CEU Global Classroom: COIL and BIP

Universidad CEU San Pablo offers both graduate and undergraduate students a unique opportunity to enjoy an international learning experience from their classroom. How? By working with universities and other entities abroad to bring about COIL projects, blended programs (onsite-online) called BIP and mirror lectures.

Mirror lectures allow for academics from two different countries who teach a similar subject to share their teaching experience. Thus, students benefit from two different perspectives and their learning process is enhanced.

Additionally, Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) projects cater for learning innovation of the student in certain courses: CEU students from different fields work in teams within the context of a project or workshop. They do so with the supervision and support of both teachers, hence enjoying an international experience without leaving their country. The projects are also open to collaboration with professionals collaborating with NGO's, companies or other entities, whether public or private.

The BIP (Blended Intensive Programs), funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ mobility framework, are short-term innovative teaching programs that include both a mandatory in-person component and a virtual component. These programs promote interdisciplinarity and the internationalization of the university community. They can be developed within a course or as an extra-academic activity for teaching and training purposes, with a workload of 3 to 6 ECTS credits. These programs involve collaboration between a minimum of 3 universities from 3 different Erasmus+ countries, allowing for brief mobility for students from the partner institutions and/or fostering international interaction in the classrooms.

Using COIL projects, BIP projects, and mirror lectures requires applying innovative and pioneering technology which brings internationalisation to a wider array of students in their own campus. 

These programmes are the product of the collaborative work of our schools with other international institutions and they are integrated in the syllabus in a selection of CEU courses or as extra-academic activities related to his/her syllabus.

All our Schools offer internationalization projects at home thanks to our partners in Europe, America, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

The aim of CEU Global Classroom is to adopt an overarching approach which encompasses knowledge that goes beyond the classroom in order to allow students to develop intercultural skills, thus enhancing their chances when they join the job market.  

CEU Professors have trained in innovative online teaching techniques, which allow them to make the most of new technologies without needing to leave the classroom.

Universidad CEU San Pablo approaches COIL projects and BIP by applying different methodologies, which often confront students with the challenges of the future, such as environmental and urban sustainability, poverty eradication, public ethics, corporate social responsibility, responsible consumption, circular economy, the future of energy, the creation of strong institutions or the reduction of social inequality.

Through these case studies and challenges, students acquire the necessary competences for the analysis, critical thinking, and the proposal of solutions to social problems, from a global and multi-cultural approach, in line with our international commitment and values.

If you collaborate with universities or other entities (i.e. NGOs, companies, etc.) outside of Spain and would like to partake in these projects and become a COIL project, in a BIP or mirror lectures partner, don't hesitate to reach out to us to open a new innovative internationalisation teaching space from home with CEU Global Classroom.

Nearly 60 international projects COIL each year, a dozen of BIPs and more than 2,500 students from CEU and many others from the participating partner universities who benefit. Some outstanding projects are: