The Future of Higher Education: The Effects of Covid-19 on Teaching, Research and Internationalization

Covid-19, which emerged in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019 and has turned into a pandemic in a short time, has brought many social problems. It is clear that it will also have some short and long term effects in the field of higher education. Based on the recent publications, the current study aims to discuss what these effects will be in different dimensions of higher education. However, due to the difficulties of covering so many different pandemic-related developments within a single study, the current study focuses more on the effects of the Covid-19 process on teaching, research and internationalization in higher education. Based on the recent discussions on these focal themes, recommendations are made specifically for the Turkish higher education system.

Virtual Internationalization to Support Comprehensive Internationalization in Higher Education

The study develops and presents a concept of Virtual Internationalization (VI) in higher education, which refers to internationalization implemented using information and communications technology (ICT). VI is contextualized with the inclusiveness of international experiences and with external challenges to internationalization (posed, for example, by the Covid-19 pandemic). Conceived as an institution-spanning concept, VI is developed from the ACE-CIGE model of Comprehensive Internationalization. It is inferred from actual practice based on a content analysis of conference abstracts from relevant fields, employing coding and computer-assisted text analysis (CATA). Based on the findings, the VI concept includes strategies and articulated institutional commitment as a transversal category and online and distance education (ODE) as an additional category in contrast to the concept of Comprehensive Internationalization. This research furthermore considers two dimensions of VI: one that is directly internationalization-related and the other concerned with broader aims of the combination of the virtual and the international. It concludes with a perspective on a “new normal” of hybrid internationalization in higher education.

Socialization Towards Internationalization

Although students are the main recipients of internationalization in higher education (IHE), research on IHE mainly focuses on particular nations or educational institutions rather than the individual. Perceptions of university students towards internationalization, particularly what may impact their preparedness for and critical awareness of internationalization are largely lacking. This study explores in what ways students’ diverse socialization or experiences of socializing with different stakeholder’s impact their preparedness for and awareness of increasing internationalization in higher education institutions. The study utilizes data from a survey conducted with 511 students at two Chinese universities. The study found that students with diverse socialization backgrounds are more likely to develop a critical awareness of the social impact of internationalization, and that they believe internationalization enables them to learn from others, to develop capacities to analyze global issues, to develop skills to work with cultural others, and to make ethical decisions on social issues.

Die Internationalisierung der Hochschulen und der Umgang mit Mehrsprachigkeit in Studium und Lehre

Due to internationalization in higher education, English is gaining in importance as the language of teaching and learning (LoTL) in European institutions of higher education. Against this background, the question arises of how English can be used for teaching and learning without disadvantaging researchers, teachers and students by forcing them to use a second or foreign language for their cognitive-academic development and, at the same time, neglecting to assist them in developing individual translingual practices from which they could benefit. This article outlines the repertoire of translingual competencies and practices that have been observed in plurilinguals. For these competencies and practices, a range of terms has been coined, such as translanguaging, co-languaging, code-mixing and code-meshing, some of which are vague or overlap and therefore will be clarified in this article. In addition, a translation-studies perspective will be introduced into the current discourse on translingual practices. Based on this clarification, didactical measures will be outlined by means of which “English-plus multilingualism” (van der Walt 2013: 12) can be fostered in higher education on the part of both teachers and students.

Internationalization of Higher Education: A Stakeholder Approach

<span lang="EN-IN">Internationalization in higher education has been catching up as a trend receiving attention more recently than before. Academia, institutions, scholars, parents, host nations, and home countries all constitute a vicious circle of stakeholders who play a role in internationalization. Each of them has something to take and something to give, and all of them stand to benefit from it. Internationalization is achieved through various means. By opening up their border for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in higher education, countries navigate their opportunities to connect with foreign universities. However, this is limited by political decisions. Moreover, all of what constitutes a learning environment cannot be cloned and eventually miss out on the real experience that you get there. The alternative is to further the educational ‘migration’, cost and affordability notwithstanding. In both the former and the latter, the stakeholders are key instruments in the process. Therefore, any attempt to study internationalization should take into account a stakeholder perspective to examine the advantages and benefits which might accrue to them, more so the constraints and disadvantages. This would necessitate a systemic analysis of both types of supporting systems that favour internationalization. This paper aims to narrate a stakeholder perspective. An attempt is made to examine the key stakeholder issues and critical constituent elements that need to be addressed to facilitate internationalization. Internationalization as a global ranking parameter for educational institutions and its relation with gross enrolment ratio (GER) is also discussed.</span>

Reimagining Internationalization in Higher Education Through the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for the Betterment of Society

Higher education institutions (HEIs) play a critical role in creating and distributing the knowledge required to tackle the complex global challenges faced by society today. This role is frequently linked with the concept of the internationalization of higher education, but this concept in practice is also subject to criticism. This article argues that integrating the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs) into the teaching and learning functions, partnerships, research, and discovery functions of institutions has the potential to transform institutions and improve society through internationalization. In this article, the ideological and practical intersections of internationalization and the SDGs are discussed. Examples of initiatives around the world that have shaped societal discourse through the lens of internationalization and sustainable development are reviewed. The authors posit that integration of both concepts would enable HEIs to rise up to the global challenge of creating a better world for all.

Diversity and Inclusion in Global Higher Education

Amid internationalization in higher education, modern classrooms have become diversified, which provides both opportunities and challenges for educators and institutions. In response to changing trends and transformative developments in Asian higher education, the editors of Diversity and Inclusion in Global Higher Education: Lessons from Across Asia argue that classroom diversity can deepen students’ learning potential when adequately harnessed and matched with inclusive pedagogy. This edited volume of contributions provides rich insights and practical strategies for cultivating diversity and inclusion in diverse settings in Asia and beyond.

Overcoming the White Knight Complex: Social License and Internationalization for Society

The article investigates the concept of internationalization in higher education for society (IHES) and discusses the role of social license to internationalize, its contextual variations, and implications for internationalization practices in New Zealand and Indonesia. The notion of social license to operate is common in the extraction and some service industries; however, the concept of social license to internationalize constitutes an innovative direction for research concerned with IHES and the global international education industry. Social license to internationalize emerged as a pivotal feature of internationalization practices in New Zealand and Indonesia. It reflected the public recognition of IHES, manifested in the cultural and social value of internationalization. The construction of social license to internationalize presented itself as a strategic priority for the governments and higher education institutions (HEIs) in both research settings. The conceptual underpinnings of social license to internationalize, and hence the means of constructing the latter varied depending on the local context, but they served a common purpose of reification of internationalization practices. The study of social license to internationalize contributes to a broader discussion on IHES and sheds lights on the mechanisms of building meaningful and mutually beneficial connections between the stakeholders of the global international education industry and the wider public.