embedded mobility. Mobility offers opportunities to institutions to strengthen their programmes and to students to enrich their study. They benefit from an international learning experience or following courses not provided by their own institution. The report shows concrete mobility schemes used in the membership (and beyond). It underpins policies for international networking and delivers tools to organise innovative education and mobility formats

Cohesion, commonality and creativity: youth work across borders

No abstract available

UNIC handbook on physical and virtual mobility. Teaching and learning in intercultural settings

This handbook reaches out to university teachers irrespective of their discipline and research fields. It shows the diversity of practice of intercultural teaching which is currently applied in different universities. International Mobility is supposed to increase the quality of teaching and research through the exchange of knowledge, international networking and common research projects. Regarding the involved individuals and organisations, mobility is expected to contribute to an attitude of respect towards the respective cultural values and to develop academic solidarity. Not at least the intercultural learning of mobile and home students and teachers shall be activated. The authors of this Handbook hope to give a taste of international exchange and collaboration in university teaching. The handbook consists of two parts. The first part deals with the shaping of teaching and learning situations in an international and diverse environment, and focuses on didactical reflections. It shall be used to enable teachers in their respective fields to design intercultural learning processes, which contribute to the learning of all – home as well as international exchange students. The first part also gives an impression of different options how universities can advance the internationalisation of higher education. Readers will find basic information, practical hints and examples from the partner universities. Reflective questions and practical hints take the form of bullet points from chapter 2 onwards. The sub-chapters on “Stories from the field” offer concise practical advice on designing internationally oriented teaching to support any such setting. Readers can rummage through stories from the different universities, where practical examples are elaborated. The second part lists information about funding and support programmes by the UNIC partner universities with a focus on teaching staff, with concrete links and contacts at the respective institution. (DIPF/Orig.

Media Culture 2020: collaborative teaching and blended learning using social media and cloud-based technologies

The Media Culture 2020 project was considered to be a great success by all the partners, academics and especially the students who took part. It is a true example of an intercultural, multidisciplinary, blended learning experience in higher education that achieved it goals of breaking down classroom walls and bridging geographical distance and cultural barriers. The students with different skills, coming from different countries and cultures, interacting with other enlarges the possibilities of creativity, collaboration and quality work. The blend of both synchronous and asynchronous teaching methods fostered an open, blended learning environment, one that extended the traditional boundaries of the classroom in time and space. The interactive and decentralized nature of digital tools enabled staff and students to communicate and strengthen social ties, alongside participation in the production of new knowledge and media content. For students and lecturers, the implementation of social media and cloud platforms offered an innovative solution to both teaching and learning in a collaborative manner. By leveraging the interactive and decentralised capabilities of a range of technologies in an educational context, this model of digital scholarship facilitates an open and dynamic working environment. Blended teaching methods allow for expansive collaboration, whereby information and knowledge can be accessed and disseminated across a number of networked devices

Introducing Virtual Student Exchange in international university education

Virtual Exchange (VE) is an umbrella term which refers to the numerous online learning initiatives and methodologies which engage learners in sustained online collaborative learning and interaction with partners from different cultural backgrounds as part of their study programmes. This article reviews the differences between VE and the activities of Virtual Mobility and Blended Mobility. Following that, the main learning outcomes for teachers and students engaged in VE are outlined. The article concludes by proposing how universities can consider the activity within their internationalisation programmes and how they can support its take up among teaching staff. It is argued that VE is not in competition with physical mobility programmes, nor is it an ‘emergency tool’ to be considered only in times of pandemics and limited international travel. Instead, VE should be considered as a preparation for or complement to physical mobility which serves to enhance the range of international learning experiences which an institution offers its students

International migration and new mobility trends

World migration community covers 3 per cent of the world population, in Europe it is around 7 per cent and 4 per cent in the Czech Republic. Europe is an important target for migration stimulated by the work offer but also by wars and natural disasters. In Western Europe at the end of the 20th century there were 20 millions of foreign migrants and also probably 3–5 million illegal migrants. Recently, we have faced new trends in international mobility which are different from traditional migration flows. They include mobility of multinational firms employees, mobility of students, pensioners but also mobility of professionals. Specific area under study is foreign migration or mobility of scientists and researchers. There is another phenomena connected with the development of modern technologies which stimulates the mobility in virtual space. Virtual mobility is another form of mobility which is using virtual space for communication, study, work and other aspects of life. The aim of this paper is to introduce the main trends in international migration including the traditional ones but stressing the new types of international mobility. The focus will be on the current situation in the Czech Republic related to migration.migration, international mobility, high skilled professionals, brain drain, virtual mobility

Conceptualizing Internationalization at a Distance: A "Third Category" of University Internationalization

Internationalization efforts in higher education have often been categorized according to Jane Knight’s binary of “Internationalization at Home” (IaH) and “Internationalization Abroad” (IA). However, a rising number of technology-supported activities have created new opportunities for university internationalization. For example, students can now remain “at home” while using technology to study with an institution or program that is simultaneously located “abroad.” We have conceptualized these activities as a new third category called Internationalization at a Distance (IaD). In this article, we introduce the concept of IaD and outline an in-depth case study of an international distance education provider at scale, the University of South Africa