What is a collaborative online international learning or COIL course? According to COIL Consulting, COIL courses link “the classrooms of two or more higher education institutions, each located in a different country or cultural setting” (COIL Consulting). They are “technology-enabled, sustained, people-to-people education programs…[that] are distinctive in their use of new media platforms to enable deep, interactive, social learning” (Virtual Exchange Coalition). It is important to note, however, that COIL courses do not just provide an online classroom where students from different countries or cultures share space and listen to a professor lecture. Instead, the faculty members from the partner institutions must cooperate in the development of a shared syllabus or course module that emphasizes and facilitates “experiential and collaborative learning” (COIL Consulting).
By employing the most up-to-date technology, ACC can provide access to cost-effective and time-efficient cross-cultural engagement opportunities to a larger number of ACC students, allowing them to develop much needed intercultural competencies and potentially increase their post-graduation employability and earning potential.
If you are interested in learning more or developing a COIL course in partnership with an overseas institution, please contact Sharon Miller, Interim Director of International Programs at [email protected] or 512-223-7296.
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