Sheridan wraps up successful first year of Global Skills Opportunity

Sheridan is proud to celebrate the successful first year of its Global Skills Opportunity initiative, which will enable more than 16,000 Canadian college and undergraduate-level university students to acquire the global skills employers want and the Canadian economy needs. Sheridan’s GSO project is led by its Centre for Global Education and Internationalization (CGEI), in collaboration with numerous Faculties and departments across the college. The project is funded by Global Skills Opportunity, the Government of Canada’s Outbound Student Mobility Pilot Program.

Over the past year, Sheridan was able to introduce seven new Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) experiences across three Faculties (Humanities and Social Sciences; Animation, Arts and Design; and the Pilon School of Business), with seven different international partners in six countries (Switzerland, Netherlands, Kenya, Brazil, Egypt and England). Students in these courses had the opportunity to participate in enriching experiences with global peers to build academic, intercultural and professional skills.

These experiences included advanced multi-country trading simulations; international conversations and reflections on the intersections of language and culture; comparative political inquiries; intercultural aspects of ethics, politics and individual responsibility towards society; engagement with cross-cultural ethical issues; and international collaborative web development.

“The Global Skills Opportunity has been an incredible catalyst for the implementation of Sheridan's Internationalization and Global Connectivity Strategy,” said Dr. Amira El Masri, Director, CGEI. “Our teams across Sheridan have engaged in meaningful collaboration to facilitate innovative digital transformations infused with and empowered by focuses on EDID and sustainability. It has all come together to provide the infrastructure necessary to support our students in becoming critical global citizens and changemakers.”

Creating impactful international experience for Sheridan’s learners

The COIL experiences developed through the GSO project have offered students who traditionally face real and perceived barriers to international travel the opportunity to engage in international experiences, learn and work alongside global peers and explore new cultures while being at home. Students and professors involved with Sheridan’s GSO projects have attested to how these learning opportunities are helping to broaden their horizons, and have helped them learn from global peers.

"Every week brought a new topic that allowed me to explore new features in depth and hear both domestic and international perspectives." - Katie Smith

“With the help of GSO, I was able to provide my students with valuable international learning experiences,” said Dr. Hee-Seung Kang, ESL Advisor and professor. “GSO has been incredibly helpful in creating opportunities, implementing the COIL project and providing resources to students.”

“Every week brought a new topic that allowed me to explore new features in depth and hear both domestic and international perspectives. This raised my cultural awareness and showed me where, as a person and more importantly as a teacher, I had blind spots,” said Katie Smith, TESOL Plus Program student.

A student support portal was also developed by Library Learning Services (LLS) in the form of a Student COIL 101 Libguide, which is an online support resource for students engaged in a COIL project. The CGEI, in collaboration with Sheridan’s Centre for Teaching and Learning, Centre for Equity and Inclusion and Centre for Indigenous Learning and Support, also launched the Effective Intercultural Communication module that supports the cross-cultural experience of the students involved in the COIL projects.

Goals for 2022 and beyond

Sheridan’s three academic Faculties currently offering COIL experiences will continue to develop and offer more of these unique opportunities in the coming terms. Sheridan’s Faculty of Applied Science and Technology will introduce its first COIL project in the Winter 2023 semester. Preparations are also underway for Sheridan students to have the opportunity to engage in study abroad trips in Spain, Brazil, Kenya and Denmark.

A key component of the Government of Canada’s International Education Strategy, the Global Skills Opportunity is funded by Employment and Social Development Canada and is administered jointly by Colleges and Institutes Canada and Universities Canada. You can find out more about the GSO at Sheridan here. #GlobalSkillsCA @GSO_ECM