Academic Mobility of Students in the Conditions of Digitalisation of Higher Education

The article considers the issue of virtual international academic mobility as one of the priority areas of international activities of higher education institutions. It is substantiated that the intensive development of information and communication technologies (knowledge mobility) and informatisation of public life led to the spread and use of virtual educational environments and e-learning in higher education, which became the basis for the development of virtual academic mobility of students. The purpose of the study is to study the existing approaches and practices of academic mobility, including virtual, to determine the main benefits and opportunities for disseminating this experience at all levels of higher education in Ukraine. The research methodology consists of general theoretical and empirical research methods. A review of modern scientific literature, periodicals, and scientific and methodological sources on the problem of academic mobility and the digitalisation of higher education is made. Their analysis, structuring, interpretation and construction of logical conclusions are highlighted. The article considers the content of the main scientific approaches to the definition of “academic mobility”. The characteristic of academic mobility in the conditions of digitalisation of higher education is given. Varieties of academic mobility in modern conditions of digitalisation of higher education (physical, virtual, mixed) are considered. The subjects of virtual academic mobility (virtual student, virtual teacher, virtual university, virtual campus) are outlined. The main advantages and disadvantages of such virtual academic mobility of students are identified. The main methodological recommendations of European funds and associations are analysed, based on which the project preparation plan for any virtual mobility type is developed. It is proposed to carry out additional measures that ensure the quantitative growth of academic (virtual) mobility and improve its quality. The necessity of searching for new forms of remote exchanges, analysis of the experience of foreign associations and their adaptation according to the realities of the system of higher education in Ukraine is substantiated: the active involvement of the student’s audience in programmes of virtual cooperation; increasing the necessary competencies of the administrative and teaching staff of higher education institutions, which allow implementing such virtual projects using innovative information technology tools; preparation of the regulatory framework that enshrines the right to implement virtual academic mobility along with the full-time form and recognition of its results by recalculating educational loans.