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Educational technologies have experienced unprecedented prominence on university agendas with many institutions motivated to keep the lessons learned from the COVID-19 sparked transition with regard to online teaching. In response to this renewed interest in ensuring the longevity of educational technologies in higher education, this systematic review analysed the various organisational factors--for example, leadership, infrastructure, strategy--considered essential in the literature for the successful implementation of educational technologies. Specifically, we reviewed 1614 papers published in five prominent educational technology journals in the last decade. From this sample, we identified 47 papers that discussed organisational factors. Drawing on these studies, we constructed an organisational framework, which outlines the different organisational factors, actors and processes involved in implementing educational technologies. The identified organisational factors are structured into three main categories: (1) Leadership and Strategy, (2) Infrastructure and Resources and (3) Recognition and Motivation. Our aim was to further the scholarly understanding of the organisational layer involved in digital change as well as provide concrete recommendations for practitioners.

A growing literature addresses the experiences of international students in higher education. However, limited attention has been paid to how satisfied international students are with their educational experience (gown) and their non-educational experiences related to, e.g. culture, transportation, administrative matters and housing (town). This paper presents findings from a study on 392 international students that have spent a period in one of the higher education institutions located in the city of Ghent, Belgium. We explore which socio-demographic variables and students' motivations predict their overall satisfaction and satisfaction regarding specific dimensions: housing, culture/lifestyle, education and administration. The findings illustrate that financial security and academic motivation positively predict general satisfaction as well as all or most of the four specific dimensions of satisfaction. Socio-demographic variables hardly play a role, apart from religion and the difference between the home and host country's level of educational development.

The proposition that international students are not only sojourners but future immigrants has become well established in public policy. While education and immigration policy have become more intertwined, they continue to be analysed as separate spheres of influence. This paper compares Australia, Canada, and Germany, which between them host nearly 20% of all globally mobile students and where a nexus between international student and immigration policy has emerged. Using critical discourse analysis, a comparative case study design and based on a systematic literature review of over 300 studies published from 1990 to 2018, the findings revealed three ostensibly paradoxical discourses, which are discussed using the new term 'discursive pairings'. First, international students are selected for success but remain vulnerable to policy shifts that may exclude them and cause them to 'fail'. Second, international students are retained to fill economic shortages, but face difficulties being accepted on the labour market. Third, international students help build national reputation yet have been known to be exploited and subject to discrimination. The contradictions that emerge in the discourses bring into question the 'ideal immigrant' framing of international students, demonstrating that their role, acceptance, and ability to integrate into host countries is far from assured.

Despite the positive outcomes often associated with internationalization, internal stakeholders do not always welcome the changes it brings. This reaction is echoed in the numerous studies highlighting the problematic relationships between international and local students and the critical to resistant reactions among faculty members. In response to these challenges, this study explores organizational storytelling as a method for communicating internationalization within universities. Organizational storytelling has been found to be a powerful tool for sensemaking, reducing resistance, and generating support during organizational change processes. This study follows how a university taskforce employed three story templates--the Principle Story, the Approval Story, and the Unexceptional Story--to communicate about and implement a large-scale internationalization project in a diverse and change resistant university environment. Although sharing similarities, these storylines were given different "spins" by storytellers depending on their position and the intended audience as well as influenced by the university culture.

The edtech community has promoted claims that digital education enhances access, learning, and collaboration. The COVID-19 pandemic tested these claims like never before, as higher education systems seemingly overnight had to move teaching online. Through a sequential mixed-method approach, we investigated how 85 higher education leaders in 24 countries experienced this rapid digital transformation. Through their experiences, we identified the multiple and overlapping factors that contribute to an institution's ability to realize the potential of digital education, in terms of access, learning and collaboration, whilst highlighting deeply rooted inequalities at the individual, institutional and system level. Drawing on these empirics, we put forth recommendations for closing the digital divides and pathways forward. Higher education leaders are uniquely positioned to move beyond the emergency adoption of online learning towards inclusive, long-term visions for digital education, which emphasize collaboration over individual gain.

Academics are increasingly seeking employment abroad. Despite their growing number, there is limited research on how academics secure positions at foreign universities. The literature does indicate however, that academic hiring is not a standardised meritocratic process, but influenced by academic tradition and social capital. Drawing on this perspective, this study explores the role social capital plays among international and local hires at two universities (located in the U.S. and Flanders), that exhibited contrasting approaches towards recruiting foreign talent. At the U.S. university, social capital was used to "counterbalance" lacking elements in a candidate's curriculum vitae related to their professional experience. At the Flemish university, social capital was used to signal a candidate's "compatibility" with the ethos of the hiring university or system. The study demonstrates that the role social capital plays is not exclusively determined by nationality but linked to an academic's professional background which signals their insider/outsider status in the system of their employment.

A doctorate degree is characterized in the literature as a time of high stress and uncertainty for students as well as subject to worrisome attrition rates, with an estimated 50% of doctoral students discontinuing their degrees. International doctoral students (IDSs) specifically face the additional challenges of adapting to new academic environments and cultures upon embarking on their doctoral journey. While existing research provides us with insight into the general challenges associated with the international doctoral experience, we have limited understanding of how these challenges contribute to their dropout. Drawing on life story interviews, this study qualitatively investigates the attrition experiences of IDSs at a Western European university. To analyze IDSs' discontinuation stories, we employ the concept of Othering. This concept draws our attention to students' perceptions of being marked as different by those in positions of power or privilege. We identify four types of Othering, where students were cast the Foreign, Academic, Financial, and/or Social Others and the role these played in their discontinuation. Findings suggest that Foreign Othering shadowed and reinforced additional Othering experiences; the IDSs lacked familiarity with the academic system, culture, and language which made them more vulnerable to acute academic challenges, financial hardship, and social exclusion. Based on these findings, we provide recommendations for a more barrier-free and inclusive doctoral experience.

Educational technologies have experienced unprecedented prominence on university agendas with many institutions motivated to keep the lessons learned from the COVID‐19 sparked transition with regard to online teaching. In response to this renewed interest in ensuring the longevity of educational technologies in higher education, this systematic review analysed the various organisational factors—for example, leadership, infrastructure, strategy—considered essential in the literature for the successful implementation of educational technologies. Specifically, we reviewed 1614 papers published in five prominent educational technology journals in the last decade. From this sample, we identified 47 papers that discussed organisational factors. Drawing on these studies, we constructed an organisational framework, which outlines the different organisational factors, actors and processes involved in implementing educational technologies. The identified organisational factors are structured into three main categories: (1) Leadership and Strategy, (2) Infrastructure and Resources and (3) Recognition and Motivation. Our aim was to further the scholarly understanding of the organisational layer involved in digital change as well as provide concrete recommendations for practitioners. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Previous research has stressed the importance of taking organisational factors such as infrastructure, leadership, strategy and staff commitment into account when implementing educational technologies.However, review papers have failed to systematically organise these studies to create a comprehensive understanding of the organisational factors involved in implementing educational technologies and ensuring their longevity at an institution.There is currently a high level of interest in how educational technologies can be implemented in the higher education landscape, as many institutions are facing the question of what lessons they can learn from the crisis and how they can continue on their path of digitalisation.What this paper addsThis review paper addresses a gap in our scholarly understanding of the organisational layers involved in the implementation of educational technologies in higher education institutions (HEIs).This paper provides a framework on organisational factors, which influence the implementation of educational technologies in HEIs.This review paper demonstrates that bottom‐up and opinion leadership, support structures tailored to the need and time of faculty as well as recognition and incentives have the largest impact on a sustainable implementation of educational technologies in HEIs.Implications for practice and/or policyUniversities should create structures that enable innovation and creativity by promoting bottom‐up and opinion leadership as well as shared decision‐making processes as they are important for the successful implementation of educational technologies in HEIs.Besides providing a reliable and suitable infrastructure, institutional support and resources in terms of technical advice and training tailored to specific needs, should be in place when planning the implementation of educational technologies in HEIs.The additional workload instructors face when implementing digital teaching should be recognised and incentivised as it strengthens instructor engagement which is crucial for the implementation of educational technologies in HEIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing literature addresses the experiences of international students in higher education. However, limited attention has been paid to how satisfied international students are with their educational experience (gown) and their non-educational experiences related to, e.g. culture, transportation, administrative matters and housing (town). This paper presents findings from a study on 392 international students that have spent a period in one of the higher education institutions located in the city of Ghent, Belgium. We explore which socio-demographic variables and students' motivations predict their overall satisfaction and satisfaction regarding specific dimensions: housing, culture/lifestyle, education and administration. The findings illustrate that financial security and academic motivation positively predict general satisfaction as well as all or most of the four specific dimensions of satisfaction. Socio-demographic variables hardly play a role, apart from religion and the difference between the home and host country's level of educational development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Despite the positive outcomes often associated with internationalization, internal stakeholders do not always welcome the changes it brings. This reaction is echoed in the numerous studies highlighting the problematic relationships between international and local students and the critical to resistant reactions among faculty members. In response to these challenges, this study explores organizational storytelling as a method for communicating internationalization within universities. Organizational storytelling has been found to be a powerful tool for sensemaking, reducing resistance, and generating support during organizational change processes. This study follows how a university taskforce employed three story templates—the Principle Story, the Approval Story, and the Unexceptional Story—to communicate about and implement a large-scale internationalization project in a diverse and change resistant university environment. Although sharing similarities, these storylines were given different "spins" by storytellers depending on their position and the intended audience as well as influenced by the university culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]