Liliana Patricia Álvarez Ruíz

The virtual exchange seeks to create spaces for cultural, research, and language interactions, among others, between groups of students and teachers based in different countries. In higher education, it is used as an institutional strategy to provide students with competencies and create learning communities. In order to characterize the student´s virtual exchange methods carried out within the higher education institutions attached to the Caribbean Node of the Colombian Network for Internationalization of Higher Education (RCI), a descriptive quantitative study was conducted, where 26 member institutions were surveyed, of which 24 carry out virtual exchange actions. Virtual exchange types for students such as academic exchange, internships for research purposes, internships in companies, and collaborative online learning schemes stand out. The main country partners for these activities are Mexico, Argentina, and Peru. There are implementation challenges such as teacher training and student’s monitoring and reaching of learning outcomes. Also, a good infrastructure, connectivity, skilled teachers in technical and pedagogical aspects and the creation of institutional procedures for these interactions play an important role in the success of the virtual exchange.