The Future of Education

Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) uses technology to connect students and staff in different countries and is a rapidly developing format of internationalisation at home. COIL offers students an international learning experience through virtual collaboration.

It is imperative that we expand opportunities like this for students to interact and collaborate globally. As global companies continue to emply a diverse workforce, intercultural online interactions are becoming part of the job market and its demands. Students in online environments are learning not only the content of the course(s) they are enrolled in, but also how to work as part of an international team. Collaborating across cultures, being open to other ways of knowing, being and doing, and being flexible and adaptable are all skills that students learn about and work to refine in COIL courses, and which are vital to thriving in our globalised society.

In this presentation, I'll discuss the WHAT and HOW of COIL projects: what are the students really learning? How do we encourage learning? What do students get out of it? Data on student  experiences with virtual collaboration, which has been collected over the course of a year, will be shared, providing insight into the acquired employability skills.