International Nursing students, accompanied by Professor Ellen Tangney from the State University of New York (SUNY), were on a week – long exchange programme at the Durban University of Technology (DUT), last week, to gain knowledge and skills to enhance Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) learning between DUT and the US University.
COIL which was founded in 2006 by the State University of New York Professor Jon Rubin, acts as a model for fostering cross-cultural student competence through the development of multicultural learning environments that link University or college classes in different countries online.
The Department of Nursing under the helm of the Executive Dean in the Faculty of Health Sciences at DUT, Professor Nokuthula Sibiya, held the ‘Meet and Greet’ tea for the visitors from SUNY Ulster College, and to cement the partnership of further collaborations, going forward.
Last year, 2018, DUT’s staff members Elliot Makhathini and Mirriam Siluma, were privileged to be given the chance to travel to the State University of New York (SUNY), to visit SUNY Ulster College and to meet nursing Professors and students, as well as to benefit from the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) initiative.
Welcoming the local DUT staff and international guests was DVC: Teaching and Learning (Acting), Professor Theo Andrew, who emphasised that network collaborations were very important as DUT thrives on such academic interchanges.
“Knowledge is infinite, the more networks and collaborations DUT have, the more DUT tends to learn more knowledge in three – dimensions, ways DUT thought would only be reduced to certain disciplines,” he said.
Professor Sibiya added that DUT is the first University in the African continent to successfully implement COIL. “In South Africa, DUT is one of the universities that has successfully implemented COIL and I am proud to say my faculty has Penny Orton as the institutional coil coordinator as well as Dr Anisa Vahed of the Dental Technology Department, who are instrumental in ensuring COIL is implemented in all faculties. As executive Dean of the Health Sciences, I am in full support of COIL and I hope this is just a start of a good partnership between us and SUNYUlster College,” she said.
The visiting students and Professor were given an academic tour with DUT’s Makhathini, to meet with South African traditional healers, and visit rural clinics and the Imbalenhle Community Health Centre Psychiatric clinic.
Expressing their delight in visiting DUT and touring Durban, Prof Tangney from SUNYUlster College spoke about their productive week as well as of their COIL partnership with DUT. “We have been on a local tour to various traditional healers and clinics which were amazing and very fruitful. The warmth that we had felt and received was so great. We learnt that medical services offered at the various places we had visited were very patient – centred and that was just remarkable,” she said excitedly.
The international guests were also treated to some much – deserved sight – seeing around Durban before they left for the USA.
Pictured: The DUT staff and international guests at the ‘Meet and Greet’ tea.
Waheeda Peters
