Partnerships

Locating the right partner can often be the most challenging aspect of the design process. As in developing any type of close working relationship, you need to find a good fit where there is an alignment of goals and a sense of trust. Adding the complexity of crossing cultures demands sensitivity on both sides.

Module Overview and Sections

In this module, you will…

  1. Discover resources available to help you find a COIL partner
  2. Determine information to collect from your partner
  3. Review tips for a successful collaboration
  4. Examine ways to encourage decoloniality in COIL

Finding a Partner

Partnership Considerations

Tips for a Successful Collaboration

COIL and Decoloniality

How Can I Find a Partner?

There are a variety of internal and external resources to assist you in locating a partner for your project.

Internal

  • Bring Your Own Partner: Using existing working relationships with educators from personal or professional networks.

External

  • COIL Connect: The site is open to all those interested in Virtual Exchange (VE), with a focus on the COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) format. General membership is free.
  • Stevens Initiative: This initiative is committed to expanding the field of virtual exchange through three pillars of work: advocacy, investments, and knowledge hub.General member is free.
  • SUNY COIL Global Network: Check their website for annual membership fee.

Project Spotlight

Lynn Hartle, Emerita Professor of Education, Penn State Brandywine (formerly)

Luciana Cabrini Simões Calvo, Professor of Language Education, State University of Maringá, Maringá, Brazil

Dr. Luciana Calvo from Maringá, Brazil used the COIL collaboration system from Penn State and requested an e-introduction to Penn State’s Dr. Lynn Hartle, who was also looking for COIL partners. After a series of exchanges and realized common goals, the two professors utilized their knowledge of VE task design (Kurek & Hartman, 2017), which led to four COIL projects.

In their four-year partnership (Dr. Lynn Hartle retired in June 2024), they had three articles accepted for publication and one in process, as well as one paper and two extended abstracts published in Conference Proceedings. Also, they delivered 15 International Conference presentations related to the process and outcomes of their VE collaborations and co-taught a module on VE/COIL for the Course “Cultural Dimension of Online Learning,” facilitated by academics from six partner universities.

What Are Some Aspects to Consider for Partner Selection?

Because of the inter-disciplinary potential for COIL projects, you are encouraged to explore connections BEYOND your academic discipline. Here are some aspects to consider when searching for a partner:

Logistical

  • Desired percentage of synchronous vs. asynchronous work in your COIL collaboration
  • Time zone differences
  • Academic calendars
  • Availability of specific technology tools
  • Timeline for developing the collaboration

Academic aspects

  • Is there a natural project that is of interest to both classes?
  • Shared learning objectives
  • Language(s) for collaboration
  • Expectations for student participation
  • Flexibility of design for the COIL collaboration

Compatibility aspects

  • Approaches to teaching and learning
  • Preferred communication medium
  • Communication style
  • Personal comfort with cross cultural interactions
  • Comfort level with partner’s culture
  • Availability for planning
  • Expectations of each partner for the COIL collaboration

Do We Have to Be from the Same Academic Subject Matter?

COIL has great interdisciplinary potential. Bringing together students from different parts of the world and different academic subject areas enriches the project. This helps to strengthen collaboration as students must rely on their partners’ subject matter expertise to complete the project. Here are some examples of other cross-disciplinary projects completed by Penn State faculty.

Examples of cross-disciplinary projects

Examples of Cross-Disciplinary Projects Long Description

The image titled “Examples of Cross-Disciplinary Projects” showcases a table of academic subject pairings and their corresponding project outcomes. The table has three columns labeled:

  1. “ACADEMIC SUBJECT X” (green header)
  2. “ACADEMIC SUBJECT Y” (yellow header)
  3. “PROJECT” (blue header).

Each of the 8 rows pairs two academic subjects and describes a collaborative project. For each row, the subjects are on the left and center, connected by a “+” symbol and the corresponding project on the right, connected by an “=” symbol.

  1. Health & Human Development + English as a Foreign Language
    1. Project: Presentation comparing accessibility of workplace and leisure spaces in respective local communities.
  2. Nursing + Psychology
    1. Project: Presentation on happiness and well-being across cultures (UN’s SDG #3: Wellbeing).
  3. English Composition + English as a Foreign Language
    1. Project: Complete a food memoir – shared menus and recipes, translated from Spanish into English.
  4. Biotechnology + Plant & Microbial Biology
    1. Project: Created solutions for one or more of the UN’s SDGs to present during Startup Week at Penn State.
  5. Management + Information Sciences
    1. Project: Pitch a new venture and product for the Croatian market.
  6. Rehabilitation & Human Services + Recreation Studies
    1. Project: Created manuals to assist managers in supervising employees with mental health conditions.
  7. Business Writing + Engineering
    1. Project: Created an employment elevator pitch for their student partner.
  8. Business + Computing & Information Technology
    1. Project: Write about the impact of globalization on a location in Jamaica and then create a visual reality video/tour based on that location.

What Important Information Should Be Collected from Your Partner?

Educators often meet several weeks or months (average 3-6 months) in advance of introducing the project to their students. This time is used to get to know one another better and to learn about one another’s course topics, assignments, their academic expectations from their institution, expectations for the students, academic calendar, holidays, teaching style, etc.

Clear communication between partners is essential for the success of your project!

Here is a list of important information to discuss during your initial meeting with your partner. It is not an exhaustive list, but it provides a good starting point for discussion.

Contact Information

  • Email address
  • Preferred method of remote meetings (Zoom, Teams, other?)
  • What’s App or Telegram contact information
  • Preferred program for sharing files
  • Agreed frequency of communication for project planning and project delivery
  • Agreed response time for electronic communication (24 hours?)
  • Preferred day and time for remote meetings
  • Time zone (in relation to GMT)
  • When does daylight savings time begin and end?

Students

  • How many students will be enrolled at each site?
  • How old are students typically?
  • What is the students’ motivation for participating in this project? Is their participation voluntary or required?
  • Will the students receive marks for participation and quality of assignment(s)?
  • What is the plan for students to communicate with you and your partner throughout the project? What tool will be used?
  • Do students typically work on projects outside of class time? Evenings? Weekends? Holidays?
  • What kind of outside activities might impact students’ participation? Family commitments? Employment responsibilities? Student clubs and organizations? Sports?

Language

  • What is the primary language spoken by your students?
  • What is the language of instruction used at your institution?
  • If the course will be taught in English and English is not your students’ first language, generally how fluent are your students when reading, writing and speaking in English?
  • Will translation services be required? Do you have a consistent contact?
  • How will you deal with language issues should they arise?

Technology

  • Name of institution’s primary (centrally supported) Learning Management System (LMS) (such as Moodle, Blackboard, or Canvas), if applicable
  • Engagement in synchronous (real-time) in-class activities vs. students communicating synchronously and asynchronously outside of class time
  • Issues of technology that might be most troublesome or threatening and plan to overcome those issues
  • Preferred platform for student discussions and submissions

Semester Calendar

  • During which semesters might this course run?
  • What are the start and end dates of the semester?
  • What are the days and times of your course?
  • What holidays/breaks are scheduled during your COIL project?

Project-Specific Information

  • Tentative start and end dates for student collaboration
  • Technological resources available or preferred for collaboration
  • Technological restrictions for collaboration
  • How will you decide what content to use?
  • Who will be responsible for reviewing, editing, and posting the content?
  • Global learning objectives
  • Assessment tools to measure global learning objectives, not course learning objectives
  • Modules/themes or assignments of your existing course syllabus that would lend themselves best to cross-cultural reflection by students (Be specific.)

Tips for a Successful Collaboration

Now that you have found a partner, here are some tips for a successful collaboration:

Project Collaboration Tips from University of Minnesota's open resource COIL workbook.

Project Collaboration Tips Long Description

The image titled “Project Collaboration Tips” has a central title surrounded by 10 browser window-style boxes containing collaboration advice. Arrows point outward from the center to each box. The tips from the top left and then around in a circular motion similar to an analog clock are as follows:

  1. Clarify Roles (top-left): “Explicitly state responsibilities: who is responsible for posting content, addressing students’ questions, etc.”
  2. Revisit Goals & Accomplishments Often (top-center):
    1. “Evaluate your work throughout the process.”
    2. “Revise goals, outcomes, and outputs as necessary.”
  3. Give Detailed & Specific Instructions (top-right): No additional text provided.
  4. Understand That Mistakes Will Happen (middle-right): No additional text provided.
  5. Draft Simple & Concrete Goals Focused on Results (bottom-right corner): No additional text provided.
  6. Be Organized (bottom-right):
    1. “Determine which tools you will use to collaborate (e.g., Google Drive and Calendar).”
    2. “Develop a detailed timeline for your project.”
    3. “Schedule regular meetings with your partner.”
    4. “Send email invitations with an attached agenda.”
    5. “Share meeting notes and assign action items and deadlines.”
  7. Discuss How, When & By Whom Decisions Will Be Made (bottom-center): No additional text provided.
  8. Focus on Equitable Rather Than Equal Participation (bottom-left corner): “Assign tasks based upon who is best suited rather than making sure that both partners accomplish an equal share of the work.”
  9. Establish Ground Rules (bottom-left): “For example, what happens when a scheduled meeting is missed?”
  10. Discuss Individual Expectations (middle-left): No additional text provided.

Expert Advice

“Make sure you have mutual goals of what you expect from the VE, i.e. students just communicating or a full project with embedded research component; communicate often and find a great easy way such as WhatsApp; enjoy the process of the planning and collaboration as well as the outcomes for professors and students; and make the VE a natural part of the coursework you would already be doing with students so it doesn’t seem like something extra for the students and the professors.”

Lynn Hartle, Emerita Professor of Education Penn State Brandywine (formerly)

Expert Advice

“Finding synergy, being flexible, and being open for new ideas and projects are also important elements for collaboration. We have become friends and feel close even though most of our exchanges are virtual, with only one week together in person at a conference in Leon, Spain.”

Luciana Cabrini Simões Calvo, Professor of Language Education, State University of Maringá, Maringá, Brazil

Partnership Challenges

Even strong partnerships may encounter challenges. Be prepared and be proactive. Explore some common challenges and review the suggestions to help mitigate those challenges.

Cultural Differences

Challenge: Diverse cultural norms and communication styles can lead to misunderstanding or misaligned expectations.

Suggested resolutions:

  • Building trust and respect can help bridge cultural gaps.
  • Foster open communication and cultural sensitivity.
  • Educate participants about each other’s culture.
  • Establish clear guidelines for interaction.

Time Zone Differences

Challenge: Coordinating meetings and activities across different time zones can be complex and inconvenient.

Suggested resolutions:

  • Use scheduling tools to find overlapping times that work for all parties.
  • Be flexible.
  • Consider asynchrnous communication methods to accomodate varying schedules.

Technological Issues

Challenge: Institutions might have varying levels of access to technology or different platforms, leading to compatilibity issues.

Suggested resolutions:

  • Agree on a common set of tools to ensure that all participants are comfortable using them.
  • Provide training of resources to help everyone understand how to use the chosen technology.

Communication Barriers

Challenge: Language differences and varying levels of proficiency can impact effective communication.

Suggested resolutions:

  • Use clear and simple language.
  • Encourage participants to ask for clarification if needed.
  • Consider providing language support translation tools if necessary. 

Course Alignment & Integration

Challnege: Aligning curricula and integrating COIL activities into existing courses can be challenging.

Suggested resolutions:

  • Collaboratively design activities that complement both institution’s curicula.
  • Regularly adjust the course design to ensure that it meets educational objectives.

Resource Allocation

Challenge: Balancing resources required for COIL activities, such as time, effort and financial support, can be difficult.

Suggested resolutions:

  • Clearly define roles and responsibilities and ensure that all parties commit to the required resources.
  • Seek external funding or institutional support if necessary.

COIL and Decoloniality

COIL offers Third Space learning opportunities in which “seemingly disparate knowledges can be equitably compared and function to work together” (LeGrange, 2016, p.10). Educators need to be aware of potential pitfalls that may occur in EDGE partnerships to avoid perpetuating colonial attitudes.

Ways to Encourage Decoloniality with COIL

Ways to Encourage Decoloniality in COIL Long Description

The image is titled “Ways to Encourage Decoloniality in COIL” and displays eight tips coming dashed lines from icons to corresponding text. The icons are arranged in a circular layout also made of dashed lines. Each of the sets of text/tips are either to the left or to the right in a column.

Tips and Descriptions:

  1. Understand Power Dynamics (Top-left, light blue):
    1. “Recognize and address the power imbalances between institutions from different regions.”
    2. “Be mindful of how historical and contemporary inequalities might influence interactions and perceptions.”
  2. Prioritize Local Knowledge (Middle-left, blue):
    1. “Respect and incorporate the local knowledge and perspectives of all participants.”
    2. “Ensure that diverse voices are valued and that the expertise of local communities is recognized.”
  3. Foster Mutual Respect (Bottom-left, teal):
    1. “Create an environment of mutual respect and openness.”
    2. “Encourage dialogue that values different cultural perspectives and experiences equally.”
  4. Engage in Critical Reflection (Bottom-left corner, peach):
    1. “Evaluate whether the engagement is perpetuating any form of inequality and ensure it supports equitable learning experiences.”
  5. Develop Inclusive Curriculum (Top-right, orange):
    1. “Develop a curriculum that is inclusive and representative of multiple perspectives.”
    2. “Avoid content that may inadvertently reinforce stereotypes or biases.”
  6. Be Sensitive to Cultural Differences (Middle-right, brown):
    1. “Tailor communication and interactions to be respectful of various cultural norms and practices.”
  7. Ensure Equitable Resources (Bottom-right, green):
    1. “Ensure that resources and opportunities are shared equitably among all participants.”
  8. Provide Feedback (Bottom-right corner, yellow):
    1. “Establish clear channels for feedback and make adjustments based on input from all participants.”
    2. “Address concerns immediately.”

*Penn State refers to Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) as Experiential Digital Global Engagement (EDGE).

References

Le Grange L. (2016). What is (post)qualitative research? South African Journal of Higher Education, 32(5), 1–14.