By Dr Alun DeWinter, Research Centre Global Learning: Education and Attainment, Coventry University

Just before the 2020 Christmas break, iKudu delivered training to the consortium Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) partnerships. Created and delivered by Work Group 2 members Eva Haug, Alun DeWinter, Lize-Marie Mitchell, and Ruth O’Brien, the course consisted of six online modules and four interactive sessions to offer a starting guide for COIL creation.

During November and December 2020, colleagues from across Europe and South Africa were introduced to a variety of concepts and considerations for the development of a COIL project, ranging from theoretical, conceptual, technical, and teaching/learning engagement issues. The module content was also supported by a range of activities, extra reading, and multimedia sources. The training was particularly enriched by the training experiences of Eva Haug and Coventry University’s Centre for Global Engagement, both of whom have many excellent years of experience in COIL training. 

The online modules were also kindly hosted by the University of the Free State, with extra thanks to Lize-Marie Mitchell, Nooreen Adam, Chevon Slambee, and Johannes Möller for assisting the team in transliterating and hosting the content on the Blackboard virtual learning environment. 

The iKudu training Blackboard splash page

As many of the iKudu consortium members had little to no prior experience with COIL delivery, the first module and workshop focused on understanding the foundations of COIL and encouraging all participants to discuss their hopes and concerns around using COIL. Delivered via Zoom, the workshops offered a mixture of lecture-style content, activities, and break-out rooms, which not only allowed the content to come alive, but also encouraged participants from all areas of the consortium to get to know each other a little better and to share the experience of taking the first steps in COIL design and delivery.  

Subsequent modules examined issues such as content planning, internationalised learning outcomes, student motivation and management, technologies, assessment, and reflection. In addition, a spotlight was placed on the development of intercultural competences and decolonisation – concepts that are very close to the heart of iKudu and the spirit of creating truly equitable collaborative experiences.

Participants were encouraged to think about ways of bringing students together to promote mutual understanding and to work in partnership, and the academic COIL delivery staff were challenged to think of ways to challenge traditional Western models of teaching and learning in order to create innovative and decolonised teaching and learning activity. 

Overall, an average of more than 30 participants took part in the training during the interactive sessions, with all attendees helping to create a lively atmosphere and contributing to some very interesting discussions on COIL, intercultural competences, and decolonisation. The sessions were well received, and the interactive workshops were a particular joy to be involved with – everyone learned so much about COIL and each other. 

As we move into the next phase of iKudu COIL delivery, please keep a lookout for news stories from the next wave of exciting South African-European collaborative projects and to find out more about the types of activity that iKudu is delivering. Please also look forward to future information from Work Group 1, which has also undertaken an appreciative enquiry into views and attitudes on internationalisation, COIL, and decolonisation of a wide range of stakeholders across the consortium.

If you would like more information regarding the iKudu training or are interested in the partnerships that iKudu is fostering, please contact the team at iKudu@ufs.ac.za