Virtual Internationalization: A Proposed Formula for Internationalizing Higher Education in Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Professor of Foundations of Education, Faculty of Education - Al-Azhar University, Cairo

Abstract

With the development of the e-labor market, digitization, and knowledge generation technologies as the basis of the global economy during the Fourth Industrial Revolution, modern information and communication technologies (ICTs) have become a crucial point for the irreversible spread of internationalization of education.  Although scientists have recently invented many concepts related to virtual internationalization, such as: virtual mobility, global online learning, virtual exchange, remote collaboration, and collaborative online international learning (COIL), These concepts have been commonly used to name aspects of the internationalization of on-campus education at the classroom or academic program level and have proven useful in promoting the idea of virtual forms of internationalization. However, several studies have indicated that no comprehensive model of virtual internationalization that can be applied in university education has been presented. On the other hand, many educational literatures indicated that Egyptian universities lack many of the basic components to cross to digital transformation and adapt to its developments, including the virtual internationalization of university education, as a response to the global challenges witnessed by higher education institutions, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the current worksheet sought to put forward four proposed formulae for applying virtual internationalization in Egyptian university education. Depending on this, the documentary descriptive approach was relied on, by referring to many educational research related to the field of virtual internationalization of university education. To address the conceptual framework for the emergence and development of virtual internationalization in higher education, with referring to some global efforts in the field of virtual internationalization, and to identify the most important justifications for its application in Egyptian university education, with many international models of proposed formulas for applying the virtual internationalization in Egyptian universities.

Keywords

References

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التربية (الأزهر): مجلة علمية محکمة للبحوث التربوية والنفسية والاجتماعية
Volume 41, Issue 196
عدد خاص (الجزء الثاني)
December 2022
Pages 511-532

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