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Virtual Exchange & Coil: Transforming International Education Through Digital Collaboration
- Eaneilyka Simpled
- May 1
- 3 min read
Webinar with Karen McBride
In today’s increasingly interconnected world, international education is evolving—and digital collaboration is leading the way. This was the focus of a recent webinar featuring Karen McBride, Executive Director of Community Colleges for International Development (CCID) and an experienced COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) trainer. Since 2017, McBride has trained over 500 faculty and staff in designing impactful virtual exchange programs, with a core emphasis on intercultural learning and competency. Her expertise bridges strategy and practice, helping institutions around the globe create meaningful global learning experiences—without ever leaving the classroom.
Opening the session, McBride highlighted a telling data point: during the 2022/23 academic year, 116 U.S. institutions reported a total of 14,890 students engaged in online global learning experiences. While that figure may seem modest at first glance, it represents a significant and growing shift in how international engagement is approached—particularly in a post-pandemic era where accessibility and equity in education are front and center.
Unlike traditional study abroad programs, which often come with financial and logistical barriers, virtual exchange and COIL models democratize access, enabling students from diverse backgrounds to develop cross-cultural skills, work on joint projects, and build global awareness—entirely online.
4 Key Components of a COIL Course
Icebreaker/Socialization
Intercultural Learning
Project Collaboration
Reflection
The Power of Icebreakers in Virtual Exchange
Following the broader context, McBride turned the conversation to something that might seem simple but is deeply strategic in COIL design: icebreakers.
In virtual exchange settings, icebreakers do more than warm up a group—they create the foundation for effective intercultural collaboration. As McBride emphasized, these initial activities help participants understand diverse communication styles, navigate group dynamics, and establish trust early on. That trust becomes essential when students are working across time zones, languages, and cultural norms.
From identifying preferred communication channels to setting boundaries and even sparking friendships, icebreakers serve as the gateway to meaningful teamwork. They also introduce students to cultural learning in practice, not just theory—something COIL excels at embedding in real, human interactions.
Structure
Timeline of Execution
What is Intercultural Competence?
A key pillar in any COIL or virtual exchange initiative is intercultural competence—and Karen McBride didn’t gloss over its importance. She defined it simply: the ability to communicate and interact effectively with people from different cultural backgrounds. But beneath that lies a deeper skillset. It requires learners to adapt, contextualize, and stay open to unfamiliar perspectives. In digital classrooms where culture can’t be read from body language alone, this competence becomes even more vital.
McBride emphasized that intercultural competence isn’t just a soft skill—it’s a transformative one. It shapes how students approach collaboration, problem-solving, and global engagement. And when nurtured intentionally through COIL, it prepares learners not just to work across cultures—but to thrive within them.
Principles of Experiential Learning
Karen McBride highlighted that meaningful learning doesn’t just happen in theory—it happens through experience. Referencing David Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle, she emphasized that knowledge is most deeply formed when students engage directly with tasks, reflect on those experiences, and then apply what they’ve learned.
This process—from concrete experience to reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation—is at the core of COIL. Virtual exchanges give students the chance to immerse themselves in cross-cultural collaboration, then step back to make sense of it. That reflection turns fleeting moments into lasting insights.
The COIL Project
Karen McBride then walked participants through what a COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) project actually looks like in action. Typically running for a minimum of four weeks, these projects are integrated into existing courses and serve as a shared, structured space for students from different countries to co-create assignments, solve problems, or exchange perspectives.
Students are often grouped into teams and are expected to negotiate logistics and responsibilities among themselves—everything from setting rules and scheduling meetings, to determining task ownership and ensuring completion. These negotiations are where much of the intercultural learning happens: not just in the content they create, but in the process of working across time zones, languages, and expectations. While COIL projects can be run asynchronously, Karen emphasized the value of including at least some synchronous interaction to strengthen connection and collaboration.
Reflection
What is Partnership Conclave?
A highly focused B2B networking event designed exclusively for academic institutions seeking meaningful partnerships. The conclave brings together institutions serious about engaging in academic collaborations under one roof to accelerate the process and save institutions valuable resources.
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