Collaborative online international learning COIL. Trends, definition & typology

Abstract

Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) is an increasingly popular element of a modern university’s internationalization strategy and an important measure for in-ternationalization at home. COIL directly contributes to more sustainability and fairness at ter-tiary educational institutions, while participating students are equipped with relevant future skills in international competency. The School of Business of the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland FHNW started to develop a COIL-program in 2023, to scale-up the preexisting COIL-courses at the school. This initiative revealed that the definition of COIL is still not fully agreed upon and that no typology of COIL has been established. To address these gaps a systematic literature review, using Swisscovery, an extensive database that includes access to databases such as ERIC, OECD library, Psyndex, Teacher Reference Center, WISO and Web of Science was conducted. Based on the findings of the review, a definition and a typology of COIL were developed. This definition and typology were then validated with a series of interviews with COIL experts, including COIL-researchers, COIL-service providers and COIL-champions, meaning COIL-coordinators with experience in setting up dozens of COIL-courses. Based on the findings from the eight interviews the definition and typology were revised. The article shows the increase in the literature on COIL and most frequently addressed themes, such as case studies, assessment, effectiveness, and efficiency. In addition, it presents the synopsis of the experts’ feed-back together with a definition of COIL based on characteristics relating to collaborators, blend-ing with physical exchange and facilitation.