International Education and ICT During and Post-COVID-19: Japan's Experiences and Perspectives

Abstract

In Japan, virtual exchange and mobility are regarded as an emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic and as alternatives to international learning through physical mobility. International educators express concerns that online international learning methods may fade away after physical student mobility resumes on a larger scale. However, it is crucial for universities to leverage newly developed online learning tools after the pandemic in order to offer inclusive international education which reaches the larger student pool who are unable to study abroad. Now is the time to reflect on how international education policy and practice have relied excessively on cross-border student mobility. In turn, it will be important to position ICT-based educational practices as an opportunity to create new value and meaning for international education in an environmentally friendly and low-cost manner in the new normal world. Also, in Japan, internationalization at home was not addressed to any great extent before the pandemic. However, there is an increasing awareness that ICT-based international education can effectively contribute to the expansion of internationalization at home. Adapting to the new normal situation requires a new modality of internationalization, and it will have a significant impact on the attractiveness of higher education in the country.

Citation

Ota, H., Shimmi, Y. and Hoshino, A. (2023), "International Education and ICT During and Post-COVID-19: Japan's Experiences and Perspectives", Wiseman, A.W., Matherly, C. and Crumley-Effinger, M. (Ed.) Internationalization and Imprints of the Pandemic on Higher Education Worldwide (International Perspectives on Education and Society, Vol. 44), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 229-248. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-367920230000044014