We are very excited to start the new year with a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) partnership between Dr. Nadera Alborno, Ed.D. of American University in Dubai (AUD) and Dr. Maria Ines Marino, Ed.D. of Florida International University (FIU).
Students from the School of Communication in FIU will be collaborating on a COIL project with M.Ed. students in the Special Needs and Inclusion class at AUD to explore artistic expressions of #disability.
Director of FIU COIL, Dr. Stephanie Doscher, explains what COIL is: “With COIL, faculty located in different institutions and in different countries—teaching the same or complementary content—voluntarily work together to plan a module in which their students will collaborate in small groups to complete a complex task. Faculty design icebreaker activities and reflection exercises to facilitate transformational intercultural and disciplinary learning outcomes, and students build online teamwork skills using digital applications for synchronous and asynchronous communication and knowledge production. COIL is an accessible, inclusive, and equitable means of global learning, but it is also somewhat transgressive and involves significant commitment. A well-designed COIL brings teachers and students together across institutional, cultural, socioeconomic, linguistic, and disciplinary borders that often impede engagement with others abroad.” For more, visit coil.fiu.edu.
The main goal of this innovative project is to help change #mindsets and reach a deeper understanding of disability which we hope will inspire our teachers and society in general to create #equitableaccess and opportunities for ALL.
Additional Resources:
FIU Office of Collaborative Online International Learning
The Stevens Initiative at the Aspen Institute
American University in Dubai – School of Education
Florida International University – School of Communication
For more on Dr. Ines Marino:
FIU COIL Faculty Profiles – Dr. Ines Marino
