SUNY COIL Conference 2018

Globally Networked Learning (GNL) can provide meaningful, effective learning opportunities for students to explore the intersections of cultures and competencies. Like most innovative pedagogical initiatives, however, it can be daunting to consider how best to develop, facilitate, and assess a seemingly new idea within an existing course plan. The GNL project team at York University has invested over a year of research inspired by, and drawing on, resources from the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) to determine best practices of GNL pedagogy to support the important pathway from idea through to development, facilitation, and evaluation.
This interactive session will offer participants the opportunity to consider Globally Networked Learning as a pedagogical strategy that can be integrated into, rather than simply added onto, a course syllabus. The session will begin with a discussion of considerations for effective pedagogy, drawing on research and good practice curated by York University’s Teaching Commons. Participants will then be invited to participate in a semi-structured exercise that guides the development of a GNL-based course activity that is built on a foundation of meaningful learning outcomes, co-facilitated by an international partner, supported by an institutional champion, and scaffolded by effective learning activities, assessment strategies, and learning technologies. Participants will leave the session with an actionable outline for incorporating their newly developed strategy into a current or upcoming course.

Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) holds tremendous potential for expanding students’ global perspective. Fruitful collaboration requires mutual respect and faculty commitment to full partnership during the design and implementation of the course.
Planning for COIL courses is also more effective when the course faculty have access to an intermediary or cultural bridge that can observe the conversation between the teaching faculty and comment on similarities as well as differences. All COIL courses can benefit from having a cultural bridge but the cultural bridge is especially important when the two faculties are not well acquainted or if the two participating cultures are significantly different from one another.
The person acting in the role of cultural bridge most likely will work for the international or global services at one of the participating universities. If such a person were not available then a community member who has experience in both of the cultures would be appropriate.
This Action Lab experience will discuss social theorist Riane Eisler’s (1987) cultural transformation theory and how the structures of domination and partnership can impact the effectiveness of COIL. Participants will then assess their own institutions and programs for where they lie on the partnership/domination paradigm.
Once participants understand partnership behaviors, they will learn how to collaborate to create potential “aha” or transformative learning experiences to expand the students’ global perspective. Participants will experience scenarios and role-playing activities to demonstrate practical application for their own COIL courses.

It's easy to look at our best case scenarios but what happens when things fall apart? During a 90 minute interactive Action Lab session, participants explore how to maneuver and thrive through what doesn't appear to work in a COIL collaboration, whether pedagogic, technical, intercultural or team focused breakdowns. Together, using the hive mind, we will review case studies, as well as participants’ worst fears as well as played out scenarios. We will share expertise, empower participants to brainstorm creative approaches to tackle whatever COIL throws our way. We will reflect on how seemingly failed or failing projects actually provide opportunities for learning whether about cultural differences, technologic freestyling, pedagogic improvisation or team dynamics. We will practice reviving seemingly failed collaborations, and ultimately empower COIL lecturers to utilize intercultural meta outcomes. What an opportunity …all this interaction in an Action Lab plus a Facebook group and idea repository to keep the conversation going to support the next time COIL lecturers need solutions when things fall apart.

Four experienced COIL faculty members invite you to a hands-on workshop for streamlining courses and activities to maximize conversation and collaboration and to minimize frustration for faculty and students.

Ice breaker activities are often highly successful at engaging students and helping them get to know one another. Yet, they don’t require much international collaboration, and are frequently little more than social exchanges. Nevertheless, the beginning week of a COIL project is sometimes the most successful week.

By contrast, group projects can easily become very complex, in an effort to produce results and products. The result is often a “Frankenstein Collaboration,” in which students have done individual work and then sewn the pieces together somewhat haphazardly. Or, it might be a “Steamrolled Collaboration,” appearing to reflect consensus, when in fact it was dictated by one or two heavy-handed students.

Both of these approaches hinder true international conversation, collaboration, and consensus building, since they emphasize product over process. This can lead to frustration, and COIL faculty and students can struggle with assessing what the students learned from the collaboration.

We will invite faculty members to work with a case study--an amalgam of our experiences -- to examine how a philosophy of “less is more” can lead to more effective international collaborations. Rather than focusing on the end product, students and faculty can redirect their efforts and focus instead on the process of international collaboration.

Ultimately, when streamlining COIL modules, weeding out the extras and simplifying assignments can often result in a stronger end product. This workshop will focus on streamlining the design of COIL courses and assignments, in order to maximize student conversation and collaboration and to increase the likelihood of building true consensus.

This workshop will help faculty help students focus on the process of collaboration, instead of finding themselves placing too much emphasis on producing an end product with or without true collaboration.

For decades I have been using a Visual Journals assignment as an essential core tool for sparking the creative process. During this age of digital technology I refrain students from using tablets and laptops when taking notes. I instead require them to have a Visual Journal always out and in use when they are in class, and when they are out in the field working on assignments. During this Action Lab I will demonstrate and have participatory activities to engage the learner to use personal events to foster relevant content for COILing.
• Presentation Outcomes
1. Participants of the presentation will have an understanding of how to incorporate a Visual Journal assignment in their COIL project that has relevance to the learner.
2. Participants of the presentation will have an understanding of how to structure a Visual Journal component into the COIL assignment to reach tangible goals for the collaboration.

A SUNY psychology professor and a German counterpart who have worked together over the past four years to involve their students in an international exchange venue, will offer an Action Learning Lab for those interested in exploring the dynamics of what makes such exchanges work effectively and efficiently. Participants will explore the process of developing, building, and sustaining international professional relationships and educational partnerships. The discussion will be organized in the World Café format, allowing and inviting participants to actively share their thoughts and experiences throughout the whole session.