The ICT profession is extremely international, and so are ICT students. University students in one study group in Europe may represent ten or twenty nationalities with varied cultural and educational backgrounds. Selection of appropriate teaching methods for diverse students is challenging. This paper describes cognitive differences in multinational study groups, and explores ways to overcome some of the differences through offering online programming courses to support classroom instruction. Currently, online programming tools are widely used in schools and outside formal institutions. This paper shows that they can be efficient also when building professional competencies.