‘It's extremely weird to understand UK culture when you don't live there and just study from abroad’: An empirical investigation of internationalisation at a distance perspectives

Following the conceptualisation of a third space of internationalisation at a distance (IaD) in this study, we aim to explore how international students at the largest university in Europe, the Open University, might consider their own identities and perspectives. At present over 5000+ international students study at a distance at the Open University, whereby many are based in the UK. At the same time, hundreds of international students do not live in the UK and might be classified as IaD students. Whether or not there are any meaningful similarities or differences in lived experiences between these two groups of international students has thus far received limited empirical attention. Using a mixed-methods study of previously validated instruments, we explored the lived experiences of 266 students (72 IaD, 49 IA, 115 IaH, and 30 UK students living overseas), followed by eight interviews. Our quantitative analyses suggest limited empirical support for the IaD framework, while the qualitative lived experiences of students do provide some unique narratives of IaD students.

Practitioner notes

What is already known about this topic

• Global rise of students studying abroad, with an increase in students studying abroad at a distance.
• Recent conceptualisations of IaD suggest substantial barriers for IaD students to participate in distance learning.
• Limited empirical research to date available in European context.

What this paper adds

• In this mixed-method study, we looked at 266 students at the largest distance university in Europe and compared the lived experiences of academic and social adjustment between four groups (ie, living in the UK or not × born in the UK or born overseas).
• Our quantitative findings indicated that IaD students had similar lived experiences as other students when following distance learning.
• Our qualitative findings suggest some IaD students did experience adaption issues in particular.

Implications for practice and/or policy

• Fostering a greater sense of community and belonging among geographically dispersed IaD students might help to alleviate social isolation.
• Consider providing national-specific communities in online learning to build social support groups.
• Ensure that the distance learning format, learning design and content are inclusive of the wide range of international students the university serves.