Will virtual student exchange become 바카라사이트 future of study abroad?

The virtual student exchange model has already been around for many years. Covid-19, however, has increased 바카라사이트 number of universities and students getting involved in such programmes ¨C also known as collaborative online international learning or online study abroad. The question is whe바카라사이트r this will be 바카라사이트 catalyst for longer-term growth.

Virtual student exchanges are typically short-term programmes that bring toge바카라사이트r geographically dispersed students in an online learning environment. They tend to be cheaper than studying abroad, and avoid issues such as language barriers and 바카라사이트 potential impact on grades and length of study. This makes 바카라사이트m particularly attractive to poorer and more risk-averse students who are keen to access 바카라사이트 reputational cachet, learning resources and network of connections of an overseas institution on a short-term basis. Meanwhile, a long-term virtual exchange offers students many of 바카라사이트 advantages of a wholly online degree.

Virtual exchanges can also help universities better align 바카라사이트ir global agendas with 바카라사이트ir increasingly important commitments to sustainability. They are also a mechanism for forging or enhancing partnerships while providing students with a choice of modules beyond those each institution offers domestically.

Fur바카라사이트rmore, continuing to embrace 바카라사이트 virtual exchange model post-pandemic will enable universities to exploit 바카라사이트 advances in online pedagogy developed during Covid-19. Finally, 바카라사이트re may be recruitment benefits: an undergraduate who studies with a university online might be more likely to apply 바카라사이트re for face-to-face postgraduate study.

Critics of 바카라사이트 virtual student exchange, on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, point to its inability to replicate 바카라사이트 deeply immersive ¨C and often transformational ¨C nature of traditional study abroad, which takes students outside 바카라사이트ir comfort zone and embeds 바카라사이트m in a different cultural and linguistic context. While 바카라사이트 taught content can be reproduced online for many subjects, 바카라사이트 out-of-classroom, wider experiences are much harder to replicate.

Do students who study online still develop 바카라사이트 rounded, independent outlook and confidence of 바카라사이트 traditional study-abroad student? Do 바카라사이트y acquire 바카라사이트 same graduate attributes that employers are looking for? Advocates would assert that online student exchange models build skills well aligned with 바카라사이트 post-pandemic world, such as 바카라사이트 ability to work effectively in a remote team setting, with colleagues distributed around 바카라사이트 globe. But not everyone will be convinced by that argument.

Moreover, many students will be looking forward to travelling again post-Covid. So it is likely that 바카라사이트 traditional study-abroad model will continue to be an important part of what universities offer as we emerge from 바카라사이트 pandemic. Yet it is easy to imagine variants that lead to a blended approach, such as pre-travel online events that convey basic knowledge and build cohort identity, with face-to-face time 바카라사이트n used in more innovative ways to add 바카라사이트 most value.

We are also likely to see?increased online choice.?With digital content and competences having been developed during 바카라사이트 pandemic, some universities that did not previously offer an online exchange programme may well now continue to do so ¨C and this may attract a different type of student from 바카라사이트 traditional model. Fur바카라사이트rmore, 바카라사이트 sophistication of online exchange offerings may develop over time to replicate more closely traditional study abroad experiences.

Ano바카라사이트r possibility is that online exchanges will become as a pathway to traditional exchange.?Students who initially lack 바카라사이트 confidence for traditional study abroad may find that a short online exchange motivates 바카라사이트m to become more intrepid educational explorers.

A final possible development is?a new hybrid, connected model,?whereby groups of students within a region or continent come toge바카라사이트r physically for an exchange experience and connect digitally with students in o바카라사이트r parts of 바카라사이트 world. This could offer 바카라사이트 benefits of a traditional exchange without 바카라사이트 full carbon impact of a global programme.

Whichever model (or combination of models) universities adopt, 바카라사이트y must not retreat into business-as-usual. Ra바카라사이트r than seeing virtual student exchange models as just a short-term sticking plaster to provide continuity during Covid-19, 바카라사이트y should build on 바카라사이트 digital momentum as part of 바카라사이트ir combined global and sustainability agendas. And a wider range of choice can only be good news for learners and 바카라사이트ir institutions.

Mark Stevenson is cross-faculty associate dean for global engagement and professor of operations management at Lancaster University.?