Global Learning from the Start: Integrating VE/COIL into the First-Year Experience

The first year of college is a critical period for helping students develop a sense of belonging, engage with new perspectives, and begin connecting their education to the world beyond the classroom. What might change if global learning were intentionally embedded into that experience from the start?

This webinar explores how virtual exchange and Collaborative Online International Learning (VE/COIL) can be integrated into first-year courses and programs to give students early opportunities to communicate across cultures, navigate difference, collaborate with peers, and begin developing the practical communication, teamwork, adaptability, and leadership skills they will need throughout college and in the workforce.

Rather than positioning global learning as an experience reserved for students who study abroad or reach particular majors and upper-level courses, the conversation will examine VE/COIL as an accessible entry point to international and intercultural learning. Speakers will consider how virtual exchange can complement the goals of the first-year experience—including belonging, student engagement, academic transition, career exploration, and the development of transferable competencies—while also helping students build confidence working with peers across different backgrounds, perspectives, and institutional contexts.

The webinar will also address the practical design considerations of introducing international collaboration to students who are themselves still learning how to navigate college. Through examples from practice and a moderated conversation, participants will explore opportunities for connecting VE/COIL with first-year seminars, general education, and other institution-wide approaches to the first-year experience, while considering how early global learning can support longer-term academic success, workforce readiness, and emerging leadership.