Growing global mindsets through COIL at Sheridan

Sheridan’s Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) projects – where two or more classrooms, research teams and partners are virtually connected across the globe and participate in and collaborate on knowledge making, problem-solving and experience sharing – have experienced significant growth since they were piloted in 2021. To date, Sheridan has launched more than 22 projects across five Faculties as well as its Continuing and Professional Studies department, spanned 15 countries around the world and engaged over 600 Sheridan students and more than 500 international partner students.

“COIL ...opens the door to rich, direct international exchanges for so many students, including those who would or could not have engaged in a traditional study abroad experience,” said Genevieve Amaral, Associate Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. “We’re excited to discover all the ways COIL might help us connect our students to the wider world.”

“COIL offers our students the skills needed to succeed in the labour market that is becoming increasingly borderless, multicultural and virtual.”

– Dr. Amira El Masri, Director of Global Education and Internationalization

Faculty members are developing collaborative projects for students to work on together, despite barriers such as time zones, language and distance. COIL partnerships are facilitated with online tools and provide students with hands-on engagement and new ideas from different cultural perspectives. One successful COIL project at Sheridan, “The Layers of Loneliness,” from a Digital Solutions Course involving Sheridan and students from Manchester Metropolitan University was recently nominated as a finalist for the Canadian Online Publishing Awards.

A student who participated in a COIL project says, “Classes with COIL sessions allow students to collaborate with their domestic and international peers … as well as understand the course content far better than just sitting and listening to a lecture.” In a survey of students enrolled in COIL courses in the Winter and Spring/Summer 2022 semesters, 94% of students noted that the COIL experience improved their ability to understand/appreciate another culture.