On October 17, 2024, Khmelnytskyi National University hosted an event dedicated to getting acquainted with the possibilities and advantages of implementing COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning). The event was held as part of Erasmus Days, initiated by the National Erasmus Office in Ukraine, and became an important platform for teachers who seek to internationalize the educational process through modern internationalization tools.
Rector of the university, Serhiy Matyukh, welcomed the participants and emphasized the strategic importance of supporting educational innovations, in particular virtual exchanges for the development of the university and its international cooperation. He focused on the fact that the university continues to open new opportunities for students and teachers in a global context and declared the university's support for those who introduce innovations in the educational process of KhNU.
Проректор з науково-педагогічної роботи Катерина Скиба наголосила на потенціалі віртуальних обмінів в межах COIL для розвитку міжкультурної комунікації та міжнародної співпраці, що відповідає викликам сучасної освіти. Проректор Віктор Лопатовський також підкреслив важливість імплементації COIL у освітні програми та озвучив можливі шляхи його інтеграції у навчальний процес університету.
As part of the event, presentations by teachers who have successfully implemented COIL or are in the process of implementing it were presented. Especially, professor of the Department of International Economic Relations Ilona Dumanska gave a speech on the topic "COIL as an effective tool for internationalization at home: a recipe for success", during which she shared the successful experience of implementing COIL "Moving Minds" with a colleague from the University of Applied Sciences UCLL (Belgium). In her report, she emphasized the importance of communication between teachers who carry out COIL, organizational moments and the qualitative impact of virtual exchanges on preparing students for future professional implementation in a global environment. Note that the experience of implementing COIL "Moving Minds" was highly appreciated by specialists of the National Agency for Quality Assurance of Higher Education and was selected for presentation as a best educational practice during the panel discussion "Internationalization in Higher Education: Opportunities and Challenges for the System of Quality Assurance of Education" at the Ukrainian Education Quality Forum (UQAF-2024).
Associate Professor of the Department of Germanic Philology and Translation Studies Yulia Davydyuk presented a report on the topic "The advantages of virtual mobility for philologists: new horizons in intercultural communication." She emphasized how virtual exchanges contribute to the improvement of intercultural communication skills, which is extremely important in today's environment. Currently, associate professor Yulia Davydyuk is implementing COIL with a colleague from the University of South Florida (USA). During the presentation of her COIL course, Yuliya Davidyuk talked about the peculiarities of the program preparation and showed what types of team activities students perform.
Professor of the Department of Computer Information and Integrated Systems Serhii Lysenko presented the online platform "Single Information Space", created as part of the ERASMUS+ MoveX project (https://move-x.khmnu.edu.ua/), which is used to organize virtual academic exchanges between partner universities of the project and other institutions of higher education in Ukraine and the world. The platform works according to the model of microcredit courses (microqualifications, microcredentials), which contributes to the expansion of academic mobility opportunities.
Positive feedback from teachers and students who participated in virtual exchanges indicates that Khmelnytskyi National University is actively and successfully integrating internationalization tools into the educational process. This approach opens up new perspectives for international cooperation and is an effective tool for internationalization at home.
At the end of the event, a practical session took place, during which participants filled out applications to find COIL partners. Vice-rector Kateryna Skyba in her closing speech emphasized the importance of such events for the development of international cooperation and encouraged teachers to actively participate in similar programs in the future. The participants also received gifts from the National Erasmus Office in Ukraine as a symbol of support for their efforts to internationalize the educational process.
The materials of the event, including speakers' presentations and the COIL Partner Search Form, are available for download at the link (login from corporate mail):
The QR code to download the documents is available below.
For additional consultations, participants can contact the e-mail address iro@khmnu.edu.ua.
Information from the International Relations Office