The international Master’s Programme in Urban Studies and Planning is a joint programme of the University of Helsinki and the Aalto University aiming at solving complex urban challenges. It offers several degree options to apply for, which in the University of Helsinki include MA (Faculty of Arts), MSc (Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences), MSc (Faculty of Science) and M.Soc.Sc (Faculty of Social Sciences).
The USP digiloikka project will enhance the development of digital solutions in teaching and at the same time will build upon international cooperation. In practice, our project is aiming at the co-creation of a pilot 5-10 ECTS course in urban studies, to be possibly implemented through the collaboration with one to three other international universities.
We are eager to work on the creation of a digital platform, to test the chances of learning about urbanization in an online environment, and to turn this into a pedagogically sound instrument to fuel non-digital and multi-sited learning activities.
A tentative timeline for our project will be as following:
| Spring 2020 | Survey of possible partners, networks, content-related requests from USP teachers and students and digital skill self-evaluation (via e-questionnaires and face-to-face workshops) |
| Autumn 2020 | Design and construction of the course platform (cooperation meetings, training in digital qualifications, design of course content relating to, e.g., educational technologies, learning outcomes and the teaching programme) |
| Spring 2021 | Construction and testing (completion of the course platform, testing of digital methods, continued training in digital qualifications) |
Giacomo Bottà, USP digiloikka project manager