ETJ 008: August Newsletter
Immersive Courses with Italian and Spanish Educators Visiting Finland
Innovative Teaching & Learning Methods in Finland
As autumn is well on its way, we look back at a final summer summary, highlighting our collaboration with VisitEduFinn. A first Summer Course on Innovative Teaching & Learning Methods in Finland was carried out with school educators from Spain and Italy. Starting out the two-week course program, the teachers were asked to define their own learning goals and objectives through questions they wanted to get answered. From a wide range of “easy-to-google” questions to more thoughtful ones, a focus towards what elements could actually be transferable back home was reached.
With Project-based and Phenomenon-based learning as pedagogical foundations, a documentation and brainstorming process set off the main course assignment. A master class on the Finnish education history, the skills-based curriculum and project-based learning was given, and further research questions were assigned before taking a field trip to explore real-world phenomena at the Heureka Science Center.
From research to practice, pedagogical principles were identified and “the Finnish way” of adopting Phenomenon-based learning was put to test through the teachers own projects.
With the focus on the process and collaboration in groups, the first iteration of the course reached its first presentations in the following videos.
A fun comparison project between Finland and Spain on the evolution of the education systems was done by a group of Spanish primary teachers
Focusing on a specific topic from the Science Center, a beautiful video storytelling presentation was done by another Spanish teacher group
An Italian group created another beautiful narrative enhanced by on-the-spot student interviews
A second field trip to the Fortress of Suomenlinna, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and cultural treasure from the 18th century, allowed digging deeper into the Finnish history through a one-day project.
Italian Focus
A second iteration of the course had participants from four Italian schools. For the group work and presentations, Thinglink, Genially and Canva, among other self-selected tools, as well as basic mobile video storytelling of the selected themes were used.
The below presentations were done on the spot in matter of hours and days.
Another beautiful documentation was done with Adobe Express.
With micro presentations throughout the course and final presentations at the end of the two weeks, fantastically lively conversations and Q&A sessions made it a joy to be part of these immersive courses, teaching and learning with educators from Spain and Italy.
For more information on the course and other courses by and with VisitEduFinn, please see the course page below or explore the offering following the link above.
For more information from the course trainer and local collaboration opportunities in Spain and Italy, please contact joni@edvisto.com.
EdTech Journeys and the “Hasta la educación finlandesa y más allá” Podcast is preparing for a Tour in Spain and beyond. For information on how to Join or Sponsor the Tour, please connect on LinkedIn or email joni@edvisto.com.
Published by Joni AlWindi
The EdTech Journeys Newsletter is a monthly compilation of events, columns, podcasts and stories highlighted at the EdTech Journeys platform.