Internationalisation at Home through Critical Virtual Exchange

Abstract Virtual Exchange (VE) refers to structured online collaborative learning between geographically and/or culturally diverse groups of students, aimed at fostering intercultural dialogue through digitally mediated project work. VE is a research-informed practice and serves as a valuable tool in advancing Internationalisation at Home (IaH) in Higher Education (HE), integrating intercultural dimensions into curricula, and expanding opportunities for global learning beyond physical mobility. However, despite its potential, we argue that VE is not inherently inclusive or equitable, as it is influenced by Western hegemonies and inequalities in access to technology, socio-economic and socio-political factors, and often also institutional constraints. Critical Virtual Exchange (CVE) has emerged in response to these concerns, focusing on addressing epistemic injustices, promoting inclusive participation, and aligning educational practices with global challenges, such as the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). CVE emphasises equitable access to technology, prioritises the needs of underrepresented students, and encourages the systematic integration of local contexts into global learning projects. CVE also advocates for translanguaging, thus promoting multilingualism and multimodal communication as essential components of intercultural exchanges. This article draws on Hauck’s CVE framework ( Hauck, 2023 ; Hauck, 2025 ) and presents and interrogates the tenets of CVE. We use VE project examples from the Global South that “gesture towards” CVE involving HE institutions from Angola, Brazil, and Mexico to illustrate new opportunities in VE when focusing on equitable exchange student project work. Our predominantly conceptual contribution highlights the importance of VE project design that prioritises social justice, addresses power imbalances, and fosters socio-politically relevant intercultural dialogue, i.e., CVE, that can contribute to the decolonisation of HE in the shape of critical IaH.