ND Learning News |
Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL)
Collaborative Online International Learning, or COIL, is a specific model of virtual exchange practiced in hundreds of universities worldwide. When COIL is integrated into a course, professors from two (or more) higher education institutions located in different countries collaborate to co-design and co-teach a joint project or module that includes mixed small groups of students working together to complete assignments. In addition to content knowledge related to the course, COIL provides the opportunity to develop intercultural, problem-solving, and digital competencies.
Through Notre Dame Learning and Notre Dame Global, the University provides centralized support for instructors to engage in COIL with colleagues at other institutions. Pursuing a COIL project at Notre Dame involves:
- Partnering with an international colleague or colleagues
- Meeting with colleagues from ND Learning and ND Global to support your partnership
- Codesigning a COIL component to integrate into each institution’s existing course
- Assigning students a shared project (i.e., the COIL component) to work on in small groups (mixed groups from both institutions)
- Evaluating students’ overall content knowledge, intercultural competencies, and collaborative skills as a result of the course’s COIL component
If you are interested in initiating a COIL project, please contact us.
For further information, you are welcome to contact the COIL co-coordinators:
Carrie Anne Thomas
Associate Director of Global Education, Notre Dame Global
cthoma33@nd.edu
Brianna Stines
Senior Learning Designer, ND Learning’s Office of Digital Learning
bstines@nd.edu