Defining the Challenges of International Education (Transnational Education)
The initial TNE planning meeting took place at the Internet2 Global Summit in Washington DC, USA.
Defining the Challenges of International Education workshop will be dedicated for defining the key challenges for four specific audiences, from the perspectives of 'sending' NRENs, recipient NRENs, emerging NRENs and University staff.
During this meeting, the community prepared for the first SIG-TNE meeting, to take place in May 2017.
Introduction - TNE and objectives for meeting
Esther Wilkinson, Jisc
Work is being funded by GÉANT - international effort
Discussed before at various meetings - will move it further more proactively with SIG-TNE established
Transnational education: TNE is the provision of education for students based in a country other than the one in which the awarding institution is located
TNE is continuously growing, changes in the area due to political changes (for example, less incoming students in the UK and USA)
Student mobility in both directions - sending and receiving
Training, developing skills, analytics
Ensuring high quality services and good student experience - access to the same e-learning materials and services
Introduction - CERNET's perspective
William Wan, CERNET
Almost 2000 TNE projects are currently happening in China, around 350 universities involved
Various types of TNE activities, including Campus Site (Nottingham, DKU, NYU), Campus-in-Campus, Office-only
New trend - Chinese universities opening campuses abroad (for example Cambridge)
Group discussions
The participants were split into 4 groups to discuss their specific requirements, depending on their situation:
- Sending NREN
- Receiving/host NREN
- NREN developing TNE support
- Education establishment (university, college)
The questions for the discussions:
- What are the main barriers and challenges for you now? In the future (both in terms of technology and strategic)?
- What do you need to know from the other three audiences to help you?
- What do you need to know now?
- What issues would you like GÉANT SIG-TNE to address?
- What supporting materials would be helpful for you (toolkits, case studies, etc)
Group discussions feedback
| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
Licensing for resources - institution in one country have a license, but does that mean that it can be used by Interoperability issues - IpV6 and other technological mismatches International relations - national NRENs are sovereign and regional networks provide connectivity - what engagement is there locally that could support the local environment; being a responsible local partner | People working in NRENs do not know the establishments in other countries - need to get the right information from NRENs; the sending NRENs should provide the critical accurate information (something that SIG-TNE could facilitate) Small establishments - administrative overhead would be huge, collaboration can save time and money Political barriers in different countries - i.e. government restrictions in China Identity management - authorisation issues; to be authorised the user in some cases need to be physically in the country Language/culture differences
| Knowing who is out there - which institutions we need to serve? Who has the demand for a remote campus? Institutes from abroad might not be allowed to settle in a country (i.e. Hungary) Connection policies differ - some countries do not allow connecting institutions that are not finances by the government Networks built for science purposes and not educational institutions (African example) Language, culture, working, etc. | Libraries: software or books licenses Connectivity local issues Institutions might not use the right peering policy and use commercial connections Communications - time zone differences, language barriers - additional time is needed to get anything sorted Sending hardware equipment across the board Defining relationship - whether there is any hierarchy in the relationship |
Wrap up and next steps
Two main issues - data collection and licensing
GÉANT and Jisc currently support :
- Developing interactive global connectivity map
- Jisc TNE toolkit for education institutions
- Case studies
- Developing online registration form (collecting info from home institutions)
- Support for overseas licensing