Rights statement: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Distance Education on 01/05/2019, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01587919.2019.1600363
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Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Four narratives about online international students
T2 - A critical literature review
AU - Lee, Kyungmee
AU - Bligh, Brett
N1 - This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Distance Education on 01/05/2019, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01587919.2019.1600363
PY - 2019/5/10
Y1 - 2019/5/10
N2 - In the current higher education context, where there is a growing economic imperative for universities to recruit more international students, offering online programmes is seen as an effective international recruitment strategy. However, supporting online international students studying at a distance is not a simple task for both universities and tutors. The problem mainly stems from a lack of theoretical understanding of the actual ways, in which online international students experience and engage with online learning. The present article, therefore, aims to address a gap in our current understanding of online international students, by systematically, yet critically reviewing relevant academic narratives about who online international students are. Our review reveals four types of narratives presented in the published academic literature, describing and discussing online international students in particular ways such as: i) unspecified others with a rapid increase in their numbers; ii) specific others with deficits; iii) specific others as pedagogical resources; and iv) active participants in international learning communities. We discuss both the merits and the drawbacks of each type of narratives for online educators seeking pedagogical suggestions about supporting online international students in their real-life teaching contexts.
AB - In the current higher education context, where there is a growing economic imperative for universities to recruit more international students, offering online programmes is seen as an effective international recruitment strategy. However, supporting online international students studying at a distance is not a simple task for both universities and tutors. The problem mainly stems from a lack of theoretical understanding of the actual ways, in which online international students experience and engage with online learning. The present article, therefore, aims to address a gap in our current understanding of online international students, by systematically, yet critically reviewing relevant academic narratives about who online international students are. Our review reveals four types of narratives presented in the published academic literature, describing and discussing online international students in particular ways such as: i) unspecified others with a rapid increase in their numbers; ii) specific others with deficits; iii) specific others as pedagogical resources; and iv) active participants in international learning communities. We discuss both the merits and the drawbacks of each type of narratives for online educators seeking pedagogical suggestions about supporting online international students in their real-life teaching contexts.
KW - Critical literature review
KW - international education
KW - international student
KW - non-western student
KW - online international student
KW - online higher education
U2 - 10.1080/01587919.2019.1600363
DO - 10.1080/01587919.2019.1600363
M3 - Journal article
VL - 40
SP - 153
EP - 169
JO - Distance Education
JF - Distance Education
SN - 0158-7919
IS - 2
ER -