Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL)
Guidance for staff
Course Approval
From academic year 2024/25 all COIL activity should be recorded on the course specification, for all new and courses, as detailed in this guidance. This enables:
- institutional understanding of how COIL is being used and what activities are being offered;
- institutional understanding of what and how much COIL activity is being undertaken with partners
- a record of COIL activity on the HEAR student transcript;
- best practice in COIL activity to be shared.
From July 2024, course approval forms will include a field asking course proposers if the course includes a COIL activity. It is recommended that all Boards of Study familiarise their members with this guidance as part of the course and programme approval process.
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Is this course Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL)? Guidance regarding COIL and how to adapt courses so that they include COIL can be found here: [link to be inserted] |
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Yes / No drop-down box |
Using this guidance in conjunction with the checklist section, course proposers and Boards of Study should make sure that the course complies with COIL guidelines to be declared as such on the course approval system.
Note that while international collaboration may take place in a range of ways – for example, via guest lecturers, speakers, engagement with international student groups, colleagues, or mentors – to be defined as COIL the course must comply with the checklist provided. Other short collaborative engagements and interactions are not to be discouraged and will often be very valuable, but will not be recognised as COIL as defined above and should therefore not be declared on the course specification form as COIL.
If course proposers or Boards of Study have any questions, please contact your College contact in Academic and Digital Development.
Monitoring of Key Performance Indicators
Both physical and virtual mobility are measured through a student’s MyCampus placement record. Different codes for physical and virtual activity allow us to distinguish between physical and virtual mobility in reporting.
The code to use to record COIL is:
| Group | Type | Code |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| COI | VEX | VCR |
COIL virtual activities |
The start and end dates entered should be from the date of the beginning of the COIL activity within the course to the date this activity concludes. The reporting code makes clear that this is virtual activity, and specifically COIL activity.
Recognition of COIL on the Higher Education Achievement Record (HEAR)
Recording the COIL activity on MyCampus as a placement and checking ‘Make visible on HEAR’ will mean that the activity appears on the HEAR as a placement.