What is a COIL and what purpose does it serve

If you’ve spent time in international education circles recently, chances are you’ve come across the acronym COIL — short for Collaborative Online International Learning. At first glance, it may sound like yet another virtual learning format, some residue from the pandemic. But dig a little deeper, and the COIL model reveals itself as a thoughtful approach to global collaboration in higher education.

In this post, I want to unpack what COIL actually involves (and what it’s not) and what its purposes are – as I am piloting a COIL for the first time this semester (finally, after getting the accreditation to organize a COIL years ago).

So, what is a COIL? At its core, COIL is a structured pedagogical approach that connects students and faculty in two different countries through co-designed, virtual learning experiences. It is a form of international exchange, in a virtual format.

Importantly, COIL is not simply “putting students from different countries in a Zoom room.” A true COIL initiative involves shared course design, intentional intercultural engagement, and often some degree of faculty co-teaching. At out university, our building blocks are an icebreaker, a shared activity for the students, and then a reflection exercise.

Here are some core features of effective COIL collaborations:

• Reciprocal partnerships: Both institutions contribute equally. It’s not a one-way “helping” arrangement.
• Joint syllabus or project design: The collaboration is embedded, not added on.
• Intercultural scaffolding: Students are supported in understanding communication styles, cultural norms, and biases. When necessary, professors facilitate problem-solving in intercultural groups.
• Synchronous and asynchronous components: Flexibility is key for time zones and bandwidth – and giving students the opportunity to organize themselves to collaborate.
• Shared outputs: Students co-create something (a report, presentation, media piece) that is meaningful on both sides.
• Sustainable and scalable: While you can pilot a COIL with minimum three weeks, long-term institutional support makes it sustainable.

Not every COIL project includes every feature, but these are helpful ideals to keep in mind.

The motivations for trying COIL are as diverse as the institutions that adopt it. Some of the most commonly mentioned benefits are:

• Intercultural competence: Students learn with and from peers in different contexts; moving beyond superficial “cultural tourism.”
• Internationalization at home: For students who cannot afford to study abroad, COIL offers an inclusive way to access global perspectives.
• Disciplinary enrichment: Different regions bring different case studies, data, or even entire conceptual frameworks into the discussion.
• Faculty development: Teaching with a colleague abroad sharpens your own pedagogy and may open doors for joint research. It also opens our eyes to pitfalls in our course design and grading.
• Workforce readiness: In a world of distributed teams, the ability to collaborate across distance and difference is vital.

Of course, there are challenges too. Aligning academic calendars, assessment strategies, and expectations takes time. Unequal access to technology or institutional support can also skew the experience. Like any collaboration, a COIL works best when there’s mutual respect and clear communication – between the students, and the instructors.

When thoughtfully designed, a COIL can transform how students and faculty experience international education (the student perception of my little experiment is still to be determined). In a world where global collaboration is more relevant than ever, COIL offers a way to build connection, not just content.

Have you thought a course with a COIL module? What was your experience?