COIL: Interacting with peers Internationally

As quoted by Norman Shidle, "A group becomes a team when each member is sure enough of himself and his contribution to praise the skills of others." 

The Collaborative Online International Learning, abbreviated as COIL, is the fraternity between Symbiosis Centre of Management Studies (SCMS, NOIDA) and Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS) students. It is a means to establish communication among the students in pursuance of understanding probable similarities and contrasts in lifestyle and consumption behaviours in the two very diverse countries. The topic of this virtual collaborative course is �Comparing Students� Consumption Behaviors: A Cross-Cultural Exercise�. The duration of this course is 4 weeks, i.e., May 9 to June 27, and the total number of hours mapped in the course will be 30.

This course entails the real-time exchange among students from both universities in groups of five towards each other�s interests, hobbies, preferred leisure activities, shopping behaviours, favourite types of food, choice of clothing brands, technology, etc., and applying these acquired facts to understand the lifestyle personalities and amenable global business prospects.

Students are expected to exchange their contact information and determine the best way possible to establish communication, followed by asking specific and discrete questions, which can vary as per the group�s composition and range of interests. As a result of these interactions and what they gain from each other, students are required to present innovative and original suggestions regarding products and services that can be interchanged through a mutual tradeoff between India and the Netherlands.

Each group needs to write a report summarising their learning experiences from these interactions and their business suggestions, along with an individual reflection. This reflection can include their personal experience and comprehension of their learning; the application of the gathered information in the future; any challenges faced, and any additional information/experiences they would like to share.

This course would greatly assist the students to interact, engage, and collaborating with peers from other countries to gain intercultural communication capacity and insights into the differences between cultures and ways of living. It will allow the students to participate in teams involving geographically dispersed professionals. Overall, this course provides an enriching and enlightening experience for the students.