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Encyclopedia of International Higher Education Systems and Institutions pp 1–3Cite as

Collaborative Online International Learning in Higher Education

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Synonyms

Virtual exchange; Virtual mobility

Definition

Collaborative online international learning (COIL) is an online learning in an international setting, with interactive involvement of students and faculty from different international and intercultural backgrounds in and outside the classroom.

Online international learning is mostly associated with distance education and massive open online courses (MOOCs). However, a more gradual digital addition to international teaching and learning is taking place with less attention. A survey by the European University Association (Gaebel et al. 2014) among European universities showed a strong interest in e-learning, in particular MOOCS, but joint inter-institutional collaboration in e-learning received limited attention. Only 8% (p. 47) said that e-learning was an opportunity to internationalize the curriculum.

This ignores the important contribution that “virtual mobility,” “virtual exchange,” or “online intercultural exchange,” as it is...

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References

  • De Wit, Hans. 2013. COIL – virtual mobility without commercialization. University World News, Issue 274, 1 June 2013.

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  • De Wit, Hans. 2016. Internationalisation and the role of online intercultural exchange. 2016. In Online intercultural exchange: Policy, pedagogy, practice, ed. Robert O’Dowd and Tim Lewis, 69–82. New York: Routledge.

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  • European Commission. 2013. European higher education in the world. Communication form the Commission to the European Parliament, The Council, The European Economic and Social committee and the Committee of the Regions. Brussels, 11.7.2013 COM(2013) 499 final. Retrieved from http://eur-lex.europe.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2013:0499:FIN:en:PDF.

  • Gaebel, M., V. Kupriyanova, R. Morais, and E. Colucci. 2014. E-learning in European higher education institutions. Results of a mapping survey conducted in October-December 2013. Brussels: European University Association.

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  • O’Dowd, Robert, and Tim Lewis. 2016. Online intercultural exchange: Policy, pedagogy, practice. New York: Routledge.

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  • UNI Collaboration. 2014. Position paper: Virtual exchange in the European Higher Education area, 2014. Retrieved from http://revistas.usc.es/export/sites/default/gcompostela/en/descargas/COIL._Position_paper.pdf.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for International Higher Education, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA

    Hans de Wit

Authors
  1. Hans de Wit
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hans de Wit .

Section Editor information

  1. Center for International Higher Education, Boston College, Boston, MA, USA

    Hans de Wit

  2. Center for International Higher Education, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA

    Laura E. Rumbley

  3. Centre for Higher Education Internationalisation, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano, Lombardy, Italy

    Fiona Hunter

  4. Center for International Higher Education, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

    Lisa Unangst

  5. Center for International Higher Education, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

    Edward Choi

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© 2018 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Cite this entry

de Wit, H. (2018). Collaborative Online International Learning in Higher Education. In: Encyclopedia of International Higher Education Systems and Institutions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9553-1_234-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9553-1_234-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-017-9553-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-9553-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EducationReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Education

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