Compassionate love: improving international student online learning through new literacies

Ongoing research shows that online teaching has become a popular source of learning at educational institutions. Evidence illustrates that many international students encounter challenges in their online classes. These difficulties are involved in communication with professors and peers, and their engagement with the coursework. This study extends the existing literature, as its focus is on how instructors can teach with love by integrating the modes of new literacies. International graduate students (N = 17) participated in this exploratory case study. This study suggests that instructors use the interactive online teaching (IOT) model, into which the modes of new literacies are incorporated, share love, and be socially present to respond to all their students' needs. The researcher recommends instructors build engagement in their online community using the “triple A” concept: be accessible, be accountable, and be adaptative. The findings provide guidelines for practitioners to enhance learning and exchange information with international students in online classes.