Hyppää pääsisaltöön
Various Variables

Metropolian blogit nostavat keskusteluun aiheita ammattikorkeakoulumme ja kumppaneidemme maailmasta: oppimisesta, työelämästä, yhteistyöstä, osaamisesta, uudistumisesta ja erilaisista kohtaamisista. Sisällöt edustavat kunkin kirjoittajan henkilökohtaisia näkemyksiä, Metropolian johtoryhmän Pelinavaajat-blogi ilmaisee Metropolian virallista kantaa. Tervetuloa vuoropuheluun kanssamme!

  • Uusimmat postaukset
  • Blogit
  • Metropolian bloggaajat
Various Variables
Aiming at recognising competences and guiding educated immigrants
0

Now everybody’s viral – how we made it to the new decade of online education and work 

Marianne Autero & Juliana Holanda · 23.4.2020
Picture: Pixabay
Picture: Pixabay

Homework, experiments, essays, even physical education, all being done by children, adolescents and adult learners all over the world in front of their laptops, from their homes. Never before have parents, spouses and other significant others been so close to the pedagogical aspect of educational process. The coronavirus crisis has changed our daily life in so many ways, but education has been in the spotlight since the beginning of this uncertain new decade. 

The world from home

By the end of March, Unesco estimates that almost 90% of the world’s student population has been affected by worldwide closures of schools. In Finland, contact teaching has been suspended from 17th March 2020 – except for early childhood and pre-primary education (grades 1 to 3). Thus, about one million learners from primary school pupils to higher education students are studying online at least until mid-May this year, without knowing exactly when they will return to school buildings and university campuses again. 

Remote learning has become a reality on such a scale that not even the most optimistic Edutech executive could have predicted. But it came with many concerns, too, especially for the vulnerable population being them in Finland or Somalia. Firstly, nearly 60% of the globe’s population is online, so a lack of access to the internet is still a barrier for many students. Secondly, specialists are concerned that remote learning could enlarge the gap of inequality. And last, but not least, many kids depend on the school to get a decent meal. 

Still, the general feeling is that governments, companies, and NGOs are making a considerable effort to keep the learning going. Google, Microsoft and Zoom, for example, are offering many of their video conference software for free since the beginning of the crisis. Finnish Edutechs partnered up to provide free resources suited for distance learning. The Hongkong government, for example, announced that it should maintain a consortium providing more than 900 educational assets for free even after COVID-19 is under control.  

Will this crisis change the way we see and implement education?

Specialists of the World Economic Forum writes that this unique experience might also be an opportunity to remind ourselves of the skills students need in this unpredictable world. Resilience is a value that must be woven into the educational system to make sure that those skills continue to be a priority for all students. 

Chip Paucek, chief executive of the online education company 2U Inc., expects that after schools try online tools during the outbreak, they’ll be more inclined to opt for “blended” educational experiences that mix in-person classes with online tie-ins after the situation improves. 

As nobody is considering shutting down schools and universities forever, it seems that the task will be to retain the online learning aspects and integrate them with face-to-face learning. Hamish Coates, director of the Higher Education Division of the Institute of Education at Tsinghua University, told The Times Higher Education  that “there will almost certainly be a post-virus boom” in online higher education. 

SIMHE-Metropolia moved services swiftly to the virtual mode

The guidance and counselling services have now been implemented solely online since mid-March at SIMHE-Metropolia. In normal times, the majority of our guidance and counselling customers wish to meet face-to-face at the Metropolia Myllypuro campus. However, providing counselling via phone or over the internet is not totally alien to us as meeting remotely has served some customers’ needs the best in the past, too. 

Being available online gives a total new concept of accessibility and convenience for the personal guidance discussion as there is no need to travel anywhere on either side. There is also more flexibility in scheduling the meeting times and customers have been very up to the new mode of meeting so far. The downside is a lack of all cues of non-verbal communication and the closeness and togetherness that can be experienced when sharing the same physical space. 

For now, two Guidance Generalia lectures have taken place virtually with over 30 participants. All has gone remarkably well, and elements of two-way communication were established via chat and the attendants posed questions quite actively. The lecture series will be carried out as a web-based format for the rest of the spring-term, and perhaps continue to co-exist with the face-to-face lectures once we are able to be campus-based again. 

The digital future is already here

Even though the digital leap of the 2020’s was somewhat forced for many, the elements of web-based learning have emerged prior to the crisis too.  At Metropolia, online teaching and guidance and counselling for preparatory course for immigrants was tested out in 2019 as part of the Getting Ready – A higher education program for immigrants project. As we are facing a somewhat unpredictable future ahead, Metropolia will offer preparatory courses for immigrants online also in autumn 2020.  

Teachers now have needed to adjust, not only the methods, but how to acquire a new mindset towards teaching. For Anne-Mari Raivio, senior lecturer of School of Business at Metropolia, the next step is to focus not on the tools but on the pedagogical side of online teaching and learning. “After this mandatory digital leap we will have more brains thinking about how we can add and create meaningful digital encounters to enhance learning”, she says. 

Undebatably, the societies around the globe will wake up to a different morning once the pandemic has surpassed. Millions, if not billions, of people have now learnt to work and study from home and this is not to be regarded only as a bad thing.  In Finland, like the students, over a million workers have confined themselves in a remote work-mode, and about half of them are willing to continue this way even after they are able return to the offices one day.  

We do not know how this all will end, but perhaps we could confide in Albert Einstein’s wisdom in his quote “In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity.” 

Writers 

Juliana Holanda is a Brazilian journalist who lives in Finland since 2019 and has used SIMHE-Metropolia’s guidance and counselling services as part of her integration process. 

Marianne Autero works as a career coach at SIMHE-Metropolia. 

Sources

  • COVID-19 Educational Disruption and Response. Viewed 6.4.2020 
  • Digital trends 2020: Every single stat you need to know about the internet Viewed 6.4.2020 
  • Helsingin Sanomat 13.4.2020. Etäopetusta saa nyt miljoona opiskelijaa, mutta varsinaista kotikoulua käy vain noin 400 oppilasta. Viewed 13.4.2020 
  • Free apps and resources to support distance learning in schools affected by the coronavirus outbreak. Viewed 6.4.2020 
  • 3 ways the coronavirus pandemic could reshape education, World Economc Forum. Viewed 6.4.2020 
  • This is online education’s moment’ as colleges close during coronavirus pandemic. Viewed 6.4.2020 
  • Will the coronavirus make online education go viral?  Viewed 6.4.2020 
  • SIMHE-Metropolia. Viewed 6.4.2020 
  • Metropolia Myllypuro campus. Viewed 7.4.2020 
  • On-line counselling pros and cons.  Viewed 13.4.2020 
  • Guidance Generalia lectures. Viewed 13.4.2020
  • Getting Ready – A Higher Education Preparatory Program for Immigrants. Viewed 13.4.2020 
  • SIMHE-Supporting Immigrants in Higher Education in Finland. Viewed 13.4.2020
  • E-mail interview with Senior Lecturer Anne-Mari Raivio, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences
  • YLE uutiset.5.4.2020. Yli miljoona suomalaista siirtynyt etätöihin koronakriisin aikana – heistä noin puolet haluaa jatkaa etätöissä koronan jälkeenkin. Viewed 13.4.2020 

 

coronavirusdigital leaphigher educationhigher education institutionshighly educated immigrantsonline learningSIMHE-Metropolia

No comments

    Leave a reply Cancel reply

    You might also be interested

    • Networking - key to employment
      Networking - key to employment
      8.4.2020
    • Mentoring in the time of corona: networks, insights and improved employability for international talents
      Mentoring in the time of corona: networks, insights and…
      8.6.2020
    • Knowing your skills is crucial for your career ‒ how to get started?
      Knowing your skills is crucial for your career ‒ how to get…
      15.11.2021

    Various Variables blog is part of Talent Boost project

    Blog introduces information, tips and insights that help international talents with a higher education background to integrate and find their study and career paths in Finland. The blog is part of Metropolia’s #talentboost actions.

    Various Variables blog´s Editorial Board

    • Outi Lemettinen (head editor)
    • Riikka Wallin
    • Anu Luoma

    Email addresses:

    Editorial Board handles all the publications of Various Variables blog before publishing.

    Latest Posts

    • Entering the labor market in Finland as immigrant – a story of Sufi

      7.3.2023
    • Playing hide and seek with hidden job markets

      25.1.2023
    • Make sure that your CV is as professional as you are

      17.10.2022
    • The Art of Networking – where to start if you don´t know anyone in Finland?

      25.8.2022
    • Dip your toes or just dive right in: the Helsinki region invites you to explore entrepreneurship

      26.1.2022

    Archive

    • ▼ 2023 (2)
      • ▼ March (1)
        • Entering the labor market in Finland as immigrant - a story of Sufi
      • ▼ January (1)
        • Playing hide and seek with hidden job markets
    • ► 2022 (3)
      • ► October (1)
        • Make sure that your CV is as professional as you are
      • ► August (1)
        • The Art of Networking - where to start if you don´t know anyone in Finland?
      • ► January (1)
        • Dip your toes or just dive right in: the Helsinki region invites you to explore entrepreneurship
    • ► 2021 (4)
      • ► November (1)
        • Knowing your skills is crucial for your career ‒ how to get started?
      • ► October (1)
        • Sustainability: the winning strategy for you, your organisation and all of us
      • ► June (2)
        • Talent hubs in the making: collaborating for a Future Finland
        • Find your way to become a Finnish speaker
    • ▼ 2020 (5)
      • ▼ December (1)
        • Courage to Use Finnish - Growing into a Professional
      • ▼ June (1)
        • Mentoring in the time of corona: networks, insights and improved employability for international talents
      • ▼ April (2)
        • Now everybody’s viral – how we made it to the new decade of online education and work 
        • Networking - key to employment
      • ▼ February (1)
        • SIMHE path ─ connecting Finnish employers and international talents 
    • ► 2019 (4)
      • ► December (1)
        • Boost your Talent with Finland - Towards a Career Path for International Degree Students
      • ► June (1)
        • My Journey in Supporting Immigrant Women in Higher Education
      • ► May (1)
        • Finding suitable career paths for the highly educated immigrants
      • ► March (1)
        • Do you need supplementary education?
    • ► 2018 (2)
      • ► May (1)
        • How to succeed in higher education in Finland?
      • ► February (1)
        • Supporting Highly Educated Immigrants' Career Paths in Finland
    • ► 2017 (5)
      • ► December (1)
        • Highly skilled immigrants aboard to build Finland
      • ► November (1)
        • Healthy Mind, Healthy Life - How to improve the sense of belongingness among highly educated immigrants in Finland?
      • ► September (1)
        • Is it all about happiness?
      • ► March (1)
        • 365 steps later
      • ► February (1)
        • Mathematics and various variables
    • ► 2016 (3)
      • ► September (1)
        • Can you see it more clearly now?
      • ► June (1)
        • To have someone who listens to me...
      • ► May (1)
        • Recognising competencies of educated immigrants

    Keywords

    Belongingness Business skills Career career services competence competences competencies Curriculum vitae CV ecosystem employability employment Evaluation Guidance Happiness Helsinki higher education higher education institutions highly educated immigrants Immigrants immigrants’ employment Immigration Inclusion Integration international student international talent job search language learning mapping of competences mathematics mentoring Migration Moodle Networking networks online learning recognition of competences SIMHE SIMHE-Metropolia Skills strengths Studying in Finland sustainable development talent boost talent hub

    SIMHE on Metropolia.fi pages

    Metropolia University of Applied Sciences started developing Supporting Immigrants in Higher Education (SIMHE) services in 2016. The services are targeted to immigrants and asylum seekers with a higher education background. The goal is to recognise their competence and to guide them for suitable study and career paths in Finland.

    SIMHE Metropolia

    Services for Immigrants

    © 2015 Metropolia Ammattikorkeakoulu


    Sisällöt edustavat kunkin kirjoittajan henkilökohtaisia näkemyksiä, Metropolian johtoryhmän Pelinavaajat-blogi ilmaisee Metropolian virallista kantaa.

    Saavutettavuusseloste Tietosuojaseloste