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Hi everybody! Welcome welcome! I am so glad that you’re here. A little bit about myself. I like to sit on a big ball while I work instead of a chair it keeps me focused. I really like dark chocolate. I have a cute dog named Bagel and we go on big walks every day a couple times a day I don’t think he’s getting sick of it. He likes to chase frogs.

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We want you to have a workable plan for your COIL Collaboration by the end of this workshop. You may not have all the details in place, but you should have at least a blueprint for your collaboration that you can continue to refine. You and your COIL partner will work on completing your COIL Collaboration Plan throughout this workshop. You should have one unified plan for your collaboration, so please fill this out together.

It is available in Word below (save a copy for yourself), or in Google docs (this is a read-only version, so please make an editable copy: open the document through the link, under the File menu, select Make a copy). We will use this Plan document throughout the workshop.

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Last year my students (in Venezuela) took part in a COIL experience with a Mexican group. They considered that their differences brought them together as they spend a lot of time talking about it.

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COIL language suggestionsFOR native languag speakers2.png

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Share your imperfect, super-rough, rough drafts of a plan with the group ... BE COURAGEOUS! We all benefit!! 

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Share your imperfect, super-rough, rough drafts of a plan with the group ... BE COURAGEOUS! We all benefit!! 

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We all benefit from feedback on our COIL plans. In this group, we are all learning what to do... AND you get to keep polishing as we head to implementation.

Please click the + sign to start a new post, then either upload your plan or share a link.

Your plan will change and grow better with attention.

Come to the ZOOM Meeting 2 and 3 with your plan to present. Everyone will be called on so get ready to share.

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Let’s consider High Context - Low Context communication.  Low Context communication is direct.  Meaning is conveyed primarily by the words themselves. Summarizing and repetition of key points are used to ensure that messages are clear. The relationship between individuals, particularly in an educational or work setting, does not have much impact on how things are communicated; there is no assumption that we have shared understanding so I need to say what I mean. High Context communication relies on shared understanding to derive meaning. Non-verbal cues are very important, such as tone and body language. It’s the overall context of the communication that leads to understanding, not reliance on the words used. Because I rely on our shared understanding to convey my meaning, we need to have a relationship or a shared cultural frame of reference.

Here’s a video and a blog post that focus on high context and low context communication.  Please watch and read.

Understanding Cultural Communication Differences:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W9iLrfyq20&t=6s

A blog post written by a Polish woman living in the UK: http://www.projectabroad.eu/the-culture-map-communication-low-and-high-context-cultures/

Now think about your students and their communication styles. Are your students/is your culture generally High Context or Low Context? Will your students expect short, frequent, direct questions and comments that clearly state their opinions?  Would they be annoyed or offended by that kind of communication?  Would they expect that type of messaging only after they have developed a sense of team, or would that communication style help them develop a sense of team?

Click the + to start a new post.  Reflect on communications as it relates to the COIL Collaboration you want to develop. This could be your own communication style, the expectations of your students, experiences you have had working with people with different expectations for communications, or considerations you will bring to developing an effective COIL teaching partnership. Please share any questions, concerns or tips you have.

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Creating teams of students for your COIL Collaboration helps increase interaction and participation. It also gives space for students to take on different roles, make decisions, problem solve and apply what they are learning both about the content of the course and about working interculturally. There is no magic formula when it comes to creating effective student teams, but the following guidelines will help ensure you have a good foundation for the teams:

Teams should be created by the professors.  If students select teams, they will likely pick people they already know and who are like them. This will make group work between students from different countries more challenging, because students think they already know their peers from their class and will make assumptions based on existing relationships.

Teams should be diverse on both sides. You will have diversity between the students from different countries, but also pay attention to diversity of teams from the same class.  Diversity of viewpoints and backgrounds generally means richer discussions and more ideas.

Teams should have a range of skills.  Depending on the focus and length of your collaboration, it can be particularly important to ensure you have students with different skills and experience on each team. For example, if you are going to ask them to make a video, you want to have some students with editing skills on each team. You and your teaching partner could create a short survey for students before your COIL Collaboration begins and form teams based on the responses as one approach to this.

Balance the numbers from each side as best you can.  Ideally you would have 50% participation from each country on each team, but teams can work well even if your classes are very different sizes. Try to organize the teams so you have at least a 25%-75% mix of students between the partnering classes. Avoid creating teams where there is only one student from one of the participating countries.

Teams shouldn’t be too big or too small.  A good team size is 5-8, which helps ensure that all students can and need to participate. Large teams are usually less effective, and you will need to establish very clear guidelines and roles. You may need to be flexible with team size to meet the other guidelines, however, pairs should be avoided for team projects.

Students need to know they are accountable for their work. Be clear with your students about your expectation and how their teams will be assessed. Will students be asked to provide feedback on their teams? A self-assessment? Will participation be graded along with the product? Will it be different for students from different classes?

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RECORDING
https://zoom.us/rec/share/__li4Xl5K0u8t6jVRoJfQyRLL_CL937JcGW_K7d3DcddQWiQIRE4YN0RpSr4L4xz.RuKmxJp8bU-SKfzn

SLIDE DECK
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1xO9R7Pk0Qj5KP4XUyjh2yctKUZfqgdbCuNwA4mSYCj8/edit?usp=sharing

Jamboard
of activity brainstorming: https://jamboard.google.com/d/1RLZ4KPF_zJPkoiLcU_2qJees3Vnmb9jNw94eNaKEz7g/viewer?f=2

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As mentioned in our Getting to Know You column, team building is an essential step to ensuring good collaborations among students. Team building continues throughout the COIL Collaboration, but the first step is to do an introductory icebreaker activity that allows students to begin to form relationships of trust.

You'll notice with our icebreaker that we did this in a non-positional way, which means something that anyone can contribute to - it doesn't require any particular knowledge or experience - and the response should not convey any power or prestige. Doing an icebreaker that allows all students to contribute equally will begin to establish trust among students. Trust is the basis for effective teambuilding, and for good, open discussions.

You and your partner should agree on what the icebreaker activity will be, taking into consideration how each culture builds trust and communicates. Designing the icebreaker for your collaboration is a good way for you and your partner to discuss these cultural aspects, as they may influence your overall COIL collaboration.

Linked below are a few icebreaker examples that have been used successfully in COIL Collaborations.  You can pick from among those on the list, modify one you've done before, or create a new icebreaker activity that you will use.

If you would like feedback, click the + sign to create a new post.  Write up your icebreaker activity as you will describe it to your students.  Add any additional information we should know, such as if this will be done synchronously, in small groups or large group, class sizes, languages, etc.

Comment on your peers’ contributions.  Don’t forget to add your & your partner’s names to the post.

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The refined learning goals you developed last week should suggest activities and discussion topics for your COIL Collaboration.

From our example:
Refined goal:

Students should be able to discuss the role of students in higher education in the US and Brazil, such as behavior in the classroom, work required to be successful, how students pay for higher education, and how broader society views students.

Possible activities:

-Develop questions for discussions related to the themes

-Look for information on the internet.  Discuss accuracy of the information in small groups.

-Create case studies of what it is like to be a student in each country that they will present to classmates for discussion.

-Write/illustrate a short story about students in each country.

-Assign a topic to each student team and have them create a video, story or enactment of that topic in each country

In our synchronous meeting we used Jamboard to refine learning goals and brainstorm activities.  Please continue to contribute ideas there: https://jamboard.google.com/d/1-zeYI-lV1cd5rUw92hRso9_Y0Y7YoV1jwhS5gOutMFA/viewer?f=5

Once you have inspiration for activities that meet your refined goals, discuss with your partner and develop this into your COIL Collaboration Plan (page 3).

Please share your activities here (click the + sign to start a new post) to inspire and get feedback from your colleagues.

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RECORDING
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fQLqOjkzian4cBrek1pj6_qVM6lz9oqL/view?usp=sharing

CHAT from ZOOM
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S4rLbKkzD03IruklNSwKDk4dLqJ2P2NW/view?usp=sharing

CLOSE CAPTION from VIDEO / words spoken during meeting
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IcJxw3_J2zkG-ol5BHV5mKY0H0DOnxCI/view?usp=sharing

EOP+COIL document of information
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LyH78tzRJyuaXltUysADH4jc6CsCPe9FaAtgI4n410Y/edit#

SLIDE DECK
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/16Z-2mIHdzJ1lVy8go0712-a5EuZea7a9n2fzsNMHNxY/edit#slide=id.gdc04187dab_0_194

JAMBOARD
https://jamboard.google.com/d/1-zeYI-lV1cd5rUw92hRso9_Y0Y7YoV1jwhS5gOutMFA/viewer?f=0

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COIL EOP Goals and activities - Google Jamboard

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The version of the browser you are using is no longer supported. Please upgrade to a supported browser. Dismiss

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You and your COIL teaching partner will have different goals for your overall courses.  In addition to these course level learning goals, you should have more specific learning goals and outcomes for your COIL Collaboration.

It’s fine if these goals are not exactly the same for both courses as long as you agree on discussions and activities that fit both courses. For example, if yours is an English class for language learners you may have as a primary goal that your students practice communication in English with native speakers, and your partner’s goals may be focused on students comparing educational systems in the two countries.

Making your learning goals as specific as possible will make activity design much easier. It’s not easy to be specific right away, so think of it as a three-step process:

1. Start by stating your overall goals: What do you want your students to get out of the experience? As above, these can be different between the two courses.

Ex: I want my students to learn about what higher education is like in other countries. For the other course: I want my students to practice stating their opinions and summarizing discussions in English.

2. Now try to make this more specific. What possibilities does International collaboration add? Where is the overlap with your partner’s course?  You should make goals at this stage the same for the two courses

Ex: Students should understand how societal expectations of students in Brazil and the US are similar and different.

3. Consider how you will measure student success. What should students be able to do by the end of the collaboration?  What is doable and realistic given our time frame and other realities?

Ex: Students should be able to discuss the role of students in higher education in the US and Brazil, such as behavior in the classroom, work required to be successful, how students pay for higher education, and how broader society views students.

This last example of a refined learning goal leads more easily to the development of specific activities and discussion topics. Agreeing with your partner on the learning goals for your collaboration at the beginning of your discussions will make the rest of your planning much smoother. As the diagram below shows, you are aiming for the intersections of the overlap between your courses and the possibilities that international dimensions bring.

Click the + at the bottom of this column and post the refined learning goal(s) that you and your partner have agreed on.  Comment on others’ posts.  We will discuss these during our synchronous meeting as the start to developing discussion questions and activities.

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I think that depending on my students cultural understanding they may have high context and low context communication. I think overall, every student will be low context. Yet, I would argue that students who utilize AAVE, have a high context communication style. Mostly because of the "shared cultural frame of reference". Additionally, I think some students on the autism spectrum have low context communication styles. In the end I don't think students will be annoyed by high context or low context communication styles as they are still learning. They will be approaching this experience the same way they approach college. With apprehension but an expectation that even language will be completely different from what they are used to. Finally, I think all my students will require trust before they feel comfortable sharing.

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It’s important to discuss logistics as a COIL pair right from the start. You need to make sure you have a common understanding of all of these aspects before you start building activities and setting assignments for students, including agreeing on the language of the collaboration, and ensuring that your schedules will work.

The first page of the COIL Collaboration Plan asks for logistical information for the collaboration. Please meet as a team and complete as much of this section as you can this week.

Some important logistical considerations:

Make sure you communicate start and end dates, class times and days, and any holidays or observances that could impact student availability.

Discuss language use. Will you use one language or multiple languages? Any special consideration or support given to students who are less fluent in that/those languages?

What technology are you comfortable with? Is this available in both countries? If you will use a tool provided by one institution, how will the other group get access?

Please work on the logistical section of your COIL Collaboration Plan with your COIL partner by the end of this week.  If you have any tips, questions, challenges or observations that you would like to share with others or get feedback on, please click the + to start a new post.

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Now that you have your main COIL Collaboration activity outlined, you need to decide how you will have students complete it. The first step is to determine how much of this needs to be done synchronously with you and your partner present, and how much can be done either completely asynchronously, or by having your students schedule synchronous meetings on their own.

For synchronous meetings with you present, you and your partner will need to pay careful attention to your schedules and time zones. Schedule these meetings first and anchor them into your timeline. Synchronous meetings may make sense for discussions you want to have in large groups, for conveying information and large group planning, for guests  you may bring in, or, if you have class times that are similar, to give students more opportunities to interact. Synchronous meetings are often scheduled for end of collaboration presentations.

Many COIL Collaborations are mostly or entirely asynchronous. You may provide a platform where students can interact, and/or you can let them work out communications among themselves and provide summaries or check-ins to you. These choices should follow your project design and outcomes, taking into consideration the level of guidance and direction that your students need.

When deciding between synchronous and asynchronous communications, consider the immediacy needs, that is, how quickly students need to be able to respond to each other. You also need to consider your students’ access, including how much bandwidth the platform you’re considering needs.  Below is a table developed by Daniel Stanford at DePaul University that shows technology options for different immediacy needs and bandwidth availability.

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In addition to the more formal information about COIL, there are also other ways in which you and your partner can present a fun and engaging introduction to your partnership.

Many professors choose to record a video (together is best!) introducing themselves to one another’s students, discussing their goals for the collaboration, and sharing a bit of information about themselves and their culture, discipline, interests, etc.

For this activity, work with your partner to plan and record a video introduction for your students.

This type of video could be recorded together using Zoom or separately as you introduce yourself and move through your cultural environment.  This is also a great opportunity to demonstrate your willingness to stretch your language ability by introducing yourself in your partner’s first language.  Students will appreciate that you are creating a safe space for them to step out of their comfort zone.  Remember that you and your partner are modeling the teamwork that you want to see from your students!

Your introduction videos don’t need to be long - no more than 2-3 minutes total.  Click the + sign below to share your video or a link to your video.

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Hello, everybody! I am Marbia Santos. I work at Andres Bello Catholic University. To tell you a little about my hobbies I would say the most relaxing activity for me is listening to music; I also like walking between 1 or 2 hours daily to exercise.

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Hello, everybody! I´m Maria Fernanda Martins and I´m back to EOP COIL Collaboartions! My students and I were around last year and we (mostly they-students) want to get to know people from abroad and exchange knowledge again.
I´m an English teacher at College in a interior town of São Paulo state, Botucatu, which is on the balsatic cuesta (mountains). So going around and enjoying nature is a must here. Lots of waterfalls beautiful view and some cold weather!!
I love the view in the picture and enjoying it makes me feel calm, and it does recharge my batteries!!!

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One of the key first steps in a COIL Collaboration is to develop trust among students.  Helping students gain a sense of who they are as people goes a long way towards team building.  If you've done other SUNY COIL workshops, you're likely familiar with the importance of icebreakers and developing a sense of team.

Click the + sign at the bottom of this column and tell us about something that makes you feel calm - a smell, a place, specific people, an activity, special food or drink?  Describe it and the effect it has on you. Add a picture, a video, audio or a link if you like. Read and react to your colleagues' posts. Don’t forget to add your name if you’re not signed in to Padlet.

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Hello everybody, I am Amasilis Gonzalez, and I work at the Universidad Catolica Andres Bello, and back to COIL. A week ago, we finished the previous project with Fundación Universitaria San Pablo-CEU, Madrid. It was my first experience, as well as my students. Except for the minor changes we had to make, on the way, everybody liked the program. It was my first experience, as well as my students. Except for the minor adaptations we had to make on the way, everybody liked the experience and we are looking forward to repeating it. The things that I like the most, and give me calmness, are doing pottery, listening to music, and reading.

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Hello everybody, I am Amasilis Gonzalez, and I work at the Universidad Catolica Andres Bello, and back to COIL. A week ago, we finished the previous project with Fundación Universitaria San Pablo-CEU, Madrid. It was my first experience, as well as my students. Except for the minor changes we had to make, on the way, everybody liked the program. It was my first experience, as well as my students. Except for the minor adaptations we had to make on the way, everybody liked the experience and we are looking forward to repeating it. The things that I like the most, and give me calmness, are doing pottery, listening to music, and reading.

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Hello! I´m Xiomara Zambrano. It´s a great pleasure for me to join this community. I live in Caracas and I teach in Universidad Católica Andrés Bello. Recently, a few years ago I decided to run and now I enjoy very much, because make me feel good, healthy and relaxed. Thanks Professor Jimenez for inviting us to participate in COIL. I´m excited too!

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I'm Elida. I'm a teacher of English at the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello. While teaching, I really enjoy working with literary texts, and I also have a great time grammaring with my students. On weekends, I love to stay home with my family, listening to music, reading a good book, or watching a good movie every now and then. I especially love petting my cat! Here is one of his recent photos.

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Hi!! I am Carolina Lista. I work at Andres Bello Catholic University. I like reading very much and I also like going to the beach, especially in the afternoon when there are not many people left because it makes me  feel calm and peaceful.

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My name is Maria Cláudia Rocha, I am from Guaratinguetá, SP - Brazil. I teach English  at Fatec Cruzeiro. I also have been running my own Business for 28 years, Victoria School. It is a language School where we teach mainly English but also Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese for foreigners.
Apart from working I love traveling, reading and doing pottery in my free time. I also do yoga and meditation.
It is  a great pleasure to be part of this group excahnge our working experiences.

I am sharing a photo of Victoria School here with you too.

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Victoria School - Guaratinguetá - SP  Brazil 

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This is where I spend most of my time.

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I live in Mogi das Cruzes - São Paulo - Brazil, but I work at Fatec Ferraz de Vasconcelos and Fatec Itaquaquecetuba...This is my dog Meg...I also have 4 cats and I love pets...English...yoga...meditation (I really try ...kkkk) and listening to rock n'roll... Nice to be here with you.

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I live in Mogi das Cruzes - São Paulo - Brazil, but I work at Fatec Ferraz de Vasconcelos and Fatec Itaquaquecetuba...This is my dog Meg...I also have 4 cats and I love pets...English...yoga...meditation (I really try ...kkkk) and listening to rock n'roll... Nice to be here with you.

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Hello, Everyone! I'm Daniel Perlino and I work at Niagara County Community College as an English Instructor. I can't say as though I have something in particular that makes me calm (I feel like I'm always running from one thing to another), but I can tell you that I am an animal lover. I've watched people's pets ever since I was in middle school / junior high and I still have yet to get my own dog! It's a work in progress (just like I am), but hopefully I can rescue one soon! Until then........
I'm looking forward to meeting everyone and going through the COIL experience for the first time, =).

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Hello, everyone! I´m glad to be here with you. My name is Paula Barbosa Pudo, from Brazil. I live in the state of São Paulo,  I work for 2 state colleges, one in my hometown Mogi das Cruzes, and the other one, in a city called Itaquaquecetuba. I teach English as a foreign language to students of different courses, what makes me very happy, because I learn a lot with them about their specific areas. Something that makes me calm, relaxed and amazed is gardening - inevitably followed by birdwatching - I love dealing with plants as they always give us rewards like this one in the picture. See you around.

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Considering language support... sometimes, EFL/ESL courses follow a COIL to provide additional opportunities to discuss concepts and practice speaking/writing about topics.

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I´m Fabiana, from Sertãozinho city, which is in São Paulo state - Brazil. I am a professor at Fatec Sertãozinho, where I have been working for nearly 13 years. I teach English for Business Management students.
I love eating chocolate and spending time with my family.
See you soon.

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Iám Beatriz Soledad from Caracas Venezuela, I am professor of chemistry, and I teach in different courses. I have 2 childs, I love tennis and going to the beach.

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Hello everyone. My name is Mayra López-Pérez, and I am the EOP director at SUNY Erie Community College. I've read everyone's introductions and noticed that I share a lot of your likes (expect for Xiomara's fondness for running 👎). But I love reading, listening to music, spending time with my dogs and bossy cat. Still my favorite thing of all is spending time with my family. But don't time them that.

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I believe there will be a mixture of both when it comes to the EOP SUNY Erie incoming Freshmen. Especially since we are reaching out to traditional and non-traditional college age students.

In fact, I experience the difference between hi and low context communication within my own family. My sons accuse me of having "a secret language" because I speak to my mom and sisters in Spanish. Yet, they made the choice not to learn it when they were growing up. But I feel the same way when they talk about their video games, music, and movies they enjoy. I can't seem to understand what they mean and sometimes, if I'm being honest, I rather not know.

So given the fact that many of our students come from families who have immigrated to the US, or live in a multi-generational home, or just the age differences between them, or the fact that they are coming from different neighborhoods, etc., it is a miracle that they can find something they all have in common. I mean besides being in EOP that is.

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I'm Isadora Pessoa and I work as a tutor for EAP and General English at Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF). I live in Rio de Janeiro and I love it! Something that makes me calm is reading - I just feel amazed by the power of contemporary stories told, mostly, by women. Such powerful voices make a huge impact on my everyday life. See you all around!

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Hello everyone, my name is Luis Pompilio Sánchez and I am a professor at the Andrés Bello Catholic University Law School in Caracas, Venezuela. It's my first experience with COIL and I'm both excited and a little scared because my English skills are basically instrumental. I like to cook and, above all, to eat. Unfortunately I have had to go on a diet, so I leave you a photo of a fruit plate that looks very nice, but it does not beat a good plate of pasta…

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Hi! everyone! I am Adriana Bañez and I am professor of Project Management and Learning Processes at Andres Bello Catholic University (UCAB). I am very excited about this experience.

A couple of months ago I started practicing CrossFit and it has been one of the best decisions because I have been able to strengthen my endurance, I have been able to be more motivated and sleep better.

Another thing I like is lettering or the art of drawing letters. In the image there is an example of it.

¡I wish you all success in the project.!

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Hey Everybody! My name is Michelle Turner-Edwards and I teach Biology at Suffolk County Community College. I am a nature lover who enjoys taking walks with my children. When I need to relax I find diving into a good book is the best medicine.

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Hi everyone! My name is Laura Angyal, and I'm a lecturer in First-Year Experience at SUNY Old Westbury. I'm fortunate to be teaching again for our EOP summer program. I've really enjoyed reading everyone's posts and seeing pictures of everyone's pets 🙂 I love watching sitcoms and listening to music to relax at the end of the day. I'm currently watching New Girl on Netflix. Looking forward to working more with everyone, especially my partner, Adri! 😊

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I'm Elisa Martinez from Venezuela. I teach Storytelling and Scriptwriting at Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas.  This is my first experience with COIL. I work with my students  to create self consciusness and personal  growing. I think that beyond teaching the courses skills, we need to join our studentes in the process of been better human beings for themselves an for the world.
I love to read, practice yoga and meditation.
See you around!

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I found the videos very interesting. It would be a great experience to find out the differences in the ways we communicate and the emotions which are involved in the process. I goes beyond the language itself.

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I think I’ve observed and practiced a mix of both High Context and Low Context in the classroom. In order to establish a feeling of community and to make my students feel welcome, I keep things like body language and tone in mind, especially with first-year students who are typically anxious about the start of their college transition. I’ve also had situations during class discussions where students express something that the rest of the class is familiar with, but I’m not (mainly because of the age or cultural differences), and I ask them to explain their meaning to me.

When it comes to assignments and lessons, I find I rely on Low Context communication. I like to be direct and clear with directions while “summarizing and repeating key points.” As mentioned in one of the sources, I find that this communication style benefits a majority of students because going from High Context to Low Context can be easier than going from Low Context to High.

When using Low Context, however, I find it’s important that I’ve established a good relationship with my students from the beginning. I recently watched The Wolf of Wallstreet. There’s a scene where Leonardo DiCaprio’s character is speaking with Swiss bankers. He interrupts the conversation to ask about Swiss banking laws. It immediately gets awkward. The Swiss man in charge explains how they don’t communicate this way: “Swiss custom requires ten minute of blah blah blah—chit chat—before business can be discussed.” Personally, I find that taking class time for ice breakers and “chit chat” is essential for students to genuinely connect with one another and connect with and develop trust in me. I believe this makes more direct communication seem less abrasive when discussing assignments, feedback on writing assignments, and day-to-day lessons.

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REMEMBER to CHECK your local TIME
Time&Meeting Planner to figure out which time zone each meeting will be for YOU!

MEETING 2
Thursday 16 June
@4-5pm ET (UCT-5)
ZOOM link
https://zoom.us/j/98396612115

MEETING 3
- NEW DATE AND TIME, SAME LINK

Thursday 7 July
@4-5pm ET (UCT-5)
ZOOM link
https://zoom.us/j/96969941238

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RECORDING

SLIDE DECK
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ObKm59-dZRwXUn2YuRccJDA2ml7N9kk1F-mCcA1RTEs/edit#slide=id.g13b3afb32c8_0_350

RESOURCES
chat

TECH TOOLS to consider
Some technologies to consider to help students connect asynchronously in a high touch environment are:

FLIPGRID - demonstrate flipgrid as an asynchronous icebreaker - https://admin.flipgrid.com/manage/discovery/71543?ns& ;

FLIPGRID ask video questions to get video results -  https://admin.flip.com/manage/discovery/details/31081 ;

FLIPGRID as a platform to celebrate https://admin.flip.com/manage/discovery/details/69911

JamBoard -
this tool is available through your GOOGLE Drive.

PADLET -
Padlet as a final, joint project platform - https://padlet.com/katedimeo/globalwarming ;

padlet as a discussion board - https://padlet.com/gallery/climatechangediscussion ;

padlet as a tool to share culture - https://padlet.com/gallery/syllabus ;

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Collaboration Of Crys & Marbia

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Review Student Video clips
Review History of EOP

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If you have not made an account with Padlet, please be sure to post your name!

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UNESCO defines culture as the set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group, that encompasses, not only art and literature, but lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs (UNESCO, 2001)

Watch this quick video from UNESCO Canada -  What is culture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SidKFCZ65ik

Now consider some student views of what culture is from participants in exchange programs with the US: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57KW6RO8Rcs

Even though UNESCO has an established definition of culture, UNESCO delegates to their conference in Ottawa still had trouble describing and defining it. Students from different countries who lived in the US and adapted to US culture also had varying ways to describe it.  So how do you talk about culture with students?

You don’t have to get into extensive definitions of culture. It’s usually sufficient for students to have an idea of what culture is so they have the vocabulary and framework to discuss cultural differences. You can focus on some of the aspects of culture that will impact the ways they interact with their peers during their COIL Collaboration.  The issues that come up most often in a COIL Collaboration are issues of Time, Trust, Communications and Leadership. We'll focus on communications in the next column.

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Language as cultural expression vs means of communication

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Language as cultural expression vs means of communication

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We have considered the cultural basis of communication styles. What about language?  Language and culture are closely related. The words we have in our language help us describe the world around us and help us organize our thoughts to make sense of it. Vocabulary can both reflect culture and define it.

Among people who speak the same language, slang, idioms and accents create a sense of group identity - whether that’s a national, regional or local difference, or identity in a group defined in other ways, like ethnic groups, organizations, social class, etc. Using language as cultural expression can be a way to include people in a shared identity, but can also exclude those who don’t have the shared frame of reference.

In a COIL Collaboration, we need to help students think about language as cultural identity and as a means of communication. This is particularly important if the language of the collaboration is the primary language of only one group. To get students introduced to the idea of language as identity and communication tool, you can have your students greet the other students in that group’s language as part of the icebreaker. Students can then talk about greetings, for example, how they would greet a teacher, a grandparent, a close friend, a stranger.

Attached is some advice from the University of Kansas about communicating with people if proficiency is unequal. These tips can be helpful to share with your students, and can be helpful reminders for yourself if you and your COIL teaching partner don’t have the same level of proficiency in the language you will use for communications.

Another technique that COIL professors use is to have posts in the dominant language of both groups. That is, if the primary language of one group is Spanish and the other is English, students have to post in both languages.  If they don’t have proficiency in one of the languages, they need to use available tools, like Google Translate, to assist.  This can help give all students the perspective of communicating in a language that’s not primary to them and generate conversation about language and communication. You can do this for one or more discussions, even if you agree on one language for the collaboration. It does require some guided reflection to help students unpack the experience and apply learning going forward - more on that next week.

Click the + column to start a new post.  If you have experience communicating across languages, share some stories, tips, challenges and success you’ve had that could help your students and your colleagues as they prepare their COIL collaborations.  If you don’t have a lot of experience, do you have concerns, questions, things you’re looking forward to?

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Welcome to the EOP COIL  workshop!  Our goal over the next 3 weeks is to develop your collaboration plan so it's ready to implement.

All you need for this workshop is included in this Padlet or via a link. If you have not used Padlet before, watch the video below (scroll to the bottom of this post).

This workshop includes asynchronous work and one synchronous meeting per week, plus time you will schedule with your partner to work out the details of your collaboration.  Columns are labelled by week. We will focus on creating the plan, including your overall goals for the collaboration,  questions and format for the discussions, your project if you will include one, and how students will demonstrate their learning.  We'll look at culture and how it frames communication expectations, language issues and using reflective practice to help your students' critical thinking skills.

That being said, being flexible is one of the main ingredients for COIL success!  If you fall behind, jump back in and catch up as soon as you can.

Please ask any general questions you have, anytime, by posting them in the Water Cooler column (the last column all the way to the right) or by emailing me directly.

When you're comfortable with Padlet, move one column to the right and jump in!

Hope

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Hello, my name is Jose Luis Jimenez, I'm the COIL coordinator at Universidad Católica Andres Bello UCAB. I'm very excited to share with you this wonderful opportunity for professional development. I'm a nature lover and I enjoy mountain hiking. In this post, I want to share with you one of my nature artworks.