Virtual exchange (VE) is an educational practice that involves the engagement of groups of learners in extended periods of online intercultural interaction and collaboration with international peers as an integrated part of their educational programs and under the guidance of educators and/or facilitators. Despite more than 20 years of research and recent large-scale initiatives such as Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange, this approach remains relatively unknown and often misunderstood in international education. Based on the qualitative and quantitative data of an Erasmus+ KA3 European Policy Experiment, which brought together practitioners, researchers, and ministerial policy makers from five European countries and autonomous regions, this article examines the challenges involved in implanting and upscaling an innovative practice such as VE in university internationalization practices. A case study from a Spanish regional autonomy, which took part in the project, is used to highlight barriers to take-up and integration at classroom, institutional, and policy levels. The data also provide a clear illustration of how an international practice such as VE can gain recognition and support though the coordination of bottom-up and top-down initiatives.

虚拟交流（VE）是一种教育实践，涉及学习者团体在较长时间的网络跨文化互动中与国际同伴合作，作为他们教育计划的组成部分，并在教育者和/或促进者的指导下进行参与。尽管进行了20多年的研究，并且最近进行了诸如Erasmus + Virtual Exchange这样的大规模计划，但这种方法仍然相对未知，在国际教育中常常被误解。基于Erasmus + KA3欧洲政策实验的定性和定量数据该论坛汇集了来自五个欧洲国家和自治区的从业人员，研究人员和部长级政策制定者，本文探讨了在大学国际化实践中植入和提升VE等创新实践所面临的挑战。来自该项目的西班牙区域自治组织的案例研究被用来突显在教室，机构和政策层面上接受和整合的障碍。数据还清楚地说明了通过自下而上和自上而下的举措的协调，VE等国际惯例如何获得认可和支持。