The Collaborative Online International Learning program is an academic initiative that brings American and international Institutions together in a cross-cultural learning collaboration. Sinclair Community College works in partnership with universities across the world to offer an intercultural experience to its students. The program offers to students the opportunity to experience a different country, their culture, and their learning methods without having to do a study abroad that will require several expensive costs related to traveling outside of the United States.
The program has been existing since 2019 with Japan being the first country partner. In 2020, when COVID 19 plunged us into a lockdown, Sinclair had to cancel all study abroad trips. Although unfortunate, it was there an opportunity to extend funds to the COIL Program.
“We really wanted to keep offering that experience to our students, and during the pandemic, the COIL program made that possible for us.” said Deborah Gavlik, Director of the Sinclair International Education Office, and coordinator of the COIL Program. In the last two years, the program has gained more popularity and has tremendously expanded.
The COIL program is designed in a semestrial project integrated in a preexisting class. A Sinclair faculty member of any discipline team up with a faculty member from one of the participating universities to draft the project and redesign the course in which it will be incorporated. The project will then be assigned and completed by groups of students from both countries throughout the given semester.
The main purpose of the COIL Program is to offer to Sinclair students an international exposure. It also helps the college to establish a connection with schools from all over the world.
“By participating in the program, my students got to experience a different curriculum. They got to see that the pandemic didn’t just affect them and learned how it also affected other places. It hopefully helped them make a connection with students that they would not have met otherwise. It is a great and very unique learning experience”, said Dr. Jessica McKinley, Communication professor who had participated in the COIL program in Spring 2021.
Related article: Sinclair Holds Events for International Education Week 2021
Courtney Reese, a Sinclair COIL student confirmed such testimony by sharing her own experience. Her and her group were paired with students from Ecuador to learn about the architecture and the use of public spaces and how it can be improved. They got to share pictures and videos of their neighborhood in real time which made her feel like she was there, learning with them. As every initiative, the Collaborative Online International Learning program in Sinclair has great benefits for its participants but also faces some adversities.
Time zone management and language barrier are some of the challenges encountered by our participating students and faculty. Most of the COIL courses have taken place online and some have found it quite challenging to keep the students engaged when the entire process of the learning experience was virtual. Kara Burnett, associate professor in communication found that it was easier to monitor the COIL classes in a face-to-face setting. The classes were more interactive and if the students had any questions, they could ask you right there. She added that it is a growing program that is not only being supported by the college, but also strongly encouraged.
Mame Thiome
Managing editor/social media coordinator