Hybrid Mobility: The Future of Internationalization and Student Mobility in East Africa

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-036-7_11How to use a DOI?

Keywords

COVID-19 pandemic; Internationalization; higher education; Connectivism; East Africa

Abstract

Internationalization and student mobility are topical issues in higher education. Universities continue to invest in increasing inbound student mobility and how to produce globally competent graduates. However, only a small percentage of higher education students benefit from mobility. Further, the COVID-19 pandemic introduced several changes that constituted the responses to the challenges posed by this pandemic. The most prominent response was the change from the traditional modes of teaching to web-based ones. Considering such changes, the nature of student mobility during the post-pandemic period is not clear. With the limited technological development, it is not clear whether universities in the Global South will continue to exploit the COVID-19 responses for student mobility. This paper explores the possibilities of hybrid student mobility as an alternative to the traditional students’ physical mobility across national borders. Through a systematic literature review, the paper points out the benefits of adopting hybrid mobility and the limitations towards achieving the desired end. The paper is based on the Connectivism Learning Theory, which underscores the importance of technology in teaching and learning. With this theory, the authors argue that technology can be incorporated into the teaching and learning processes to make student mobility more inclusive.

Research Contribution: The paper explores alternative conceptualization of international student mobility (ISM) as opposed to the traditional physical cross border students’ movements. It advocates for inclusivity and the democratization of ISM, and reframes it for circumstances in which physical movement is restricted, as the case was during COVID-19 pandemic.

Copyright

© 2023 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Download article (PDF)

TY  - CONF
AU  - A. Tibelius
AU  - Y. El Kirat El Allame
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/05/16
TI  - Hybrid Mobility: The Future of Internationalization and Student Mobility in East Africa
BT  - Proceedings of the Erasmus Scientific Days 2022 (ESD 2022)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 117
EP  - 126
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-036-7_11
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-036-7_11
ID  - Tibelius2023
ER  -