Activities

UDP Internacional

Global Learning

COIL – Virtual Exchange

What is Virtual Exchange? A strategy for global training!

First, it is important to differentiate between Virtual Exchange and Virtual Mobility, as they are two different things. First, Virtual Mobility is defined as a form of academic training that consists of earning academic credits (SCT) through a virtual program at another national or foreign institution. Virtual Exchange involves participating in activities within the framework of a credit-bearing course at the home university, whether undergraduate or graduate, enabled by technology. These activities involve constructive communication and interaction between individuals or groups who are geographically separated and/or from different cultural backgrounds, with the support of educators or facilitators.

What is a virtual exchange for?

Benefits for students:

Develops key professional competencies in interpersonal relationships, and develops a critical analytical and comparative perspective with a global focus.
Promotes empathy and cultural understanding
Contributes to a wide variety of key learning outcomes for their graduate profile and labor market needs.

Benefits for teachers:

A way to integrate the international research network into the classroom and strengthen their international collaborations.
Concrete and facilitate professional growth opportunities.
Strengthen the quality of their subject curriculum. Actively involve students in their learning process.

There are different approaches, methodologies, and ways to implement virtual exchanges. One of the approaches being promoted by the DGRRII is COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning), as it allows for the measurement, monitoring, and promotion of quality mechanisms related to the results and impact of the learning experience.

COIL was born as an initiative to democratize access to internationalization and training spaces with an international, global, and/or intercultural perspective within the New York City public university system (SUNY) around the year 2000. COIL as a methodology has taken on a much greater leadership role during and after the pandemic, when we were forced to use virtual tools to communicate. Today, COIL’s commitment is to leverage this learning to project international relations with our partner universities from in-person to a parallel virtual version, where our students can be part of this international online community.

For students:

  • It develops key professional skills in interpersonal relationships, analytical and comparative perspectives, with a global focus.
  • It fosters empathy and cultural comprehension.
  • It contributes to a wide variety of key learning outcomes for their graduation profile and the needs of the labour market.

For professors:

  • A way to integrate the international research network into the classroom and strengthen international collaborations.
  • To establish and facilitate opportunities for professional growth.
  • To enhance the quality of the course curriculum. To actively engage the student body in their learning process.

 

It is important that you first receive training in the COIL methodology through the DGRRII, and then present your project to us for approval before implementation. You must email [email protected] to find out about the next training opportunity. Normally, the DGRRII offers training courses during the summer and winter faculty development schools, which are held every year in January and July/August through the VRA.

If you are already familiar with the methodology and its content and dynamics, you can look for a partner yourself or contact the DGRRII for assistance in finding one for your COIL project. Once you have a partner, the following aspects must be reviewed:

  1. Common Topic to work: You can work with a partner from your own discipline or another field; the important thing is to address a common topic that the students will work on together.
  2. Logistical Aspects: You must review schedules and any potential time zone differences based on geographical location. Based on this, you will define:
  3. Work Dynamics: Will you implement the COIL synchronously, asynchronously, or as a hybrid? What will the team sizes be?
  4. Language: The shared language between both classrooms must be defined.
  5. Virtual Support Tools and Workspaces: How will they communicate? Where will the students collaborate on the content and progress to be presented?
  6. Assessment: The teaching team must define the weight that the collaboration grade will carry and make the evaluation criteria clear to students from the start.
  7. Scheduling: Clearly outline the timelines and classes to be executed, specifying who will be responsible for each.

The DGRRII also offers two support funds for COIL projects:

  1. FIPA – Internationalisation of Learning Processes Fund (Fondo de Internacionalización de los Procesos de Aprendizaje): This fund provides financial support and technical guidance for designing a COIL course. You can apply with either a general idea and/or a partner already in mind, but the goal is to submit a proposal that can be further developed later. Applications for FIPA open every year in May, with the design phase taking place during the second semester and implementation during the first semester of the following year. It is strongly recommended always to include at least 3 months in your planning for the design process and partner search, so the initiative can be implemented the following semester, ensuring sufficient time to prepare and adapt the chosen course.
  2. COIL Mobility Fund (Fondo de Movilidad COIL): Launched in 2025, this fund aims to complement the virtual experience with an in-person exchange between faculty members. UDP instructors can apply either by proposing a visit to their partner institution or by hosting their partner at UDP for up to one week. This visit includes academic activities and work meetings to plan and enhance future joint COIL experiences.