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International Education & Curriculum

A Guide for Empowering Faculty to Foster Global Perspectives in Every Classroom

What is COIL?

Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) is an instructional model that connects students and faculty from different countries and cultures to learn, discuss, and collaborate as part of their regular coursework. In a COIL project, faculty co-design the learning experience, while students work together to complete the activities and assignments created for the module. COIL is integrated directly into the course, ensuring that all students encounter a meaningful and structured intercultural learning experience.

Diagram of COIL collaboration between two institutions. Green box for Institution B, Language C, with credit in Course A. Yellow box for Institution Y, Language Z, with credit in Course X. Arrows indicate collaboration.

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Key Characteristics of COIL

COIL modules:

  • Can be created in any academic discipline, with interdisciplinary partnerships working especially well.

  • Promote active learning, teamwork, and student engagement.

  • Emphasize cross-cultural communication, interaction, and understanding.

  • Typically span 5–15 weeks.

  • Function as a graded component of each participating course.

  • Allow faculty to select any technology tools that best support the learning goals.

A COIL component can run for the full duration of a course or—more commonly—take the form of a focused multi-week module. The recommended minimum length for a COIL module is five weeks.

Four horizontal rectangles are stacked, each with an arrow pointing to the next. They are colored blue, orange, red, and green, indicating a flow or process.

What Are the Components of a COIL Module?

Effective COIL collaborations follow a sequence of structured phases:

1. Team-Building Phase
Students begin with introductions, icebreakers, and early discussions designed to build rapport, establish trust, and help them feel comfortable collaborating across cultures and online environments.

2. Comparative and Organizational Phase
Students engage in comparative discussions, explore course content, and begin planning the collaborative work ahead. This phase lays the foundation for productive teamwork.

3. Project Phase
Students focus on completing the main collaborative task—applying course concepts, creating shared work, or participating in meaningful discussions related to the module’s topic.

4. Presentation and Reflection Phase
Students present their completed work (in any format agreed upon by faculty partners) and reflect on both the academic content and the intercultural learning gained through the experience.

How Is a COIL Module Developed?

COIL development begins when faculty from different institutions partner to integrate global and intercultural learning into their courses.

Faculty collaborators work together to:

  • Identify shared student learning outcomes

  • Determine the duration and structure of the module

  • Design comparative and collaborative activities

  • Select pedagogical methods and technology tools

  • Support, monitor, and assess student learning

Students engage collaboratively to:

  • Build effective intercultural and international teams

  • Discuss course content and shared assignments

  • Complete a collaborative, project-based activity

  • Reflect on disciplinary learning as well as the intercultural exchange

Developing a COIL module involves numerous considerations such as language use, academic calendars, alignment with course objectives, assessment strategies, classroom management, and technology selection.

If you are interested in designing a COIL module and would like training or support, the SUNY COIL Center offers a range of professional development opportunities to guide faculty through the process.

COIL's Impacts

COIL brings people and ideas together. When faculty and students connect through COIL, many expand their work afterward — pursuing new international teaching, research, service, or career opportunities. These follow-on activities are what we call COIL’s “ripple effects,” and they benefit individuals, institutions, and communities both locally and globally.

Key Benefits of COIL
  1. High Impact Practice
    • COIL is recognized as a high-impact educational practice, because it embeds collaborative assignments/projects and global/diversity-focused learning into classes — both of which are proven to boost student engagement and retention.
  2. Intercultural Communication & Language Skills
    • COIL helps participants develop new ways of communicating with people whose cultural or personal perspectives differ from their own. Through carefully crafted activities, students build language and communication skills in either their native or a new language.
  3. Global Citizenship & Shared Responsibility
    • COIL supports the idea that students are members of a global community, helping them understand that their well-being is connected to people across the world. Through collaboration across borders, students and faculty exchange disciplinary and cultural perspectives, fostering interdependence and shared understanding. COIL projects can lead to meaningful problem-solving with societal impact beyond the classroom.
  4. Research and Scholarly Growth
    • ​​​​​​​Participation in COIL courses encourages exploration of cross-national and interdisciplinary topics. This often inspires further inquiry and research — expanding knowledge and contributing to academic scholarship.
  5. Support for Mobility & Study Abroad
    • ​​​​​​​For many students, COIL serves as a gateway to further international engagement — whether through study abroad, global internships, or international service. Even when no physical travel is involved, COIL can stimulate interest in mobility-based global learning.
  6. Internationalization at Home
    • ​​​​​​​• Internationalization at Home
      COIL offers a low-cost, high-impact alternative to traditional study abroad by enabling students and faculty to engage in global learning locally — creating inclusive opportunities for intercultural education without requiring travel.
  7. Digital Competence
    • ​​​​​​​By virtue of its virtual and collaborative nature, COIL helps students build vital digital literacy: using technology to communicate, manage information, create content, and solve problems in a global context. These skills support social mobility and inclusion — especially for underrepresented or marginalized students.
  8. Career Readiness
    • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​In today’s job market, employers increasingly value evidence of skills like teamwork, problem solving, adaptability, and digital competence over GPA alone. COIL helps students develop and demonstrate exactly those kinds of competencies, making them more competitive as global-ready professionals.

Additional Resources

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