The iKUDU project is looking for ​academics and teachers who are interested in setting up a COIL project with one of the project consortium partners. As the aim of the project is to build bridges between institutions on both sides of the North-South divide, each COIL project should be developed between a European and a South African partner institution.

Who?  The South African partner institutions are: University of the Free State, University of Limpopo, University of Venda, Durban University of Technology and Central University of Technology. A COIL can be developed based on previous cooperation, but this is not a requirement. The iKUDU team can assist you with finding a suitable COIL partner.

What?  COIL projects can be developed in any academic discipline and can even be interdisciplinary. The aim is to allow students from different geographical locations to jointly work on a group task through virtual cooperation, developing intercultural skills during this process.

When?  COIL projects usually take 4 to 8 weeks and can be organized anytime during the academic year.

Deadline?  The iKUDU team is accepting profiles from interested candidates who wish to engage in a COIL adventure for the whole duration of the project (until November 2022). 

If you wish to engage in a COIL initiative with one of the South African iKUDU partner institutions, a team of COIL experts will support you at all stages. Support can be given in terms of finding a COIL partner (if needed), developing a COIL project plan, etc.

Please contact Annelien Dewinter (Erasmus+ project advisor)

Within a COIL project, two or more classrooms from institutions that are located in different countries are virtually connected. Through this virtual connection, COIL is a means to create learning environments where students, teachers, faculties, and institutions from different cultures meet to jointly work on an educational project, emphasizing collaboration between learners.

As COIL specifically aims to link students from different cultural and geographical backgrounds, it functions as a teaching and learning paradigm that triggers the development of intercultural skills and competence. Cross-cultural dialogue is created whereby all learners and teachers enjoy the benefits from participating in an international experience. As such, COIL fits within the framework of internationalization at home. COIL allows universities to become more internationalized by facilitating the intercultural learning of their students and staff.

A COIL project is typically centred around a defined task that needs to be performed by students and ideally takes about 4 to 8 weeks. There is no fixed COIL template as each project is uniquely embedded within a specific curriculum or module.