Lemmens The Virtual Challenge to International Cooperation in Higher Education Bernd Wächter (ed.) Aca papers on International Cooperation in Education The V irtual Challenge to International Cooperation in Higher Education

The possibilities and benefits of virtual options from the point of view
of internationalising the curriculum 
Finally, I would like to address, on the basis of my own research, what I see
as the main possibilities and benefits of virtual mobility in the context of inter-
nationalised curricula and learning experiences (Van der Wende, 2000).
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The introduction of information and communication technology, in particular
the use of the WWW, opens numerous possibilities for internationalising
higher education. These opportunities can be viewed from different perspec-
tives (Collis, 1998).
From the 
student perspective they relate to:
l
Enhancing physical mobility: improved preparation for international mobi-
lity, improved contact with the home institution while away, and improved
contact between supervisors in the host and home institution;
l
Enhanced access to remote learning: improved chances to participate in
international learning activities, with students and teachers from foreign
institutions, while staying (completely or partially) at home.
From the 
staff perspective they relate to:
l
Improved opportunities for enriching teaching and mentoring impact;
l
Improved opportunities for research and professional interaction with
international colleagues.
From the
institutional perspective they are linked to:
l
Increased opportunities for the intake of international students and
increased need to adjust services to the needs of these new cohorts;
l
Increased opportunities for international consortia, networking and other
collaborative initiatives;
l
Reduced costs and time demands relating to international travel for aca-
demic staff;
l
Increased efficiency in information dissemination, with respect to one’s
own institution and in information access about programmes elsewhere.
With regard to internationalising the curriculum, it seems that the main
strength of ICT in this area is that it allows the richest settings for internatio-
nal learning to become available for all students, including those who stay at
their home institution. These settings can be described as the combination of
international content, taught and learned in an international classroom,
bringing together staff and students from different international backgrounds,
with an emphasis on interactive and collaborative learning processes, which
support the acquisition of a range of skills. Moreover, it provides an un-
equalled richness of resources: experts, libraries, databases from around the
world, which can be directly consulted and used in the learning process.
Various examples of good practice were developed in the context of Euro-
pean projects (e.g. the Open to Europe Project, EUROPACE 2000, etc.).