Connect.
Engage.
Collaborate.
Welcome!
Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) connects students and professors in different countries for collaborative projects and discussions as part of their coursework.
COIL Collaborations between students and professors provide meaningful, significant opportunities for global experiences built into programs of study.
COIL enhances intercultural student team focused interaction through proven approaches to meaningful online and virtual engagement, while providing universities with a cost-effective way to ensure that their students are globally engaged.
The SUNY COIL Center pioneered the COIL model in the early 2000s, and has been at the forefront of empowering professors, students, programs and institutions to embrace diversity through inclusive teaching and learning focused on equity while connecting through difference.
We invite you to explore our website and learn about the possibilities when you bring COIL into your teaching and learning practice.
Introducing Our Host Campus
SUNY COIL is hosted on the campus of the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oneonta, a mid-size, public university with a commitment to expanding global education, applied learning and active pedagogy, and an institutional priority of building a more inclusive, equitable and diverse campus community where all students have the chance to thrive and succeed.
Originally established in 2004 on the SUNY Purchase campus, the SUNY COIL Center was located at SUNY System Administration for more than a decade before relocating to SUNY Oneonta in fall 2022.
SUNY Oneonta has a long history of incorporating COIL programming across academic disciplines and will serve as an incubator for innovative methods to engage students and campuses with peers around the world.
“We recognize the value of virtual exchange as a high-impact practice, integrating intercultural experiences into the curriculum in a sustainable way for the benefit of all students. SUNY Oneonta se enorgullece de ser el anfitrión de SUNY COIL.”
–SUNY Oneonta President Alberto J.F. Cardelle
What We Do
Join the SUNY COIL Global Network to advance your practice of COIL and virtual exchange, take advantage of members-only resources and events, and access our partnering platform and activities.
Interested in bringing COIL collaborations into your classes or institution? Want to take your knowledge and skills up a notch? Learn about COIL Professional Development workshops and consultancies.
Find out what’s new at the SUNY COIL Center, along with information on upcoming webinars, meetings, conferences and other events.
Meet our featured professor, Shamika Mitchell, and find out how she’s using COIL to give her students new opportunities and global connections.
COIL Methodology
COIL Collaborations are developed by partnering professors from different institutions who want to enrich their courses with student interaction and collaborative learning.
Professors work together to design and implement the COIL Collaboration, allowing COIL to be customized to meet the needs of any class, in any discipline. It takes planning and careful attention to design to have a successful COIL Collaboration that benefits students, professors and institutions.
Visit What is COIL? to learn more and see examples of past COIL Collaborations.
Finding a COIL Teaching Partner
The COIL model relies on faculty partners to plan, design, and guide collaborative experiences between their students. Finding and supporting good partnerships is therefore an important part of supporting successful COIL collaborations. The SUNY COIL Center has the experience and resources available to help your professors find the right partner for the right COIL collaboration at the right time.
As a member of the COIL Global Network, your institution will have access to Quarterly Virtual Partnering Fairs, where professors and coordinators meet to create partnerships focused on UN Sustainable Development Goals as well as all content areas, with opportunities to connect in Spanish, and Portuguese. The Partnering Fairs are supported by Partnering Bulletins, also occurring four times a year, showcasing professors actively seeking partnership.
Getting Started
Incorporating a COIL collaboration into your existing course doesn’t require an expensive technology platform or extensive redesign of your course. It requires an interest in innovative pedagogy, a bit of flexibility and enthusiasm, and some thoughtful preparation.
The SUNY COIL Center is here to help! Click on one of our offerings above to find out how we can help you.
Through the COIL Center’s selection of modular, fully online workshops, trained facilitators will help prepare you to develop a COIL Collaboration that meets the learning goals of your course.
Are you an administrator looking to bring COIL to your campus? The SUNY COIL Center offers customized in-person and online workshops, strategic planning support, assessment planning, onsite or online evaluations, and bespoke consultancies to help you meet your goals.
Just looking for more information? Visit What is COIL? to learn more.