Finance and Business Studies students enthusiastic about COIL courses

Gaining international experience without needing to study abroad is the opportunity COIL projects offer. COIL stands for ‘Collaborative Online International Learning’. Using this sustainable method, students from the Business Studies and Finance degree programmes at the Inholland University of Applied Sciences recently created their own online game around the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The project involved collaboration with foreign universities in Ghent (HoGent), Berlin (HTW), and Madrid (CEU San Pablo). There were also sessions with students from Canada and Indonesia. 

Last year, the Finance degree programmes in Rotterdam launched the COIL pilot. Students successfully set up a game on the SDGs and rated the project with a generous pass. A great testament to the learning experience and value of cross-cultural collaboration. 

Getting started online with SDGs in Europe
Based on the positive experiences with this international project, it was rolled out across the whole of Inholland this year. Students from Alkmaar, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Diemen from the relevant programmes who wished to demonstrate their intercultural competence and learning outcomes could apply. Students were then selected on the basis of their motivation and placed in a diverse team for an interdisciplinary learning experience, in keeping with flexible and innovative education.

The online nature of COIL projects means they are inclusive and low-threshold. They allow students to gain an international experience from home. And they give students the opportunity to meet online to learn about different cultures, language barriers, and the challenges they will face as future professionals.

‘COIL projects make international exchange highly accessible’
In the words of a participating partner professor from HTW Berlin: ‘COIL projects make international exchange highly accessible to all. They give every student the opportunity to gain experiences in an international environment without too much hassle. I think making COIL a regular part of the degree programme would be an amazing idea. This will give everyone the chance to get a taste of an international exchange. COIL projects remove obstacles and give students a unique international experience that they cannot get any other way.’

Students are happy to share their enthusiasm about COIL after the sessions. ‘I most enjoyed the interactivity and the fact that it’s not boring at all’, one student revealed. A fellow student: ‘What a great idea to communicate in this way with students from different countries. It helps you to learn a bit more about the world around you.’ And: ‘It was really cool that we learned so much about the SDGs and other cultures.’

Canada and Indonesia
In addition to the European sessions mentioned above, just before the spring break, many hundreds of second-year Business Studies students participated in an international project with students from Canada (Durham College, St. Lawrence College, Fleming College) and Indonesia (Universitas Syiah Kuala). They did this to explore the cultural and economic differences between the three countries, as well as international supply chains and sustainability. With more than 650 participants from Inholland and partner institutions, this was the largest COIL ever organised by Inholland.

Similar to the European COIL project, this programme offers students an opportunity to get acquainted with a foreign country without needing to travel abroad. Twan Franken, lecturer in Business Studies: ‘It was nice to see how students found challenges with each other and engaged in conversation. Sometimes with their hands and feet.’ Jeroen Triesscheijn, lecturer in Business Studies: ‘It was quite challenging to learn to deal with the big cultural differences between the partners when setting up the programme.’