Students from Humber Polytechnic and UCL University College in Denmark took their online global learning collaboration into the real world when the Danish students came to Canada for a week as part of a three-week hybrid project.  

Humber’s Faculty of Social and Community Services runs a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) opportunity every semester with its longstanding Danish partner, UCL. COIL is a virtual exchange where students from Humber and another post-secondary institution abroad meet at touchpoints to learn and work together, building their skills in digital fluency, intercultural communications and collaboration.  

Humber students in the Bachelor of Social Science – Addictions and Mental Health and the Bachelor of Community Development programs connected with their Danish peers in the Social Education and Social Work programs, for a week filled with learning as well as visits to community agencies such as the Daily Bread Food Bank, the Gatehouse, and LAMP Community Health Centre.  

Working in groups, the students were also tasked with creating a fictional person for a case study. Once they had created the person, they put together an interdisciplinary intervention plan on how to address whatever issues the individual is facing (such as addictions, guardianship, inequality, immigration, etc.) which they then presented in video form.

Humber students Amanda Boyton and Lily Shulman were paired with UCL students Caroline Jørgensen and Emma Schneider for the assignment. All four agreed that they thoroughly enjoyed the in-person aspect of the COIL experience.

They said they all found value in learning about either Canadian or Danish culture and how the countries approach community development and social support networks. Boyton noted that she was quite curious to see what methodologies were successful in Denmark compared with Canada.

“It’s good to know about the approach other countries take – what works and what doesn’t – and I’m here to broaden my perspective,” said Jørgensen.  

“I’m interested in learning how my profession works in Canada and what resources this country has compared to Denmark,” said Schneider. “It’s also been a dream of mine for a long time to come to Canada, so I jumped at this opportunity.”

Shulman, meanwhile, said they thoroughly enjoyed learning about the different Humber and UCL programs and found value in the social aspect of the COIL experience. Visiting local agencies to see how they operate was also a highlight for Shulman.

“I loved how engaged the Canadian students were,” said Jørgensen. “I think the field visits were really nice and fit great into the work we were doing throughout the week.”

The value of hybrid learning was showcased through this project, highlighting the benefits of both in-person and virtual collaboration, paving the way further for global learning possibilities.  
 
Find out more by visiting the Humber COIL website.

As part of Building Brilliance: Our Vision to 2030 and Beyond, we are shedding the traditional constraints of higher education and reimagining a model that both adapts to and shapes the world around us. Humber has a powerful convening ability and we can bring together key players from across the entire ecosystem - nationally and internationally - in ways that others cannot. By 2030, Humber will be the go-to destination for partners who want to solve problems, increase productivity, commercialize their innovations, and succeed in a competitive market. We’ll be their engine of productivity and growth. By making bold decisions around how we fundamentally operate, we can reimagine learning, forge deeper partnerships and drive impact, creating real value and progress. This story is an example of how we are building brilliance by developing deeper partnerships every day.