Building Global Relationships: OER and Collaborative Online International Learning Courses

Abstract

Using Open Educational Resources (OER) in Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) courses provides students and faculty the opportunity to share content, enhance knowledge, and develop intercultural competence across geopolitical and other boundaries. Faculty perceptions at the research site regarding benefits and challenges of using OER are consistent with positive findings of other OER research that validate its potential. This case study describes experiences of two college courses taught with different international partners. It shares the journey of co-planning, implementing, and revising assignments highlighting OER instructional materials. Technology and accessibility considerations influence the curricular decisions for each course. They demonstrate how the timely availability of relevant OER content can be particularly impactful for international learning environments like COIL. The article underscores the faculty-librarian-instructional designer collaboration throughout the project and offers suggestions for future study.