Moving Minds: Opportunities and Challenges for Virtual Student Mobility in a post-pandemic World

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Can Virtual Exchanges Increase Access to Global Learning? Lessons from international research and on-the-ground practice

Proposal

This presentation will feature key findings, methodology, and lessons learned from a major new UNESCO report entitled “Moving minds: Opportunities and challenges for virtual student mobility in a post-pandemic world,” which addresses how the incredible creativity and innovation shown in higher education during the Covid-19 can be harnessed and further developed so that student mobility becomes possible, not only physically but through virtual modalities. The aim of the research and accompanying report is to ensure that students can continue to benefit from intercultural exchanges through the use of technology. These new forms of learning would make student mobility possible not only face-to-face but also virtually.

The report is based on 14 case studies of virtual student mobility that have been implemented by 73 higher education institutions (HEIs) and through partnerships in 38 countries in all regions of the world. Based on the case studies, recommendations are offered to incorporate virtual student mobility as an additional form of student mobility, which can play a key role in reshaping the internationalization of higher education in the post-pandemic landscape. The report lays, the foundation for the future development of student mobility, moving beyond the traditional notion of people physically crossing borders and calling for the democratization of student mobility to overcome its exclusivity.

These practical recommendations are addressed to the different groups for whom virtual student mobility should be an important consideration: students themselves; those who develop and implement virtual student mobility (faculty members, staff of international relations offices); decision-makers (HEI leaders, HE alliances, governments); and funders (governments, NGOs).

Author

• Emma Sabzalieva, UNESCO IESALC