“What is the secret to the success of Finnish education?”
This is the question the visitors kept asking at the pavilion of Finland at BETT education technology show in London last week. The Programme Director of Education Finland Growth Programme, Dr Lauri Tuomi, had the answer prepared:
“We emphasize the perspective of sustainable education. By means of sustainable education, we build a healthy and democratic society which also means sustainable future.”
Sustainable education provides learners the ability to respond to the rapid societal and global change and challenges.This involves teaching so-called 21st-century skills such as creative and experimental problem solving, critical thinking and teamwork skills. These skills are emphasized in Finnish national core curriculum on K12 education, and on vocational qualifications on vocational training and education. They are also part of all of the Finnish EdTech applications shown at BETT.
Another thing these applications have in common is their positive approach towards learning.
“We talk about happy learning or playful learning”, says Tuomi.
For example, Playvation utilizes playful learning in their Moomin language school application. Also, Teachergaming, Seppo, and 3DBear applications facilitate teachers by adding gamified elements in lessons. Besides this, the artificial intelligence of Eduten application considers individual needs and abilities of each student. This makes lessons more effective and flexible.
With new devices, learning can also be evaluated in novel ways. For example, with Qridi application, teachers and students can set goals for learning and follow in real-time how these goals are reached. There are also versatile applications for production, distribution, and evaluation of digital learning materials, such as Mobie, Ubiikki, Kokoa, and Cuppla.
Many of these companies are set up by creative pedagogical experts, aka teachers.
“This shows that Finnish teacher education produces innovative professionals who are eager to face the challenges of future education”, says Tuomi.
