Virtual exchange (VE) is an educational practice that involves the engagement of groups
of learners in extended periods of online intercultural interaction and collaboration
with international peers as an integrated part of their educational programs and under
the guidance of educators and/or facilitators. Despite more than 20 years of research
and recent large-scale initiatives such as Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange, this approach
remains relatively unknown and often misunderstood in international education.
Based on the qualitative and quantitative data of an Erasmus+ KA3 European Policy
Experiment, which brought together practitioners, researchers, and ministerial policy
makers from five European countries and autonomous regions, this article examines
the challenges involved in implanting and upscaling an innovative practice such as
VE in university internationalization practices. A case study from a Spanish regional
autonomy, which took part in the project, is used to highlight barriers to take-up
and integration at classroom, institutional, and policy levels. The data also provide a
clear illustration of how an international practice such as VE can gain recognition and
support though the coordination of bottom-up and top-down initiatives.
