An innovative online program that encourages students at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa to virtually learn with students in Japan, and for Japan-based students to virtually join and study alongside UH Mānoa students, has won an award for its collaborative nature and utilizing educational technology.
This Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) program enables Japan-based students to take online classes within the College of Social Sciences (CSS) at UH Mānoa in subjects such as Geography and Contemporary Society or Introduction to Ethnic Studies. The classes are taught in English by UH Mānoa faculty members, and Meiji Gakuin University (MGU) students participate in real-time via live streaming mode, engaging with UH Mānoa students as they attend the same lecture.
Reciprocally, CSS students in Hawaiʻi attending the same live-streamed online classes are able to interact with their Japanese counterparts in real time, fostering a truly multicultural classroom experience.
Professor Sachiyo Sekiguchi, advisor to the president at MGU and academic lead for the project, received an Award of Distinction at the 2024 ICT Utilization in Education Improvement Research Presentation Conference hosted by the Japan Universities Association for Computer Education. The award celebrated her innovative use of educational technology to create impactful educational experiences.
The conference recognizes exceptional initiatives that leverage ICT (Information and Communications Technology) to improve higher education quality across national, public and private universities and junior colleges in Japan.
“This highlights how we are an international model in providing meaningful global experiences to our CSS students, even while they do not leave our islands,” said CSS Dean Denise Eby Konan, a Department of Economics faculty member. “We are so proud that this concept is being recognized in Japan as a national model.”
The MGU students earn academic credits from their universities. However, if they later come to Hawaiʻi to study at UH Mānoa, their credits are transferrable and count toward their UH degrees.
“We congratulate Professor Sekiguchi for her award-winning work on the COIL initiative,” said Economics Chair Nori Tarui, senior advisor to Dean Konan on Global College Initiatives. “Student feedback in Japan has been very encouraging. I am excited that this collaboration fosters meaningful cross-cultural exchange.”
