Online Instruction and International Students: More Challenges for a Vulnerable Population

The internationalization of higher education has become one of the most pressing priorities for colleges and universities around the world. Internationalization has been realized primarily through international student mobility (ISM). International students have unique needs, expectations, and challenges in their host environments as many institutions lack the material and sociocultural resources to adequately support the rapidly growing number of international students. The purpose of this chapter is to critically explore the ways in which online instruction, driven by and conceptualized in light of the coronavirus pandemic, has potentially only further disadvantaged international students. This exploration focuses on the affordances of the traditional learning experience for international students in terms of knowledge development, language acquisition, identity construction, and professional growth. This chapter identifies important issues fundamental for international student success which must be considered ethically for a more sustainable and inclusive continuity of online instruction in higher education.