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

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.

-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.

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.

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?

Some important logistical considerations:

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.

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.

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

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?

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.

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.

 

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. 

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.

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.

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?

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.  

Authors

Consider what you can do to support your partner and their students?

Typically, a COIL collaboration lasts for several weeks during the course, running as a class project during that time. Most of the work your students will do on their COIL Collaboration happens outside of regular class time. 

COIL is designed by you with your COIL teaching partner, and therefore can be designed to meet the overall learning objectives of your class.

For more information on COIL, see https://bit.ly/whatisCOIL

 

Please note that for maximum benefit, reflection should happen throughout the COIL Collaboration.