COIL – Spring 2022

In Spring 2022, students in the Spanish for Heritage Speaker courses (SPAN 135) taught by Dr. Antonella Calarota-Ninman had the chance to take part in the project COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) with students of Professor María de la Luz Arroyo Buruato from Tec Monterrey, Mexico.

COIL is an international virtual exchange program that promotes international and intercultural experiences by engaging students and professors to work collaboratively on projects and discussions.  Our students, working in small groups, were engaged in an Oral History project for over a month during which time they interviewed family members and built stories of different Hispanic communities with the goal of knowing more about their origins as well as creating bridges between families in Mexico and those who’ve emigrated to New Jersey. Students could spot similarities and differences and were amazed by how many details of their past they did not know before. The final results of their project were shared in a Podcast episode format.

The successful completion of the COIL project in this course granted each student an international digital badge and also left them with new international friendships.