FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 16, 2016

For More Information:
Glenville State College
Public Relations Department
(304) 462-4115

Ward (center) with her certificate of Reconocimiento along with faculty and members of the Internationalization staff at BUAP

GLENVILLE, WV - Glenville State College Web Technology Specialist and adjunct professor Leslie Ward recently traveled to Puebla, Mexico for two days to speak to faculty and administration at Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP) about Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL). COIL is different from online learning because the focus of COIL is cultural exchange, whereas online courses and massive open online courses (sometimes simply referred to as MOOCs) focus solely on course content and students interact very little, if at all. Under COIL, the original course content remains wholly or partially unchanged, and the partner teachers work together to develop collaborative modules that help meet the goals of the individual courses while enriching cultural awareness of the students enrolled in the courses.

On the first day of her trip, Ward met with the faculty of the Public Accounting department and gave a presentation on COIL and how she and her partner teacher Lety Poblano integrated COIL modules into their Web Design (at GSC) and Business English (at BUAP) courses. She discussed the challenges they faced, what they considered their successes, and their ‘lessons learned.’

Next, Ward met with about forty students, many who were involved in the Business English COIL course, and spoke to them about the culture of West Virginia, Gilmer County, and Glenville State College. She shared photographs with them and distributed items that exemplified West Virginia culture. The items included copies of the local and campus newspaper, GSC’s literary magazine, a lump of coal from the Beckley Exhibition Coal mine, pens and lanyards from GSC, American candies, and more. “I was greeted warmly and the students listened attentively and engaged in a lively question and answer session afterwards,” Ward said. “I felt sort of like a celebrity, posing for dozens of ‘selfies’ with the students.”

BUAP students who attended a lecture on the culture of West Virginia, Gilmer County, and Glenville State College with GSC's Leslie Ward

Some of the Business English students shared handwritten notes and small gifts of locally crafted jewelry and pottery to be delivered to their American peers at GSC. “This is really what COIL is about, in a nutshell,” remarked Ward. “Breaking barriers, making new friends, and forging alliances across cultural and geographic differences.”

On the second day of her trip, Ward conducted a master class which was attended by faculty representatives from various departments across BUAP’s campus. This master class also was attended by representatives from the university’s internationalization staff. Again, the focus was COIL and how she and Poblano implemented COIL in their own classrooms. Faculty and staff alike were excited about COIL and asked questions about how to locate partner teachers and adapt their courses into a successful COIL experience. The faculty and staff also received shirts, candies, and GSC Bluegrass Band CDs from Ward. In turn, she was presented with a certificate of ‘Reconocimiento por su participación como professor visitante’ – a certificate of recognition for her participation as a visiting professor.

“It was such an honor to be able to travel to Puebla and represent Glenville State College,” Ward said. “The COIL class was a lot of hard work, but the students, my partner teacher Lety, and I have reaped benefits far surpassing our expectations. It was exciting to be able to share all that with other educators while strengthening the partnership between GSC and BUAP.”

Glenville State College has coordinated several COILed courses over the past few semesters. Additionally, Assistant Professor of Spanish and Director of International Programs Dr. Megan Gibbons has been selected as a Fulbright scholar through the internationally recognized Fulbright Program. She will travel to the University of Oviedo in Asturias, Spain during the spring 2017 semester to conduct research on the COIL process.

For more information about COIL courses at GSC, contact Gibbons at Megan.Gibbons@glenville.edu or (304) 462-6328.