Throughout this semester, at the VIRaTeC platform (Virtual Innovating Research & Technology Community) we have successfully completed a series of international COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) projects involving students from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, in collaboration with partners from Coventry University (UK), Universidad Católica de Colombia, Santo Tomás Professional Institute (Chile), American University in the Emirates (UAE), and Karunya Institute of Technology and Science (India). These projects have become not only an intellectual challenge, but also a real source of inspiration. We would like to particularly acknowledge the initiative of Master’s students from the Faculty of Information Technologies: Anastasiia Loban and Anton Dmytrenko. Under the guidance of academic supervisors and with the support of business experts they have become the first in the history of Ukrainian higher education, who initiated and successfully implemented an intercontinental, author’s research project. This achievement has become a model of genuine synergy across cultures, disciplines, and academic faculties. The students successfully applied the core principles of the COIL methodology, which had been discussed during the recent COIL School of the Alliance of Ukrainian Universities (AUU), conducted as part of the Professional Development Program “Global Synergy through COIL 2.0”. Their certified COIL module on Cybersecurity was built upon the key pillars of the COIL learning logic:
- from idea – to outcome
- from challenge – to collaboration
- from knowledge – to implementation.
We express our heartfelt gratitude to the distinguished institutional mentors who supported this student-led initiative:
- Kseniia Smyrnova, Vice-Rector for International Cooperation
- Roman Petyur, Nadiia Serohina, and Anastasiia Pozhar, International Relations Office
- Vitaliy Snytyuk, Dean of the Faculty of Information Technology
- Natalia Prykaziuk, Head of the Department of Finance, Risk Management and Investment
- Ivan Parkhomenko, Head of the Department of Cybersecurity and Information Protection
- Oleg Iariionov, Head of the Department of Intelligent Technologies
- Svitlana Isaieva, Head of the Department of Foreign Languages for Mathematical Faculties
- Nataliia Versal, Professor of the Department of Finance, Risk Management and Investment.
We would like to warmly acknowledge the contribution of our COILeagues from the Department of Foreign Languages for Mathematical Faculties, experts in academic English for research:
- assіt. p Tetyana Andriichuk
- a prof. Olena Stepanenko
- a prof. Oksana Krasnenko
- а prof. Dmytro Kostenko
- a prof. Olena Zelikovska
We are profoundly thankful to our external academic partners, business experts, and – a bove all –– our incredibly creative students!
The outcomes of our efforts demonstrate that synchronous online workshops play a key role in developing emotional intelligence – a critical skill for effective leadership, productive teamwork, and meaningful intercultural dialogue in today’s digital era. The COIL methodology opens new horizons for academic cooperation, serving as a transformative tool that fosters the overcoming of dichotomous thinking and gradually dissolves boundaries between concepts often seen as opposites: “own” and “foreign”, “technical” and “humanitarian”, “online” and “offline” – thereby creating a space for authentic understanding and cultural exchange.
We are proud of our students. They are not only learning – they are shaping a new academic reality.
This is a step towards perfection, and a forward movement with VIRaTeC.
Stay tuned!
Project Chair – Larysa LIASHENKO
Assistant Professor of the Department of Foreign
Languages for Mathematical Faculties
Educational & Scientific Institute of Phylology
