Throughout May 2024, Kalyna Pashkevych, Dean of the Faculty of Design, and Iryna Davydenko, Associate Professor of the Department of Art and Fashion Design, completed a three-week international internship SUNY COIL+ Culture Workshop. This is an online course designed to prepare and improve COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) practice. The internship was organized by the State University of New York (SUNY) in Oneonta (USA). In addition to KNUTD teachers, the representatives of the following universities were involved in the international internship: University of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; King AbdulAziz University, Saudi Arabia; Texas State University, United States; University of North Carolina Greensboro, United States.
Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) brings together students and teachers in different countries for joint projects and communication within the framework of learning, promoting professional development for the internationalization of teachers and students. COIL projects can be worked on in real time with students from different countries, as well as "asynchronously", that is, students can work at a time convenient for them, regardless of the time zone. The COIL Internship is a valuable resource for lecturers who wish to develop and teach interdisciplinary courses based on cross-cultural collaboration.
The internship program consisted of several online workshops using Padlet technologies and included the development of one's own COIL project for further implementation. The language of communication was English, which helped to improve the teachers’ international professional and intercultural competencies. The international internship SUNY COIL + Culture Workshop provided an opportunity for the teachers not only to deepen their knowledge about COIL and gain valuable practical skills, but also to establish connections with highly qualified specialists who seek to cooperate with KNUTD in the implementation of new projects. The joint international project Fashion for a Good Life on responsible consumption of clothes was discussed; it is planned that students will conduct research in multicultural teams and perform tasks to highlight multicultural concepts of sustainable consumption of clothes.
During the internship, the participants gained knowledge and skills in using COIL tools to promote intercultural cooperation, enrich educational content, and establish global partnerships. In particular, COIL cases, effective integration strategies, project management technologies, and intercultural communication tools were studied. The lecturers from Saudi Arabia and the USA shared their experience of COIL implementation with their Ukrainian colleagues. The participants developed personal action plans for integrating COIL into teaching practice.
We would like to thank our colleagues from the USA Windle Hope, training manager, COIL coordinator and Cosette Joyner Martinez, the initiator of the project, for providing the opportunity for KNUTD teachers to undergo training!
04.07.2024
