Mexico City, March 7, 2024.- Collaborative International Online Learning(COIL) has become a globally recognized trend due to the great positive impact it can have on the education of new generations.
COIL is based on a philosophy of meaningful learning through differences, which in turn allows us to better understand what the common needs are and how we can best address them.
At the Universidad Panamericana we celebrate this methodology, disseminate it and, above all, recognize the professors who have implemented it in some of their courses. That is why our school celebrated the first edition of the COIL Awards.
COIL, breaking intellectual barriers
During the event, Dr. María de los Ángeles Padilla Lavín, general vice rector for educational innovation, was present and highlighted Collaborative International Online Learning (COIL) as a global educational trend with multiple benefits. "The COIL methodology is in tune with the identification and assurance of learning outcomes," she said.
He also emphasized that educating is not just transmitting and highlighted the importance of the academic and human experience in COIL courses, which require flexibility and openness. " COIL provides an intercultural dialogue that opens intellectual frontiers and breaks space-time barriers," he said. He also invited to innovate, live the COIL experience and reflect in the classroom with peers and students.
"COIL is a way to add value to online education, so it can perfectly contribute to the ConnectUP educational model, with which we are seeking to provide diverse and valuable educational experiences to our student community," he concluded.
About COIL's competencies
Next, Gabriela Valdivieso, corporate director of International Affairs, provided background on COIL, which originated at the State University of New York in 2000 and boomed during the pandemic.
He explained that the Universidad Panamericana established criteria for the COILs, which include a duration of approximately four weeks and the completion of collaborative projects with international peers in at least four synchronous sessions.
He also underscored the training and support provided to teachers to find international peers, and reported that 90 COILs have been carried out in three years, with the participation of academics and students from different countries.
He also expressed that internationalization at home through COIL is a powerful alternative to provide global competencies to students, regardless of their geographic location.
Well-deserved recognition
Liza Monroy, Panamericana's director of internationalization, recognized and celebrated the international academic work of the professors. She highlighted their dedication, innovation and significant contributions as agents of change in the students' way of thinking and the global vision of the community.
He also emphasized that these professors have impacted more than 2,000 students at three sites of our university, collaborating with more than 40 universities around the world in just over three years.
World reference
Finally, Dr. Hector Ramirez, Vice Chancellor of the Mexico City campus, highlighted the importance of recognizing the teachers and explained that the goal is to turn Panamericana into a global reference: "What we want to achieve is that our university community becomes a reference outside Mexico and that the internal community has access to global competencies and is sensitive to the world, to different cultures and different ways of thinking".
He also stressed the importance of adapting to an interconnected world through the use of technologies and pointed out that the COIL model integrates these trends by making it possible to work with universities anywhere in the world, internationalizing the curriculum, teachers and students.
Meet the winners of the first edition of the COIL Awards here: https://www.up.edu.mx/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/profesores-navigator-ambassadors-champions.pdf
