Virtual internationalization in teacher education

Abstract

Collaborative online international learning (COIL) has emerged as a prominent strategy for internationalization at home, enabling students to engage in transnational academic experiences without physical mobility. While the international student mobility literature has traditionally focused on students who travel abroad, COIL expands the notion of international student experience to include virtual participants. This study examines the pedagogical implications of COIL for preservice teacher education through an eight-week integrated course delivered by two universities in Germany and Spain. Sixty students collaborated in 19 transnational project-based learning teams, using synchronous and asynchronous digital tools to co-develop pedagogical resources in English. Drawing on constructivist and social-constructivist theory and on the cultural intelligence framework, we assessed students' self-reported intercultural competences and satisfaction through pre, mid-, and postexperience surveys (n = 71). The findings indicate high overall satisfaction (82%) and a net promoter score of 81, together with meaningful gains in self-perceived intercultural communication (87%), adaptability in international contexts (87%), and awareness of global issues (74%). Ninety-two percent of the respondents expressed an intention to pursue further international and intercultural opportunities. The results support COIL as an equitable, scalable pathway to international academic experiences in teacher education, and they broaden the international-student research agenda to include virtual participants.