Red LatAm COIL Network. Collaborative Online International Learning in Latin America

Universidad Veracruzana (UV) has been internationally recognized as a leader in the field of Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) methodology. This is why Jon Rubin, one of the creators of the COIL strategy and an international expert (see UNAM Internacional 3, pages 236-241), suggested that UV led the initiative to create a Latin American network devoted to its promotion, the LatAm COIL Network. COIL training has proven to be a valuable tool to promote teamwork learning, mediated by technology and adopting an international perspective. Additionally, at UV, teachers’ initial experiences with COIL had the advantage of developing proposals for educational interventions with an interdisciplinary approach in a second language.

UV’S VIC COURSE
As background for this situation, in 2018 UV decided to generate its own course on COIL methodology. It was called Virtual International Collaborations (VIC), and it maintained some characteristics of the course offered by the State University of New York (SUNY), such as the use of English language, similar contents, an interdisciplinary approach, and not having formed a collaborative couple of peers previously. The VIC course is free of charge and has gradually integrated outstanding participants as course facilitators in a train-the-trainer scheme. The course is offered through UV’s Eminus institutional platform, in its current version, Eminus 4.

It has been certified by UV’s Office for Academic Development and Educational Innovation and has curricular value. The application of the syllabus with an academic peer can also be certified by UV’s Office for International Relations. These certifications have been acknowledged by programs such as the Academic Productivity Incentive Program (PEDPA).

The demand for VIC courses has been increasing. Initially, there were only three VIC groups working in English and with external participants, mainly from Latin America; today, there are four courses: two in Spanish, one in English, and one in French. Students and academics from all five continents participate in these courses.

THE LATAM COIL NETWORK
The University of Monterrey (UDEM), the Universidade Estadual Paulista do Brasil, and the Metropolitan Institute of Technology of Medellín (Colombia), joined the initiative to create the LatAm COIL Network.

Created to promote COIL methodology in the Latin American region, LatAm COIL Network (https://www.uv.mx/coil) describes its objectives as follows:

1. To promote communication between practitioners and institutions involved in COIL in Latin America.
2. To promote the practice and research of COIL methodology at the higher education level in Latin America.
3. To expand the benefits of the COIL methodology as a strategy for curriculum internationalization at the higher education level, through collaboration with other national and international networks and organizations involved with the methodology.

The network has individual and institutional members (networks, associations, and accredited HEIs), all included at no cost. Its activities are coordinated by an Executive Council integrated by a Presidency, a Secretary, a Treasury responsible, and members from five founder HEIs (UV, UDEM, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Catholic University of Colombia, and Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul), as well as a representative from COIL Consulting, the consulting agency from the United States founded by Jon Rubin. As of February 2023, the network had over 180 institutional members and more than 300 individual members.

AS OF FEBRUARY 2023, THE NETWORK HAD OVER 180 INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS AND MORE THAN 300 INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS

The network’s main activities include the organization of webinars focused on the methodology; the generation and dissemination of a list of COIL trainers; the management of peers and groups to implement the system and the organization of the annual conference (https://www.uv.mx/coil/conferencia-anual/2023/).


The network also brings access to videos on COIL virtual exchange, and supports the dissemination of events, training opportunities, and peer matching, among other services for its members.

Since 2022, the network is legally constituted as a non-profit organization. This provides it with legal personality and allows it to access international programs.

CHALLENGES AHEAD
Several tasks will need to be assessed in the future. For example, online tutoring in COIL environments requires a lot of knowledge, competencies, and skills, and a considerable investment of time. Face-to-face classroom interaction is different from online tutoring, which is generally asynchronous. For this reason, in addition to training in COIL methodology, it is necessary to strengthen a trainthe-trainer scheme in which teachers who stand out for their sensitivity, knowledge, and disposition in COIL methodology are integrated as tutors in this kind of courses.

Other example lies in the essentially asynchronous nature of the COIL methodology, this makes it an appropriate space for generating learning objects that include, among other things, self-assessment exercises with their respective evaluation rubrics. Once a sufficient number of learning objects have been generated, the relevance and feasibility of developing a massive open online course (MOOC) could be assessed to facilitate access to teachers who, due to professional commitments, cannot participate in courses with a specific duration.

Another pending task is the systematization of information. COIL-type learning environments generate a lot of information for publications and follow-up, monitoring, evaluation, and accountability exercises. Monitoring requires particular attention because the International Relations Offices do not necessarily monitor the courses during the syllabus application, the process where the students of an academic peer interact during a specific time of the school semester. The gathering and analysis of the information during the realization of the syllabus will initially allow to review and evaluate the COIL course program.

Finally, in addition to the adverse effects that the pandemic has had on higher education and the evidence that information and communication technologies make them available to a more significant number of beneficiaries at this educational level, there are still significant gaps between different social sectors in terms of access and the benefits offered by these resources. Including the least favored groups is a challenging task ahead. The goals to achieve equity and integration of all people so that we have the same opportunities and a tangible integration in tech-mediated environments, still waits in the future.

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