Students of UMF Iasi experience an international online learning tool

A group of students from II and III years at the Faculty of Medicine of the “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iași, specializing in General Medical Assistance, coordinated by head of work Dr. Alina Popa and Prof. Univ. Dr. Sabina Antoniu, is experimenting between February and June 2024 with a new online learning tool: Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) – component of the emerging concept of internationalization at home. This method encourages cultural, linguistic and interdisciplinary exchange between participants, contributing to the internationalization of the curriculum.

Through this tool, which is already popular in universities around the world, exchanges of experience between students are mediated without having them travel outside the country. The project is coordinated by the University of Applied Sciences in Antwerp and includes teams from Belgium, Romania, Sweden, Spain, Portugal and Denmark. This year, themes such as euthanasia/palliative care, inequality and gender diversity are addressed.

COIL began to be developed and implemented around 2006 in the United States of America in response to the need to provide students with cross-cultural and international experiences without the need for physical travel. Although there is no clearly defined starting point for COIL, the ideas behind this concept have evolved in the context of globalization and technological advancement, concurrently with the increasing importance of intercultural interactions in an increasingly digitally connected world.

COIL practices developed as more teachers began to explore ways to integrate international and cross-cultural elements into their curricula, using information and communication technologies to connect students from different countries. Initially, these collaborations were often informal and based on individual teacher initiatives.

Over time, COIL began to gain recognition and popularity, especially in higher education in the United States and Europe. Networks and partnerships between higher education institutions have been established to facilitate collaboration and exchange of best practices in the implementation of COIL. Organizations such as SUNY COIL Global, AIEA (International Association of Administrators of Education), IIE (Institute of International Education) and UNICollaboration have contributed to the promotion and development of COIL globally.