Transformation of international university education through digitalisation during/after the COVID-19 pandemic: Challenges in online international learning in Japanese universities

Abstract

Based on a country case study of Japan, which experienced a sudden suspension of physical student mobility across borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this chapter discusses the transformation and countermeasures regarding the internationalisation of higher education. The authors mainly focus on intercultural collaborative learning and collaborative international online learning primarily based on in-person classes and online class settings, respectively, as different approaches to internationalising the learning experiences of their students at two universities in Japan. Through the rapid progress in digital transformation during the pandemic, these two universities redesigned their approaches to international learning into a strategic combination of in-person and virtual collaborative learning between domestic and international students. Finally, the authors discuss the opportunities and threats of intranational university education under the new reality of digital transformation in higher education.