ABSTRACT
International education has fundamentally been about the exchange of ideas, and such exchange, throughout its history has often been facilitated via mobility. Collaborative online international learning (COIL), a more recent expression of international education, also promotes the exchange of ideas, but does so virtually, thereby eliminating the need for travel. In effect, a commitment to internationalization at home leads to the practice of internationalizing the curriculum, thereby facilitating global learning opportunities for all students. Student mobility has long been a core feature of internationalization, whose roots extend before the Common Era to intellectual hubs in China, Athens, Egypt, Persia, India, and of course Renaissance Italy in the thirteenth century. The institutionalization of COIL virtual exchange must continue to be a priority until internationalization itself has been institutionalized. COIL is one of multiple pedagogical tools in an international educator’s toolbox with which to facilitate intercultural engagement and deeper connections with the discipline.
