New guide helps university staff deliver digital equity across TNE partnerships

Digital is woven throughout the higher education student experience, including all modes of transnational education (TNE). However, digital infrastructure and technology use may differ between the host country and the place of delivery, leading to challenging digital experiences for students and staff alike.

As interest in UK TNE partnerships and overseas campuses continues to grow, it is becoming increasingly important to ensure digital equity across global learning environments.

Our new guide, enabling digital equity in transnational education, has been developed to support curriculum and operational teams in overseas branch campuses, collaborative partnerships and fully online TNE delivery models, with the practical daily delivery of TNE.

Register to download enabling digital equity in transnational education.

The guide helps users to:

• Spot and resolve digital access issues before they impact students and staff
• Build culturally sensitive practice into everyday work with international partners
• Reduce operational risk

Developed for those working in areas including, but not limited to, student experience and support, learning technology, IT services, library services, curriculum development, programme teams, international partnerships and quality and academic standards, the guide provides a handy checklist to support discussion, hone process and enhance delivery across six key themes:

• From strategy to delivery
• Digital access, licensing and infrastructure
• Learning, teaching and curriculum adaptation
• Student and staff digital experience, support and induction
• Staff digital capability, mobility and cross-cultural readiness
• The fundamentals for those considering or establishing a new TNE operation

Elizabeth Newall, our senior sector specialist in digital transformation, said:

"As with our delivering digital equity in transnational education companion guidance for university leaders published earlier this year, we have reframed our research-informed recommendations for the sector into a set of key actions for curriculum and operational teams to address the digital challenges associated with the effective delivery of TNE.

"Reviewed and enhanced by our core group of institutional research partners, we are confident that this checklist will be a valuable tool for all providers of TNE.”

Professor David Main, deputy vice-chancellor of the Royal Agricultural University, said:

"Jisc’s new guidance provides a structured mechanism to translate research findings into defined operational actions including partnership due diligence; programme approval; delivery models and review processes, rather than treating them as advisory guidance. It also enables us to develop repeatable institutional standards that support sustainable expansion and consistent student experience across locations.”

Our enabling digital equity in transnational education guide is based on two earlier pieces of research we conducted on the equitable delivery of TNE:

• Global education and technology: digital challenges associated with the effective delivery of transnational education (TNE) part one (pdf)
• Global education and technology: insights into transnational student and staff digital experiences part two (PDF)

Used in collaboration with our delivering digital equity in transnational education guidance for leaders, these resources support the equitable digital delivery of TNE from strategy through to implementation.

With thanks to our 2026 TNE research partners: Cardiff Metropolitan University; De Montfort University; Lancaster University; Northumbria University; Royal Agricultural University; University of Hertfordshire; University of Greenwich; University of Plymouth; and University of Reading.