SUNY to Host Conference on Collaborative Online International Learning
June 6, 2012
New York City – The State University of New York’s Center for Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) will host its 4th annual conference this week, June 7 and 8, at the SUNY Global Center in New York City.
This year’s conference, Moving from Me to We: Breaking Boundaries and Building Bridges with Globally Networked Learning Partnerships, will be webcast live.
The COIL Center was formed in 2006, to expand the number of students having a significant cross-cultural experience while at university, because only about 2 percent of all students are able to participate in study abroad programs. These globally networked classes also serve as portals for SUNY students considering study abroad and for international students considering study at SUNY.
“By bringing many of the benefits of our study abroad programs to students online, we open up this one-of-a-kind opportunity for an international education to all of our students in New York and across the globe,” said SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher. “As a truly global university system that serves more than 19,000 students from more than 160 nations, SUNY is proud to be a leader in COIL.”
The two-day conference will bring together more than 130 faculty members, international programs staff, instructional design/technology staff, and upper-level university administrators from more than 25 SUNY campuses and more than 50 other institutions of higher education from the U.S. and abroad.
Both in-person and online attendees will be provided with a rich overview of the developing field of globally networked learning, and will share their experiences developing globally networked learning courses, initiatives, and best practices.
COIL is taking on a large role as SUNY carries out its strategic plan, The Power of SUNY, and specifically in one of its primary components—SUNY and the World—by addressing the need for greater international focus and providing a globally networked learning environment for students. COIL was also featured in the recently released SUNY Master Plan as a “Profile in Systemness,” which foregrounds its role as a liaison for individual campuses and a facilitator of collaboration among them.
The COIL Center’s mission is to encourage and support the development and implementation of collaborative online international courses as a format for experiential cross-cultural learning. Participating students are sensitized to the larger world by deepening their understanding of themselves, their culture, how they are perceived, and how they perceive others. These globally networked courses also intensify disciplinary learning in fields where engaging other cultural perspectives is key.
COIL seeks to build bridges between study abroad, instructional design, and teaching faculty through team-taught courses, thereby promoting, integrating and enhancing international education experiences across the curriculum. The COIL Center also strives to help international programs offices better integrate technology into their workflow.
About the State University of New York
The State University of New York, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state’s only college of optometry, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.4 million students amongst its entire portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2022, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit suny.edu.
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Holly Liapis
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