Benefits and Challenges of Conducting a Collaborative Online International Learning Class (COIL)

Abstract

The research is focused on the benefits and challenges of Collaborative Online International Learning projects for teachers, but also on the institutional support the teachers get, and their opinion on the future of COIL. The method used in the study was the inductive approach of qualitative research. Data for this study were gathered in the English language through semi-structured interviews with teachers from the State University of New York COIL network of universities. The benefits for teachers that were mentioned are learning opportunities, development of pedagogy, professional acknowledgment, and satisfaction from providing students global education experience. The main challenges include time, student motivation, and the amount of engagement of partnering teachers. The study showed that it is mostly teachers who decide to implement this pedagogy in their class rather than the institution. It takes a lot of extra work and motivation on the teacher's side. Together with the hesitant approach to online teaching, it may be the reason why it is not that widespread yet. However, it seems like the pandemic helped this pedagogy to reach more teachers due to the sudden switch to online teaching.