Collaborative Online International Learning

 

COIL Overview

Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) is a Virtual Exchange between students and professors from different disciplines, countries, and often continents that embark in a journey through which they develop or refine intercultural communication and critical thinking skills while also adopting creative problem-solving techniques across cultures and languages. With the goal of working on projects that link course material with current issues, these 21st century global collaborators and thinkers travel abroad virtually through their Global Classrooms, an experience that will shape their present and future. During a COIL journey, students and professors learn how to appreciate and respect diversity while becoming more equitable and inclusive in their everyday interactions both within the university setting and outside the classroom. 

Through a well-defined pedagogy and innovative online technologies, COIL delivers global learning and intercultural experiences in the classroom. At Farmingdale State College, we collaborate with the SUNY COIL Center in order to prepare faculty and students for their journey.

However, the Global Classroom is more than merely academic content: it comprehends life in its multiple, interconnected, and global spheres that makes us feel part of the world, erasing distances and forging relationships that extend beyond the end of a course. In the words of a Farmingdale student applying for Medical School a couple of years after her COIL experience: “Actually, I am still in contact with some group members via Instagram; so, I believe it is a worthwhile collaboration 1000%! Even during the pandemic, the COIL project not only held sentimental value to students bonding over the Covid trauma, but expanded our networking opportunities during a big period of isolation.”