VE/COIL Clinic: AI Tools: Opportunities, Boundaries, & Balance

Overview

Generative AI is changing how students communicate, create, translate, research, and collaborate across contexts. For virtual exchange/collaborative online international learning (VE/COIL), these tools create new possibilities for supporting globally connected learning while also raising important questions about authenticity, equity, authorship, cultural interpretation, and the role of human interaction.

This three-week online AAC&U VE/COIL Clinic helps participants critically examine where and how AI can support collaborative learning—and where intentional boundaries may be needed. Through practical exploration, case-based discussion, and applied activities, participants consider AI use across the VE/COIL experience and develop approaches that balance innovation with pedagogical purpose, transparency, and student agency.

Learning Outcomes

Participants will

• evaluate opportunities for generative AI to support communication, collaboration, accessibility, and learning across different VE/COIL contexts;
• examine pedagogical, ethical, and equity considerations related to AI use, including authenticity, authorship, cultural interpretation, access, and student agency; and
• develop intentional guidelines for when, how, and why AI should—or should not—be used within a VE/COIL experience.

Who Should Participate?

This clinic is designed for faculty, instructional designers, teaching and learning professionals, international education staff, and others designing or supporting VE/COIL experiences who are navigating the expanding role of generative AI in teaching and learning.

No advanced technical or AI expertise is required. The clinic is relevant both for participants already experimenting with AI and for those seeking a more intentional framework for determining whether, when, and how these tools belong in globally collaborative learning.