Crossing Digital Frontiers: Hybridization and Transversal Learning in COIL-Driven Arts-Based Inquiry
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17561/rtc.extra.12.10109Keywords:
Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL); digital hybridity; transversal pedagogy; border thinking; reimagining art practice; rhizomatic learningAbstract
This article explores the transformative potential of Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) as a borderless space for hybrid artistic and pedagogical practices, drawing on an arts-based research (ABR) study involving undergraduate art students from Helwan University, Egypt, and collaborators from a Canadian institution. Reframed through concepts of third space theory, border thinking, rhizomatic learning, post-digital hybridity, and transversal pedagogy, the study examines how digital tools—such as Zoom, WhatsApp, and multimedia exchanges—facilitate knowledge exchange, interrelation, and hybridization across geographic, disciplinary, and social boundaries. By positioning creative writing as a generative inquiry (Leavy, 2017), we co-created narratives that disrupt normative discourses in art education, fostering emergent, collective thinking and social intervention. The findings illustrate COIL's role in community engagement, where digital hybridity enables transcultural artistic transformations and empowers future educators to address global challenges like cultural equity and environmental advocacy. This contributes to the "Without Borders" theme by highlighting digital technologies as catalysts for educational and social change, offering methodological insights for post-digital art pedagogies. Implications extend to broader fields, advocating for inclusive, hybrid models that transcend traditional borders in higher education.
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