Kumpula Colloquium – Learning Together

[In Finnish, see below]

Would you like to shake up your thinking about what teaching and learning could be like? Kumpula Learning Together Colloquium invites you to ponder these themes. The events don’t give you answers but rather aim to raise questions and ideas regarding how we teach and learn. What are the needs of the future working life and society for education? What happens when studying and learning are never-ending processes? How does digitalisation change the way we learn – or globalisation? What if teachers and students would together form a learning network, and what if alumni and companies could join the learning community?

The events are open to both staff and students. The Kumpula Learning Together Colloquium series was organised by the Faculty of Science as part of its Networked Learning project. The project looks at new ways of supporting lifelong/continuous learning.

Introduction of the series as a video recording, by Vice-dean Hannu Toivonen in the first event 29th January 2020.

Talks

Wed, 29 Jan 2020, at 14:15 in Exactum A111
Jaakko Kurhila, Chief Digital Officer, University of Helsinki:
“Tensions Rising for the Eternal Ivory Tower: Education as a Service”
Video recording of Kurhila’s talk, 75 min

Jaakko Kurhila (PhD in Computer Science 2003) works as a Chief Digital Officer at the University of Helsinki. Prior to this position, he was the Director of University of Helsinki Open University. From 2008 to 2015 he was the head of studies at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Helsinki. His background is in adaptive educational systems and collaborative e-learning. He was the chairman of the University of Helsinki Teacher’s Academy (2015-2016), an academy formed from the top educators within the University of Helsinki. He is an eager proponent of excellence in education.

  • Universities have honed their skills to select and cultivate people to do research (i.e. advance science). And it is aital that universities uphold that skill!
  • There are new players in the business of education. Some of these make very lucrative career promises, and give “guarantees” for e.g. employment.
  • If university education starts to feel not meaningful enough for the majority of students (compared to the new education businesses), universities start losing student.
  • We, as universities, must keep our education and learning environments meaningful and purposeful. The best way to ensure that is to make the university more connected with the outside society and lower the boundaries to access the university.

Thu, 6 Feb 2020, at 15:00 in Exactum CK112
Teemu Roos, Professor of Computer Science, University of Helsinki:
“Same but different – Making online education scalable but personal”
Video recording of Roos’ talk, 47 min

Teemu Roos is professor of Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence and Data Science) in the University of Helsinki. His Elements of AI, a massive open online course for non-experts has more than 300 000 participants.

Mon, 24 Feb 2020, at 15:00 (coffee at 14:30), in Exactum B123
Kristiina Mäkelä, Professor of International Business, Aalto University
“Changing nature of work”
Video recording of Mäkelä’s talk, 56 min

Kristiina Mäkelä (PhD) is Professor of International Business at Aalto University School of Business and Provost of Aalto University. Her research focuses on Human Resource Management and Future of Work-related issues, including people management in multinational corporations.She is an active researcher and a sought-after teacher and key-note speaker both in Finland and internationally. Since December 2017, she has taken on leadership responsibilities at Aalto, being in charge for all academic activities at the university.

Mon, 2 Mar 2020, at 14:15, in Physicum D101
Veli-Pekka Luoma, ICT Executive, Nokia SW Digital Intelligence:
“Learning to be creative”
Video recording of Luoma’s talk, 58 min

Veli-Pekka Luoma, ICT Executive in Nokia SW Intelligence, is excited to use technology to enhance humanity, and make it work via process called “business”.  He has observed creativity in small and large organizations, in different cultures, and he is enjoying to predict what will be valuable skill and resource for tomorrow. 

  • Advanced collaboration skills has been said to be one major skill to separate Homo Sapiens from animals in terms of forming the world. The quickest results of collaboration are achieved when the target is simple and understood, the environment stabile, the tools are known and roles clear. The luxury of harmony is rarely present, so how we cope with increasing phase of change. As individuals, and as different size of teams forming societies, companies, tribes, cultures, nations.
  • The evolution of technology is bringing machines closer to us as colleagues, even managers and customers. How we interact with those, while safeguarding the human values?
  • Creativity can be seen as capability to identify the problem or lack of something and ability to solve it in new way. How to make creativity work in a complex world, using individual skills, collaboration and the technology?

Wed 29th Apr 2020, at 14:15 online at Zoom
Teemu Leinonen, Associate Professor of New Media Design and Learning, Aalto University:
“Mirrorworld(s) — the next digital (learning) platform?”
Video recording of Leinonen’s talk, 47 min

When considering the role of technological development in the last 30 year in the context of education and learning at large, we can recognise two major turning points. The first radical change happened in early 1990 with the World Wide Web brought Internet for all. The Web made it possible to anyone to search, publish and share information as well as to carryout various kind of social and cultural activities. Examples of the Web’s golden era are such companies and project as Google, Amazon, WordPress and Wikipedia. In the field of education, it meant rise of Learning Management Systems and MOOCs. The second major change took over the in early 2000s with mobile apps and social media. This enabled such companies as Facebook, Twitter and TikTok to succeed but also mobile games and apps like Angry Birds, Clash of Clans, Uber and Airbnb. In the field of education, during this era various kind of educational apps and games, such as Duolingo and DragonBox have been dominating.

Today we are seeing a third revolution, which I call the time of mirrorworld platforms, build with augmented reality (AR). Mirrorworld is a digital twin of the real world, with layers of information, meaning, and functions integrated in it. There are several reasons to study the topic in the context of education. From a practical and ethical standpoint, it is reasonable to claim that if the mirrorworlds will be the next technological platform with a great impact – like the impacts from the Web and the mobile apps and social media – we should have an idea of how and what we learn with and from these platforms. First, it is important that students will have a deep understanding of the principles and functions of the mirrorworld. Second, students should learn to be responsible when taking advantage of the platform in their own life endeavors.

Wed, 6 May 2020, at 14:15 online at Zoom
Göte Nyman, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, University of Helsinki:
“Bodybuilding or team sport? Insights from learning and teaching in higher education”
Video recording of Nyman’s talk, 75 minutes

Göte has worked at UH since 1972 on several fields e.g. human and animal vision, brain research, human technology, learning and organizational psychology. His special interests in teaching and learning have been e.g. empirical laboratory studies for first and second-year students, project-based learning, distributed learning, teaching students industry and business collaboration. At the moment he is involved in human-technology projects and acts as an advisor for the Peace Innovation Lab at Stanford University.

  • Personal remarks and experiences – how to remain curious and motivated?
  • What is the idea of  ‘the student’, the human being we teach and guide?
  • Living the era of collaboration – how and why to inspire students to work hard, alone?
  • Organizing responsible teamwork in education
  • What can you do with big muscles? Do you have to learn anything in teamwork?
  • Acute lessons from the corona virus

Haluatko ravistella ajatuksiasi siitä, mitä kaikkea opetus ja oppiminen voisivat olla?

Kumpulan Learning Together –kollokvio kutsuu pohtimaan, mitä oppiminen ja opetus voisivat tulevaisuudessa olla. Luentosarja ei anna vastauksia, mutta toivottavasti herättää kysymyksiä ja ajatuksia opetuksen kehittämisen pohjaksi. Millainen on tulevaisuuden työelämä ja se yhteiskunta, johon opiskelijoiden pitäisi valmistua? Entä kun opiskelu ja oppiminen eivät pääty koskaan? Miten digitalisaatio muuttaa oppimista – tai globalisaatio? Mitä jos opettajat ja opiskelijat muodostaisivatkin yhdessä oppivan yhteisön? Entä jos alumnit ja yritykset voisivat toimia siinä mukana?

Tapahtumiin ovat tervetulleita sekä henkilökunta että opiskelijat.Tapahtumasarjan pääkieli on englanti. Keskustelua voidaan käydä myös suomeksi.

Tapahtumien ohjelma ja linkit tallenteisiin löytyvät ylempänä englanninkielisessä osuudessa.

Luentosarjan järjesti Matemaattis-luonnontieteellinen tiedekunta osana Kumpulan verkosto-oppimisen pilottiprojektia.