Abstract:

Since dawn of the global knowledge economy and the introduction of Education as a tradable service under the General Agreement on Trade in Services, international higher education market has become immensely competitive. Europe is the preferred destination of international students (41%)(OECD 2012). According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (2013), in 2011/12, 12.1% of the higher education students in the UK were international students (non-EU). The top five home countries for international students in the UK are: China, India, Nigeria, the US and Malaysia. But the majority of these students (62%) were from Asia, mainly from China and India (developing countries).
There are few studies focusing on international students’ experiences with eLearning. These studies seem to concentrate on eLearning experiences of students with East Asian origins (Ku & Lohr 2003; Huang 2005; Thompson & Ku 2005; Wu & Hammond 2011), possibly because they form the large majority of the international student community. There are very few studies (if at all) on African and other Asian international students’ eLearning experiences, especially in the UK.
This paper discusses the need to conduct research on the eLearning experiences of international students, especially from developing countries. Coupled with language and cultural barriers, the possible lack of opportunities to access and engage with digital technologies (compared to students from developed countries) presents them with a greater challenge in negotiating learning in a foreign country.
This understanding will help develop policies and practices in higher education institutions to support learners from developing countries. This will not benefit international students (studying in a foreign country) but also learners who wish to engage in Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs), a hugely popular development in online higher education with UK Open University’s Futurelearn being the first massive initiative in Europe.

References:
Higher Education Statistics Agency. (2013). Press release 184 - Non-UK domicile students, Retrieved February 26, 2013 from http://www.hesa.ac.uk/content/view/2663/393/
Huang, R. (2005). Chinese International Students' Perception of the Problem-Based Learning Experience, Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education, 4(2), 36-43.
Ku, H. ,& Lohr, L.L (2003). A Case Study of Chinese Students’ Attitudes Toward Their First Online Learning Experience, Educational Technology Research and Development, 51(3), 95-102.
OECD. (2012). Education at a Glance 2012: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing. Retrieved February 27, 2013 from http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2012-en
Thompson , L., & Ku, H. (2005). Chinese graduate students' experiences and attitudes toward online learning, Educational Media International, 42(1), 33-47
Wu, W., & Hammond, M. (2011). Challenges of university adjustment in the UK : a study of East Asian Master’s degree students, Journal of Further and Higher Education, 35 (3), 423-438.

Keywords:

Experiences in education, e-learning, international students.