The Directorate of International Education and Partnerships in conjunction with the Durban University of Technology introduced the Collaborative Online and International Learning (COIL) Staff Development Workshop at the Rendezvous Restaurant, Steve Biko Campus on the 29 to 30 May 2018.

In attendance were: Professor Krista Rodriguez from the Monroe Community College (MCC, USA), Drs. Anisa Vahed and Strini Pillay (DUT), the IEP Office and lecturers from different faculties partaking in the workshop.

The COIL workshop was titled: “Are you ready to COIL?” It introduced the DUT staff from various faculties to the development and design of a COIL project that is intended to provide practical tools to complement the State University of New York (SUNY) COIL Orientation and Academy.

DUT’s senior lecturer/dental technologist in the Department of Dental Sciences, Dr Anisa Vahed, said COIL fosters faculty and student interaction between other students and teachers abroad through co-taught multicultural online and blended learning, encouraging student collaborations.

“COIL represents collaborative, meaning faculty to faculty, student to student engagement, team work, group negotiations, goal dynamic communication skilled practices. It’s all about how you collaborate between yourselves in terms of one academic to the other and which also means the interaction between student to student and facilitator to student,” she said.

Professor Rodriguez said the objective of the workshop is to introduce the concept of COIL and develop a plan of action for any COIL module.

“We’re going to try and give lecturers practical tools, ideas, suggestions along the way as we give them a taste of what they would need to undergo if they were going to develop their own COIL collaboration,” he said.

Lectures who have engaged in the COIL project, also shared their experiences at the workshop. DUT’s Head of Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Julian Pillay, said he has found the COIL programme to be very exciting and is looking forward to using COIL.

“What I’m particularly interested in is bringing in the graduate attribute to this whole project and the cultural dimension is a nice one, especially in human anatomy,” he said.

Professor Rodriguez will have a public lecture titled: Negotiating Decolonisation of the Curriculum, at DUT’s Ritson Campus on 1 June 2018.

Pictured: Attendees at  COIL workshop.

Tina Shabalala