UH Hilo COIL students complete virtual international leadership skills course

Four University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo students recently completed an international virtual exchange class with university students from four different countries as members of UH Hilo’s Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) program. The class focused on developing leadership skills in a complicated global environment.

UH Hilo’s Hayate Mori, Rinton Kios, Kimiyo Bird, and Valeria Da Silva joined remotely in the three-week Leadership Skills for Navigating Global Complexities class that consisted of eight lectures on topics from Leadership for Diversity and Inclusion to Cross Cultural Communication to Critical Thinking in the Digital Age. Students also worked in small groups to develop a project addressing a global problem. Projects included creating an app to help tourists avoid overcrowding in sensitive and overcrowded places, innovative projects in energy self-sufficiency, uses of online education, addressing global migration due to climate change, solutions for microplastic pollution, and navigating the communication barriers for immigrants.

“The insights into navigating cultural differences and understanding global challenges are crucial for anyone aiming to work in diverse environments or manage a business with international considerations,” noted Kios. Bird agreed, saying that she participated because “I wanted to gain the experience of learning knowledge from different countries, especially from a Japanese perspective.”

The experience also was helpful for Hayate Mori.

“There are many advantages of participating in a COIL class with students in another country,” he said. “It puts you to the test to see if you can work well with students who speak English as their second language. Are you able to not only work well but have fun with others from different countries and possibly with a language barrier? This was the challenge. I can confidently say that I AM able to work well with others from different countries and different backgrounds. Understanding this made me want to embed international business into my profession.”

Virtual exchange and COIL courses allow students the opportunity to meet and work with students from other countries even if they are not able to physically study abroad. According to Mori, “Unless you talk to many study abroad classmates, there aren't many ‘free’ opportunities to meet many people from all over the world. There were people from the mainland U.S., Japan, Thailand, Germany, etc. I can't study abroad in all of those countries. The J-MCP COIL program created an environment to get to know the diverse audience and make international friends.”

Students who completed the program received a digital badge from program sponsor Kansai University. A digital badge is an electronic certification to validate qualifications upon completing a course. The digital badge can be used on professional networks like LinkedIn or included on resumes.