COIL IP Workshop 1: Foundations & First Steps
Get ready to dive into COIL and kick-start your early-stage project brainstorming to spark meaningful, cross-cultural collaboration!
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- Workshops on innovative pedagogies
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- 8 December 2025
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- 8 diciembre 2025 Apply now
You are warmly invited to join the first session in a three-part workshop series introducing Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL). This 90-minute online session is designed for colleagues who are new to COIL and interested in exploring its potential for embedding international collaboration and intercultural learning within existing curricula. The session will provide an overview of the pedagogical foundations of COIL and engage participants in structured activities to begin mapping how a COIL component could be developed in their own course context. We will also consider case studies and how they used digital platforms, experiential learning tools, in intercultural collaboration.
As higher education institutions confront the growing need for culturally agile educators and globally competent graduates, Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) emerges as a powerful, inclusive, and practice-oriented model. In this session, we will explore how COIL addresses the demand for cross-cultural teaching capability (Esche, 2018) while offering students meaningful, accessible international experiences without the need for physical mobility.
This workshop is the first in a 3-part series, designed to guide educators from COIL curiosity to project readiness.
- Pre-Session Readings: Drawing on case studies from UoG participants will reflect on how strategic choices in experiential learning tools and digital platforms can enhance collaborative and intercultural learning (Chan et al., 2020; Khan et al., 2021).
- Online Session: Throughout the session, we will highlight how COIL fosters a sense of digital empathy, belonging, and global connectedness among diverse student groups, setting the stage for inclusive and transformative educational practice.
Participants will engage in interactive activities including guided self-reflection, contextual mapping of COIL opportunities in their own courses (using the CIVIS COIL AGORA tool), and group discussions.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this workshop, participants will:
1. Understand what COIL is, and its core principles and benefits
2. Identify potential opportunities and challenges in their own teaching contexts
3. Begin brainstorming a potential COIL project idea
4. Understand next steps and support available for developing a COIL proposal
Session 1 layout
- 1st workshop: 8/12 (Monday) from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. (CET)
- Duration: 90 minutes (online)
- Audience: Academics and Admin staff new to COIL
- Goal: Introduce participants to COIL and guide early-stage project brainstorming
Workshop Agenda
|
Time |
Activity |
Purpose |
|
0:00–0:10 |
Welcome & Icebreaker |
Set the tone |
|
0:10–0:20 |
Presentation: COIL Foundations (part 1) |
Introduce key concepts |
|
0:20–0:30
0:30-0:50
|
Activity 1 – “Top 3 Questions” Presentation on COIL (part 2)
|
Reflect on what they want to know about COIL |
|
0:50–1:10 |
Activity 2 – COIL My Context Mapping (1) |
Get participants thinking about how COIL might apply to their course and encourage early project idea development using the CIVIS COIL AGORA’ |
|
|
|
|
|
1:10–1:20 |
Group Sharing & Challenges |
Group reflection, surface obstacles and curiosities |
|
1:20–1:30 |
Wrap-Up, Support Info, and Next Steps |
Introduce what’s coming next and support options |
Activity Descriptions
Icebreaker
Prompt: “If you could connect your students with any place in the world, where would it be—and why?” Use chat or Mentimeter for quick sharing.
Activity 1 – “Top 3 Questions about COIL from PPT”
- Use Jamboard or Google Doc.
- Participants list their top 3 questions.
- Discuss common themes live.
Activity 2 – COIL in My Context Mapping
Prompt participants to map out subject, level, potential global theme, student type, and tools they use. Encourages connection between their practice and COIL. Use CIVIS COIL AGORA
Group Reflection (10 mins)
Ask: “What would be your biggest challenge starting a COIL project?” Use polls or word cloud for engagement.
No prior experience with COIL is required. This session is exploratory in nature and aims to support early-stage thinking toward future project development.
Dr Gabriella Rodolico is Director of Internationalisation and Senior Lecturer in Science Education at the University of Glasgow’s School of Education. She leads global engagement by embedding systems-thinking approaches, expanding Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), and enhancing student and staff mobility through innovative, inclusive pedagogies.
A recognised educational innovator, she integrates virtual/extended reality (VR/XR) and generative AI into learning and teaching. She has led international VR projects, funded, for example, by British Council Going Global, building capacity with platforms such as ClassVR Avantis and HTC Vive Focus, and installing immersive technologies such as the Edify pod at the School of Education.
In COIL, Dr Rodolico designs and scales project-based, cross-institutional modules that connect Glasgow students with peers worldwide through co-taught, synchronous and asynchronous learning. Her approach prioritises intercultural competence, and aligns assessment across partners to embed COIL within programmes rather than as an add-on.
Her work includes co-leading the XR in Education White Paper, developing the widely adopted Generative AI in Education MOOC, and implementing COIL as a core internationalisation-at-a-distance experience that demonstrably improves student learning and outcomes. Her contributions have been recognised with the LearnSci Teaching Innovation Award (2021) and highlighted by Education Scotland and the Scottish Government.