mobile pedagogy isagenuineopportunity you – are where Learning social mediaasatoolforlearning S to open is world The Finnish educatorsconquering virtual alndinSecond Life ahoy!Land tu – ome

collaborative learning

Promoter andNetwork-BuilderinFinnisheLearningBranch The AssociationofFinnisheLearningCentre

02/2009

e Learning inFinland 4 Curtis J. Bonk: The world is open to Leena Vainio, president 01/2009 collaborative learning EDITORIAL

6 Land ahoy! Finnish educators conquering virtual land in Second Life

The SeOppi Magazine is the only Finnish magazine in the field of 9 Business opportunities afforded by Second Dear SeOppi eLearning. It is a membership bulletin for the members of, and pub- Life introduced on BusinessFinland island lished by, the Association of Finnish eLearning Centre. 10 Open learning environments at HAMK journal readers The SeOppi Magazine offers up-to-date information about the latest University of Applied Sciences phenomena, products and solutions of e-learning and their use. The magazine promotes the use, research and development of e-learning 11 How to facilitate open content production and digital education solutions in companies, educational establish- and the use of ? ments and other organizations with the help of the best experts. 12 Sometu - Social media as a tool for learning The autumn has ators in e-learning. Many companies and ital tools and employed social media in The SeOppi magazine gathers professionals, companies, communities been a very busy organisations take this opportunity to in- the marketing of their products, as well and practitioners in the field together and leads them to the sources and productive troduce their products and services, as as in the development of new products. Brokering in open learning environments offering information about e-learning. 15 time in the area there are many clients present who use But many companies are only now con- of eLearning. Nu- these products and services. The confer- sidering what should be done in this situ- Publisher: The Association of Finnish eLearning Centre merous educa- ence is an admirable venue for gaining ation: is the power of the web an oppor- Learning where you are – mobile pedagogy Vankanlähde 7, FI-13100 Hämeenlinna tionals, conferenc- an overview on e-learning trends around tunity or a threat to operations? Should 16 is a genuine opportunity Editor in Chief: Titi Tamminen es and seminars the world. And of course it is important employees be given an opportunity for Tel. +358-3-6241-5214, [email protected] around this theme to meet people in e-learning from around open sharing of knowledge and commu- Journalists: Inkeri Ahonen and Oili Salminen LeMill for teachers ISSN-number: 1795-3251 18 have been held. the world and exchange experiences and nication using various tools? Should all Circulation: 2000 copies In November, the Association of Finnish news. employees possess web communication Advertising and materials: Inkeri Ahonen eLearning Centre will organise its own Numerous online seminars have been skills? What method should be selected Vankanlähde 7, FI-13100 Hämeenlinna 20 Closing the information technology gap DCL Conference in Finland. Hopefully created alongside the conferences and for our company or organisation? Do we – communication skills for communities [email protected], Tel. +358-40-827-6378 we will meet all the Association’s mem- seminars tied to a physical location. The choose open systems or retail software? Layout: City-Mainos through voluntary action Place of publication: Kirjapaino Hermes Oy bers there, and many others also – phys- Association of Finnish eLearning Centre How can we develop media skills? There 22 Teachers on students’ heels – ical meetings every now and then in ad- will also organise several online seminars are tens of questions and the answers Cover: Shutterstock Images social media is taken hold of in AVO training Images: The Association of Finnish eLearning Centre and dition to virtual networks are a significant under the AVO project framework during may only be found in networks and the www.futureimagebank.com form of contact. the coming winter. Increasingly the con- web, from pioneers, novices, those who LTSP – quality and practical reasoning 24 to workstations At the beginning of December at On- of seminars is shared through Face- have tested various methods and tools. line Educa in Berlin, we will have an op- book, , the Qaiku seminar channel, And this is why numerous seminars, con- portunity to meet internationally. Online the SOMETU network, streamed videos, ferences and training sessions are nec- Open Learning and Learning Networks 26 Educa has become a significant meeting blogs and other similar tools. In addition essary, as are blended forms of sharing AVOIMET VERKOSTOT OPPIMISEEN for teachers and learners Open Networks for Learning place for Finnish and international oper- to knowedge being shared, vigorous dis- knowledge and experiences. cussion may also arise on these forums – The Association of Finnish eLearning The Association of Finnish eLearning Centre 27 and new knowledge, new ideas and new Centre is an excellent learning network. – Promoter and Network-builder in Finnish e-Learning Branch opportunities are created through discus- Our members come from a wide range sion – the power of the web at its best. of companies, organisations as well as The power of the web is part of work private members, representing a diverse changes. It challenges traditional forms of range of e-learning services and product work. Pioneer enterprises and employees producers and end-users. We invite you Leena Vainio Markku Markkula Ville Availa have courageously taken on board dig- to join us and learn with us! president chairman of advisory board vice president [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Titi Tamminen Tiina Front-Tammivirta Inkeri Ahonen development manager development manager assistant [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Are you interested of a membership? Anne Rongas Kim Holmberg Isto Huvila project coordinator EduFinland EduFinland Find out more at www.eoppimiskeskus.fi [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

2 02/2009 02/2009 3 Oili Salminen

Curtis J. Bonk: The world is open to collaborative learning

The infinite array of learning possibilities dazzles the listener of American e-learning visionary Professor Curtis J. Bonk’s speech on current and especially future upheavals. His we-all-learn acronym crystallises ten features of future forms of learning.

Curtis J. Bonk, as a blogger TravelinEdMan, works at the University of Indiana, frequently travelling around the world and taking advantage of social media and travel communication in diverse ways. From the centre of the worlds, he sends all his friends and acquaintances in Finland his best regards.

he world with all its possibilities is screens will become transparent and fold- demonstrate knowledge and skills, read, school and institutions), access to learn- when the Filipino president was over- are connected to it. The issue is often of like a table set as an open learn- able, which will make their use easier.” solve tasks with the help of technology. ing object repositories and portals, learn- thrown with the help of demonstrations the affect, for example, on the develop- T ing environment from which can Bonk considers this new method to be er participation in open information com- called together through text messages. ment of a company’s skill level, employee be chosen the best titbits. Bonk’s Open source used on many democratic, as sources are open and al- munities, electronic collaboration, alter- knowledge and competence, reputation, technique is to study trends and build vi- devices most everyone has access to the internet. nate reality learning and real-time mobili- Even an open world costs innovation, number of patents, arousing sions and practices around these trends ty. The tenth ”opener” is networks of per- money the interest of partners, line of business, as to how opensourceware will make Stated simply, this new form of learning Ten educational openers = sonalised learning. The list of deployable identifying new sources of income, and learning interesting, rewarding for the means the combination of technolog- we-all-learn* tools is long: Wikipedia, YouTube, Skype, In the shadow of a recession, businesses so on. The list is rather long. The reason learner, less expensive and available to in- ic tools and teaching methods in open podcasts, blogs, microblogs, games, sim- and administrations calculate expenditure is that the object of value creation has creasingly more people. The new style is source, the application of technology in ”At first I didn’t have this we-all-learn acro- ulations, Second Life, archives, dictionar- more carefully. Social media in teaching changed. ”Issues we can’t see are now of- appropriate to learners of all ages. classrooms. ”Social media is very flexible nym, but I have written on these topics for ies and so on. and education brings something new to ten more valuable than those we can see. Deploying social networking tools is and only a lack of imagination places re- about four years now and have gradually President Barack Obama’s election consider and calculate in cost estima- This must be remembered when invest- the basic element of Bonk’s vision for the strictions on its use. We aren’t even aware collected data together to form this easi- campaign introduced in one fell swoop tions. The old calculation formulae are not ment decisions and profit calculations are future. ”In teaching situations now, we al- of all new innovations,” Bonk reminds us. ly remembered sentence. I believe it gives the new means of communication to the particularly applicable. In a business, the made,” Bonk emphasises. A set of crite- ready listen to instruction through broad- Bonk considers the information and a glimpse into the subject,” Bonk says. He broad public. Microblogs especially re- more money in the black, the happier the ria for profits made through open learning band, download podcasts, produce vid- knowledge sharing culture to be a ba- has other abbreviations, such as Read, ceived much attention. It became evident company is with its result. should be compiled, one which assesses eos, use wiki sources and forums, com- sis for the new style. ”When knowledge is Reflect, Display, and Do (R2D2). in the campaign that micro channels mo- Social media, however, cannot be the affect of this method. It is difficult to plete tasks in virtual , search for freely accessible on the internet, a learn- ”We-all-learn” begins with web search- bilise people to action. Similar effective- measured as an investment in this way, measure this value in terms of money. source material on the internet and dis- er is able to utilise and apply it in more ing for information from e-books. Bonk ness and mobilisation was seen in 2001, as much more than equipment, tools, etc cuss. Learners have the opportunity to re- diverse and up-to-date ways than is pos- mentions the Californian governor’s, Ar- flect on their development as a member sible in textbook-based teaching. School nold Schwarzenegger’s, initiative to replace of a community. In this way, the classroom children are able to combine information some school books with open source elec- WE-ALL-LEARN is the acronym formed from the list below: can be transferred to the web and we from a variety of sources and archives for tronic versions for cost reasons. The state Web Searching in the World of e-Books can begin to work in more blended ways,” specific situations, read Shakespeare on hopes to save hundreds of millions of dol- Bonk paints his picture. the bus, use email to ask their teacher for lars annually. There is interest in this ven- E-Learning and Blended Learning face-to-face New additions on the learning environ- further information and so on.” ture in other parts of the United States and, Availability of Open Source and Free Software ment tray are microblogs, such as Twit- The new methods balance compe- among other countries, Korea. Leveraged Resources and OpenCourseWare ter, mobile learning, e-books and ubiqui- tencies between students and empow- Other parts of the acronym are e- Learning Object Repositories and Portals tous environment, which disseminates in- er them to learn more. Listening is re- learning and blended learning face-to- Learner Participation in Open Information Communities formation to different network terminals. placed by sharing knowledge and recip- face, availability of open source and free Electronic Collaboration ”Student numbers are rocketing thanks to rocal learning. The learner develops into a software, leveraged resources and open- Alternate Reality Learning, mobile devices, as they are easy to use skilled gatherer of knowledge and handler courseware (such as learning materi- Real-Time Mobility and Portability Further information in developing countries. Electronic book of information. S/he is able to gather data, al and lectures organised by universities, Networks of Personalised Learning www.worldisopen.com

4 02/2009 02/2009 5 Kim Holmberg, research fellow, lecturer, Åbo Akademi University and Isto Huvila, research fellow, lecturer, Uppsala University and Åbo Akademi University Land ahoy! Finnish educators conquering virtual land in Second Life

Finnish educators, schools and universities have entered the virtual world of Second Life conquering virtual land for educational purposes. In the EduFinland archipelago there are over 30 Finnish educational institu- tions and over 100 educators that are interested in the possibilities for education and training. And the archipelago is still growing. In the Edu- Finland community newcomers get help and advice in taking their first virtual steps and in initiating their own education. Come and join us in the learning environments of tomorrow already today.

he number of different kinds of Opportunities and possibilities on the course web site at the same time Second Life can be conceived. All ac- and functions needed. When the activi- for teaching and training. virtual worlds is enormous and for education than we are. One of the greatest chal- ademic subjects can benefit from hav- ties and the teachers’ skills increase also Educators who have rented space on T growing rapidly. Virual worlds can lenges in distance education is to make ing lectures in Second Life or organiz- the land can be increased. Educators can EduFinland may build their headquarters roughly be divided into game-like and so- The appeal of virtual worlds both for en- sure that the students do not feel alone ing group discussions or assignments. rent land directly from Linden Labs, the or classrooms or whatever they need on cial worlds. Games always have a plot or tertainment and for educational use lies on the courses. Virtual worlds provide There are plenty of good examples on company behind the virtual world, from a their land. Besides the own plot, there a task that the players are trying to solve. in the strong sense of presence that is possibilities for efficient learning togeth- how Second Life can be used in edu- large number of virtual real-estate agents are plenty of common areas, such as au- In social virtual worlds, the social con- transmitted by the avatars. Avatars are er apart. cation. Every teacher should try to find working in Second Life or from the Finn- ditoriums and meeting rooms that are nections and interactions between the three-dimensional characters that repre- The second strength of Second Life those possibilities that benefit his or her ish Association of eLearning Centre. In shared and can be used by any of the residents are the most important thing. sent us in the virtual world. Its shape can in education is the possibilities to mod- education most. the latter case educators may join the ar- members. Educators do not necessarily What the users do in these virtual worlds be changed with just a couple of mouse el, simulate and recreate reality. Stu- However, Second Life is not neces- chipelago of Finnish educators, schools, have to build their own classrooms, un- is up to them, not to the scriptwriters. clicks. Most of the residents in virtu- dents in health care can simulate rare sarily for everyone or every course. All universities and associations in Second less they want to do so. And of course, Currently Second Life is the virtual world al worlds want a unique avatar, and they diseases and even surgeries without the teachers who consider using Second Life, called EduFinland (more information being a Finnish archipelago, there is also that provides the best and most efficient can spend quite a lot of time dressing fear of serious consequences for their Life in their courses should ask them- at http://edufinland.fi). a sauna available for everyone. tools for shaping environment and creat- and editing the looks of their avatar. mistakes. Future architects can create selves what added value this virtual The most important mission of Edu- ing the functionalities and milieus for ed- We experience virtual worlds and feel their visions and invite people to vis- world could bring. Second Life and other EduFinland – an archipelago Finland is, however, to bring educators ucational use. the presence of others in the same virtu- it their buildings and get feedback from virtual worlds are inspiring environments, of Finnish educators in Second interested in the possibilities of virtual Being a social virtual world, Second al space through our avatars. We can feel the way people interact with and use the but as with any project, benefits are not Life worlds together. When we are all in the Life is not a game, unless the residents that we are in the same space together buildings. In learning and teaching for- gratis. Educators interested in the possi- same area we can more easily learn from create a game in it. There will never be with others that are around us, even if the eign languages Second Life has a huge bilities of Second Life and other virtual EduFinland is a virtual archipelago, a each other and we do not have to make a GAME OVER, just like there is no re- presence is mediated in the virtual space. potential, because of its highly interna- worlds in education should start by find- three-dimensional space, a community the same errors over and over again. al end of the World Wide Web. In fact, The strong sense of presence is maybe tional user base. By going, for instance, ing out what others have done and may- and cooperation. The archipelago is a vir- Networking is very important on Edu- there are a lot of similarities between vir- the most valuable asset of virtual worlds to French-speaking or Korean-speaking be take part of a lecture that someone tual area that is almost one million square Finland, and not just between educators tual worlds like Second Life and the Web in education. On web-based course we areas, students can exercise their lan- more experienced is organizing. meters large. EduFinland is the virtual but between students as well. Normal- in its infancy. Virtual worlds are in the be- rarely know anything at all about the oth- guage skills by chatting and by talking Once the decision about using Sec- home and place of work for over 30 Finn- ly, students from different parts of the ginning of their development. Common ers taking the same course. We can try in voice. ond Life has been made it can be rec- ish educational institutions. It is a place country are unlikely to ever meet each practices, conventions functions, ethics to find out some facts on the web or on Health care and language educa- ommended that one should start with where Finnish educators and researchers other, but when two universities are and legislation related to virtual worlds the course site, but still the others stay in tion are just two examples. Many more small investments and rent a small piece can explore and acquaint themselves with neighbours on EduFinland, it is unlikely are still very much taking their shape. distance. We don’t even know if they are specific and generic examples of using of land on which to build the structures the possibilities that virtual worlds provide that the students would not meet. Edu-

6 02/2009 02/2009 7 Hanna Nordlund, programme manager, DIGIBUSINESS cluster programme and Finland makes it easier to offer cours- Visions of the future or another as separate milieus or as hy- Pekka Qvist, project planner, DIGIBUSINESS cluster programme es and lectures across university borders brid environments that are connected to and it is easier for educators to work to- Currently it is going strong for Second Life. the physical reality in far more complex gether and share resources. However, nobody can say for sure how the and ubiquitous manners than the present The first year of EduFinland, 2008, virtual worlds landscape looks like in five or ones. In spite of the actual technologies could be described as a year of planning in ten years. In a rapidly developing network of the future, everything that we learn Business opportunities and taking first cautious steps. In - con world anything is possible. The “big play- about virtual worlds and in virtual worlds trast, the year of 2009 has definitive- ers” of the Web, like Microsoft and Goog- today and tomorrow, we can translate in- ly been a year of action. EduFinland has le, have also taken steps that indicate their to something useful in the contexts of the provided by Second Life hosted countless lectures and discus- interest towards virtual worlds. There is a virtual worlds of the future. But we have sions, meetings and courses. EduFinland thrilling number of highly interesting collab- to keep in mind that the content of the even hosted a “euro-election-candidates” orative and open source projects going on courses and in the education is the most virtual election meeting, in which 80 av- that are pursuing towards various kinds of important thing. Second comes the mind- introduced on atars participated simultaneously. With virtual world infrastructures. Second Life is set of using new environments and tools. great interest and anticipation we wait to just one of them. Third comes the tools and Second Life is see what new and innovative we will see However, it looks certain that virtu- just that, a tool that we can use to transmit BusinessFinland island on EduFinland in the future. al worlds have come to stay in one form information and create knowledge with.

See also: http://kimholmberg.fi, http://www.istohuvila.eu, http://edufinland.fi econd Life offers a variety of op- Island, in which there are currently over portunities for enterprises, for 30 educational providers and very lively S both establishing a new busi- community. BusinessFinland is adminis- ness and for supporting an exis- tered through the Sombiz project of the iting one. Virtual world offers for exam- Technology Centre Innopark/DIGIBUSI- ple new types of possibilities for the mar- NESS cluster programme. BusinessFin- keting and demonstration of ‘real world’ land introduces Finnish companies to the products, training and lectures, user sup- business opportunities provided by Sec- port, meetings, and sale of virtual prod- ond Life and the range of services offered ucts. Finnish enterprises have made lit- in partnership with Finland’s best Second tle use of these opportunities so far and Life experts. BusinessFinland offers com- countries such as the United States, panies orientation on operating in Second France, Italy, Japan and China and China Life as well as customised training, con- have utilized opportunities better. (http:// sultation and coaching. Companies can work.secondlife.com/en-US/workso- also rent land on BusinessFinland Island lutions/workingfaq/#faq13). Linden and build premises for their use on this Lab user statistics). Of globally recog- land. Concurrently cooperation between nised companies, IBM, Nokia, Cisco, Dell, Finnish Second Life entrepreneurs is pro- British Petroleum, Novartis, Accenture moted and an opportunity to find part- and Manpower, for example, make use ners for Second Life start-up enterpris- of Second Life in their business activities es is given. (http://work.secondlife.com/en-US/ BusinessFinland began operations in successstories). the spring of 2009. During the spring, Currently it is estimated that over one the island’s external infrastructure was million US dollars are transacted in Second constructed and the concept developed. Life daily (http://secondlife.com/statis- The first training sessions for business- tics/economy-data.php). The Gartner es were held in the summer. New train- Group estimates that by the end of 2011 ing groups start during the autumn and up to 80% of internet users will have ac- experts have joined BusinessFinland for quired a ’second life’ for themselves. Finn- company-specific training and coaching. ish companies now have an opportunity to A guest lecture series will be held dur- join virtual business experts and secure ing this autumn, in which interesting vis- their place in the ‘other life’ of people! itors will introduce the business oppor- tunities of Second Life and demonstrate BusinessFinland provides and develop various perspectives on Sec- guidance, services and ond Life entrepreneurship. networks

BusinessFinland is a service, net- Further information on BusinessFinland can be found work and island in Second Life for Finn- at www.businessfin.fi and we can ish companies and communities. The is- be contacted at our address: land is located adjacent to EduFinland [email protected].

8 02/2009 02/2009 9 Leena Vainio, HAMK University of Applied Sciences, Joanna Muukkonen, project researcher University of Tampere, director of HAMK eLearning Centre Department of Information Studies and Interactive media Open learning environments How to facilitate open at HAMK University of content production and Applied Sciences the use of social media?

ronments utilising new informa- (Finnish Funding Agency for Technolo- tion tools are needed for this, as gy and Innovation), OPM (Ministry of Ed- are forms of teaching that stress ucation) and EU funded projects in which the construction of encourag- open learning environments are being de- ocial media applications are be- ing learning environments. Re- veloped. Furthermore, everyday teach- coming a standard feature of search and development invests ing is increasingly conforming to a blend- S the everyday life of citizens, even in collaboration between fields of ed learning model. We also offer entire- though the applications’ real pos- study and degree programmes, ly web-mediated courses for adult learn- sibilities are still not necessarily utilised. the synthesis of skills and active ers in, for example, information technolo- The well-advised use of social media and interaction. gy, eWorking and business administration. its effects on increased work productivity Open learning environments It has also been possible to complete vo- and cost reductions are probably not yet are constructed using blended cational teacher training as an online pro- fully known. Old familiar methods may es- learning solutions, in which the gramme since 2006. pecially hinder the use of social media. Mechanical engineering students entire staff, students and part- We also belong to the regional higher In its very essence, we are dealing with teamworking. ners make use of the possibilities afford- education community (Häme Open Cam- a change process aiming for regenera- pen learning environments is a ed by ICT and mobile devices in learning pus), whose core members are regional tion. The most fundamental change with very broad concept. The oppo- and development. Figure 1 illustrates the higher education and research units, but social media is that everyone can par- ment. New inputs to the activity system, action will really undergo change. O site is closed learning environ- different activities of open learning envi- which is open to other practitioners, in- ticipate in producing and modifying con- like social media tools, may cause con- The research is still in its early phase, ments, and this refers to tradi- ronments. The system’s construction re- cluding private citizens. This virtual com- tent in the same shared social space. This tradictions in the activity when old prac- so there are no results available as yet. tional educational situations in which a quires sustained and systematic collabo- munity operates on an Open Source / change is significant compared to tradi- tices collide with new tools. Activity can But the model seems promising and the teacher teaches her or his own group in a ration, in which a new culture of openly Open Innovation principle, utilising the tional activity on the web. The change in be developed by analysing the contradic- role of project researcher has been seen classroom behind closed doors. Introduc- constructing knowledge is learned. skills of its core members and other prac- activity may not reach users of social me- tions in the context of the activity, since to be important in transferring tacit knowl- ing information and communications tech- HAMK is constructing open learning titioners in the development of new solu- dia as quickly as the applications. It is al- contradictions act as the main source of edge to codified knowledge. The project nology into education does not, however, environments in numerous different ways. tions and services in educational, research most too easy to just copy old activities in change and development. Analysis helps research is also part of two other research make teaching open – on the contrary, the We are involved in many ESF, TEKES and innovative activities. the use of social media applications, but to identify the developmental needs and projects in the same project network. learning process may be even more tight- then the benefit we gain is only a small creates the basis for modifying the ac- ly restricted to interaction between teach- Study/Learning Practice step forward. We should understand that tion consciously. Producing new mod- References er and class group. Not even a peep of the A student’s own effort Testing knowledge and collaborative the new tools offer us an opportunity to els of action is a key factor in develop- •Crawford, K. & Hasan, H. (2006). Demonstrations of the Activity Theory Framework for Research in Infor- dialogue between a teacher and learners (collecting background information) construction of knowledge change the whole operations logic and ing practices. (Crawford & Hasan 2006, - books, articles, instructions - authentic tasks mation Systems. Australasian Journal of Information in a password protected learning environ- - online environment data - projects shift to a more developed level of action. 49-50; Engeström 2001, 134-139; Jo- Systems, 13(2), 49-67. (podcasts, webcasts, blogs, - role plays ment may reach the ears of a passer-by. Fostering and establishing good prac- nassen & Rohrer-Murphy 1999, 62-66; • wikis, ) - cases, examples Engeström, Y. (2001). Expansive Learning at Work: We would like closed classrooms and tices and new ways of action in open con- Meyers 2007.) toward an activity theoretical reconceptualization. - other data - peer discussion Journal of Education and Work, 14 (1), 133-156. learning environments to be more inter- Employing social media tools, tent production and use of social media, While carrying out their own sub- active learning situations, in which sup- games, simulations, meetings removing the barriers to its use and de- projects, AVO project actors collect prob- •Jonassen, D. H. & Rohrer-Murphy, L. (1999). Activity port is not only provided by one’s teacher veloping a networked model of action are lems they have perceived in a project wiki. Theory as a Framework for Designing Constructivist Learning Environments. Educational Technology: Re- and classmates, but also by other teach- Teaching Guidance the main foci of the AVO project. To sup- Problems may be practical or affecting the - contact and distance lectures Systematic and sustained expert-like search and Development 47(1), 61-79 ers, labour market representatives, other - lecture material ready for work in a community of experts port the project to achieve its aims, action project at a deeper level. The project re- • students and various experts. In universi- downloading off the internet - project work development research is also a part of the searcher will analyse the problems. After Meyers, E. M. (2007). From activity to learning: us- ing cultural historical activity theory to model school - demonstration - portfolios ties of applied sciences this type of open project. The research method will be ap- the analysis, a solution to overcome the library programmes and practices. Information Re- - discussion/interviews with experts - being at work learning environment means a shift in ed- plied especially from the activity’s theo- contradictions and develop a new mod- search. An International Electronic Journal, 12(3). - videos, podcasts, video streaming - mentoring/tutoring URL http://informationr.net/ir/12-3/paper313.html ucation to teaching situations increasing- - simulations retical viewpoint, since it gives dynamic el of activity are planned and carried out ly supported by ICT and in which authentic - learning at one’s workplace and change-oriented tools for analysing together. This will help to understand so- The University of Tampere is part of the ESF funded workplace issues are solved. The HAMK the target phenomenon of our research cial media as a phenomenon which brings Open Networks for Learning (Finnish acronym AVO) Figure 1: Open learning environment model based on blended learning venture with its Wikis and Blogs in Teaching and Con- University of Applied Sciences’ strate- and executing the development process. along new demands for ways of action tent Production subproject, in which training and ma- gy emphasises education independent of Activity has acquired its current form and concrete implementation of these terials are produced and provided to support the use Further information of wikis and blogs. The subproject is also responsible time and place, and the convergence of of the on-going development project can be found at: over time and may no longer be appro- actions. In this way, the new good practic- for action development research to support and en- work and study. Innovative learning envi- www.hamk.fi/tutkimus priate in the changed operating environ- es will not be mere recommendations, but sure the attainment of project objectives.

10 02/2009 02/2009 11 Sanna Brauer and Enrique Tessieri based on Jos Schuurmans interviewing Ville Venäläinen The Story of Sometu - Attraction co-members. Mood SOMETU is a social net- work where people come rom an organisational point from different organisa- " of view, SOMETU is an or- tions. However, relationships F ganism,” says Ville Venäläin- are built on a personal lev- en, SOMETU’s co-founder. el. SOMETU’s members are Sometu – SOMETU’s attraction comes from the in- free to allocate their time dependence it offers its users to interact and energies in and for the in a number of levels. SOMETU is not an network. Venäläinen says social media as association or organised in any formal that even though he is high- way. Venäläinen says that he would even ly committed to SOMETU avoid using the word community to de- on several levels, his in- scribe SOMETU. It is like a simple net- put varies from time to time. a tool for learning work with multiple interests and ideas. On some days you are will- Furthermore, the SOMETU co-founder ing to play with thoughts and aims to remain faithful to these founding on other ones your thoughts principles in the future. are somewhere else. As mentioned earlier, SOMETU was ”The atmosphere on founded thanks to a seminar that focused SOMETU comes from its on social media and learning. Venäläin- users,” stresses Venäläinen. en was the first one to formulate the in- ”It is easy to commit oneself SOMETU is a network and forum for people who are interested in the potential itiative, but other important co-found- to a network, which is like that social media offers. It is an exceptional tool that not only helps expand one’s ers were: Kari A. Hintikka, Anne Rongas, a good old restaurant. No knowledge but promotes business, eDemocracy, citizen activism and leisure ac- Timo Vuorensola and Roope Mokka, who one comes to an empty restaurant, but Ville Venäläinen tivities in the digital age. contributed different points of views on with hard work beforehand, people know social media. Participants of the seminar where and when the party is.” formed required cohesion for the network A commitment is also shown by Since the members are professionals SOMETU was innovated in November 2007 for a groundbreaking seminar on to start grow. From the onset, all the prep- SOMETU’s prompt and informative an- in a number of fields (technology, educa- social media held at Otava Folk High School in eastern Finland. Thanks to such aration material was produced on the In- swers compared with other social net- tion, research, business as well as others) efforts, the network founded for the seminar was spontaneously expanded ternet. works. Moreover, peer-related informa- it offers SOMETU greater flexibility and Venäläinen, who is recognised as the tion is considered reliable since you opportunities to access knowledge. All into a network of people sharing a common interest in social media and curious founder of sometu.ning.com, finds it dif- know the people you are communicating of SOMETU’s members are interested in about its possibilities. Its main aim is to connect people who are involved in learn- ficult to describe his role in SOMETU at with. With respect to the information flow learning and therefore willing to look at ing new matters and using social media as a tool to further their professional, so- the moment since the network is based of the Internet, members of the network issues from a fresh perspective with cre- cial and personal needs. on users. User-driven network is not a cli- are all eyes and ears for each other. They ative and innovative solutions. ché when referring to SOMETU. Anyone share their discoveries in order to build can join and communicate on the net- new knowledge in an ever-evolving world SOMETU’s Future The SOMETU network has expanded rapidly and has today almost 2,000 mem- work. According to Venäläinen, people and web. bers. The working environment consists of a number of theme groups that take were enthusiastic to join SOMETU from Who should join SOMETU? Venäläinen part in forums. Distance is never an issue since they regularly hold meetings in the the day it was born, even though it did not Sometu in Business claims that anyone who operates a social have a proper layout at the time. Growth media domain is warmly welcome. So far, web and organise other activities as well as events. SOMETU derives its strength has been strong even up to now. Since SOMETU was founded two years satisfied users have been our most effec- from its users. Since it has expanded rapidly as a network, some of the effort has ago, a myriad of questions have been tive marketing tool. Curiosity lures people gone into strengthening its base. Sometu - a Place to Share and brought up in social media. In the begin- to the network. SOMETU has grown on a Play with Thoughts ning, SOMETU was mainly used for ed- constant basis. Events such as the ITK- ucational purposes in social media. To- Conference helped our membership to SOMETU is all about learning, not about day, its use has expanded into many ar- peak in the previous two years. education. ”Learning is like breathing, we eas such as technology in education, cit- Is the sky the limit for SOMETU? One do it naturally all the time” says Venäläin- izens‘ activism, eDemocracy and lately of our biggest challenges is how to con- en. business as well. nect people with different interests to one Shared knowledge is a keyword of Sometu in Business is part of the net- network. Venäläinen believes that despite social networking and it is one part of work initiative that looks at social media such challenges, organising activities for SOMETU’s success story. Expertise and specifically from a company’s perspec- thousands of members poses a lot of authority are transformed in SOMETU. tive. Special topics and discussions re- questions. ”Every member of SOMETU They depend on the knowledge and ex- lated to various aspects of business and lives in the digital age,” he says. ”They are periences that are available and offered social media can be found on Sometu in also willing to tolerate a certain amount by the network. Focus and exploring is- Business. SOMETU’s members discuss of uncertainty.” sues in an enthusiastic, playful and ex- and explore how companies can bene- Even so, this raises a key question: perimental fashion are key. Do not hes- fit from social media. Some of the topics Should a network be organised in a for- itate to ask - the worst that can happen that are discussed include product devel- mal manner? What is the life span of a to you is learning from and with your opment, innovations and communication. network? Where is SOMETU heading?

12 02/2009 02/2009 13 Leena Vainio, HAMK University of Applied Sciences, AKTIIVI project manager According to Venäläinen, we are at the rather active. In addition, Sometu in Busi- partner in the project especially related to Mika Sihvonen, University of Tampere, senior researcher point of no return in our journey. ”We can- ness uses English quite extensively. Un- SOMETU’s activities. not predict the future by looking at the fortunately, several discussion topics can In order to attain these goals, Otava Folk past,” he says. ”People in SOMETU are only be accessed in the Finnish language. High School is developing different web trying to find a new way to deal with the SOMETU-members are working to meet environments as well as instructing people future as a group, learning with and from this challenge. on how to use the full potential of the In- Brokering in open each other.” ternet and the networks. They are always Different personalities play remarkable AVO-Project and the open to new ideas on how to encourage roles. ”Active persons like to go out and Development of SOMETU greater participation by citizens of all ag- find new places to breathe social media,” Network es in society as well as bridge the gap be- learning environments he continues. ”These so-called curious no- tween the industrial and information era. mads are the mainstay of the network.” Development of SOMETU is presently sup- Otava Folk High School is similar to Venäläinen believes that the platforms ported by the AVO-Project, which is fund- SOMETU since it is constantly seek- offered by SOMETU enable greater inter- ed by the European Union. One of the aims ing novel solutions to adapt to the future, action with other people and the outside of the project is to strengthen the network which is today. world. These principles will lead SOMETU in SOMETU’s ”engine room.” It also offers plication of best practices, mediating be- Our study aims to identify the requi- in the future instead of rigid structures. new opportunities to organise events and tween different perspectives and reach- sites for successful brokerage. An abili- Interest in SOMETU has been grow- meetings both live and via the Internet for ing conclusions are included in the bro- ty to work in networks is essential, as is ing internationally and language is still a its members. The project is organised by ker’s task. The broker needs to have suf- the ability to impact flexibly so that - dif great challenge for a network established the Association of Finnish eLearning Cen- ficient legitimacy and ability in order to in- ferent actions support and help the work in Finnish. Sometu in English is small but tre and Otava Folk High School is a partial fluence emerging activities, kick-start im- of each project, and do not fatigue prac- portant issues, and, if necessary, point out titioners. A danger is that externally sup- conflicting interests. A broker is expected ported network-like activity will become to be able to connect the operational ac- a burden for practitioners if appropriate Contacts: tivities of various practitioners and identify methods are not found. http://www.sometu.fi/ Sometu in Business http://www.sometu.fi/group/sosiaalinenmediayrityksissa best practices that promote learning when Different idea and concept level mod- Sometu in English http://www.sometu.fi/group/english imported into new contexts. For example, els, as well as the sharing and polishing

http://www.sometu.fi/profile/villevenalainen a specific venture may have well-devel- of effective practices can be promoted http://www.sometu.fi/profile/JosSchuurmans KTIIVI is a coordination venture oped and diverse communication practic- through the use of social media. For ex- http://www.sometu.fi/profile/SannaBrauer within the Active Citizen of the es with which the members of the organi- ample, blog or wiki services where eve- http://www.sometu.fi/profile/EnriqueTessieri A Open Learning Environment de- sation are very familiar, but the group has ryone can comment provide an opportu- velopment programme (ESF programme). not realised these practices could be of- nity for other projects to acquire knowl- The task of a coordination venture is to fered for others to use. Diversity is a chal- edge on individual ventures, allowing a support the networking and coopera- lenge in that project practitioners need comparison of outcomes and their appli- tion between ventures that have received to be sufficiently involved in individual cation to one’s practice. The researcher is funding and disseminate best practic- projects, but also sufficiently distant in or- also able to see the discussion process es and methods created in the ventures der to retain the possibility of operating at through which development and idea im- to educational institutions, organisa- interfaces and recognising the best pos- plementation has progressed. tions and businesses. The task includes sible issues to export from and import in- the role of broker. Each project forms a to the project. fairly close community and a few larger projects already include several learning communities. Often these learning com- munities formed by a project cooperate with each other very closely and it can be difficult for an outsider to gain entry. The broker may be seen as an outsider or she or he may be expected to function as a group member – an actual role with- in the group. The broker’s task, howev- er, is to import and export skills and abil- ities between projects. In a broad opera- tional field different operational cultures meet and the best ideas for activity may be created through these ‘boundary en- counters’. Wenger (1998) has described the bro- ker’s work as diverse and challenging. We Meetings and seminars are important tools for developing network. have noticed in the AKTIIVI venture that this description is eminently appropriate to the work of the coordination venture’s Sources: Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity. leader. Cooperation, modification and ap- New York: Cambridge University Press

14 02/2009 02/2009 15 Pasi Silander, mobile learning developer and researcher

Learning where you are – mobile pedagogy is a genuine opportunity

Mobile devices such as GSM phones and PDAs bring a new dimension to learning and training. The learning environment expands and integrates into other environments, enabling learning to occur in an authentic con- text. Communication, collaborative construction of knowledge and inno- vation are the key descriptors of learning in these new environments.

All of us carry a mobile phone with us, many of us even a communicator or mini-laptop. When these devices are with us, learning can take place in authentic situations – there, where there is time and a need. On the train or when there are still a few minutes before boarding a flight, why don’t I use a device to, for example, learn a lan- guage? Even one sentence a day is great progress. If the learning comes directly to a mobile phone or PDA, then I am more likely to study daily!

n addition to eLearning and online in education in different types of commu- are used, e.g. in reflection, collaborative ing can guide the learning of new knowl- ronment. New educational technology can in collective communication and produc- pedagogy, there is much discussion nication – interaction can occur through construction of knowledge or even as a edge or skills, or the application of exist- make learning part of everyday activities tion of knowledge. Ion mLearning or mPedagogy. mLearn- speech, texting with another learner or ‘thinking partner’. ing skills in an authentic situation. Mobile and bring it directly to the workplace, com- Educational technology research and ing can be thought of as a form of learn- the trainer. Mobile devices, like the new- Mobile devices bring assistance inde- technology enables various interactive ap- miting the learner to study. The new eve- development is a requisite for develop- ing in which learning occurs through mo- er mobile phone models, can be used to pendent of time and place to guidance, plications, e.g. completing learning and re- rybody’s pocket PCs, that is communica- ing effective mobile learning applications. bile devices in authentic environments, make notes, collect and document knowl- e.g. advice or necessary knowledge to the flection tasks, guiding the learning proc- tors, smartphones and smart mobile de- Even though the advantages of mobile such as the workplace or even out in na- edge by, e.g. writing, taking photos with spot – on the site. Mobile devices can be ess and supporting learning with the help vices, create a foundation for developing learning are evident, such as independ- ture. In this regard it is less geographical- the camera, filming video clips, or audio employed to activate and sustain activi- of, for example, mobile simulations. Mobile new kinds of applications, learning environ- ence of time and place, in order to devel- ly and time bound than is online learning. recordings. Content editing, for example ty in guidance, e.g. learning a foreign lan- media may also function as a student’s ments and learning objects for education. op applications and tools there is a need mLearning might be simulations guid- small-scale image processing with mobile guage in an authentic work environment, knowledge store and ePortfolio. Educational use of mobile devices has for knowledge on what added value mo- ed by mobile devices implemented in au- phone applications, is possible. Mobile de- such as the workplace or communica- Making use of mobile communication been hampered by the need for a seam- bile applications bring to learning and thentic environments. vices can be used as so-called push-me- tion situation. In this case language learn- (e.g. phones, text messages, multimedia less combination of technology and ped- how learning is promoted in mobile learn- In mobile learning, the learner is mo- dia in which learning material or the shar- messages, email and internet connections agogic skills necessary for the develop- ing environments. bile. A student’s activity in an authentic ing of knowledge or, for example, a learn- in mobile devices) will become increasing- ment of mobile educational applications In the HAMK University of Applied environment, for example, the workplace, ing object is possible through mobile de- ly central also in corporate virtual team- and learning material. The starting point Sciences Mobiles in Learning and In- may merely be performing a work task vices. These devices have not as yet been work, facilitating the work of team mem- cannot be, for example, that a teacher teraction Project (AVO venture) we are without a great deal of reflection or learn- extensively employed as cognitive tools, bers in broader environments, for exam- sends text messages to students; rath- gathering experiences of the use of mo- ing. The purpose of mobile guidance is to so-called learning or thinking tools which ple client visits or other environments in er automated and developed education- bile devices in learning and collaborative ensure that learning in authentic environ- which video conferencing or internet con- al technology applications are required. activity as well as the use of social media ments is analysed and structured. Then nections are not available or reliable. In These applications can be located in on- in mobile environments. The venture will learning at one’s workplace, like work ex- this way, the entire expertise of the team line servers that communicate with mobile especially provide an impetus for the de- perience, becomes an authentic learning can be harnessed in an ”on-the-site” sit- devices, for example, a phone. The other velopment of continuing education and environment. Mobile devices are then a uation. Mobile devices can also be used alternative is to produce learning materi- concurrently challenges regional enter- tool with which pedagogically meaningful to commit each team member to very in- al which can, for example, be downloaded prises and organisations to collaborative learning processes and pedagogic struc- tense teamwork. into communicators. development work. tures are also transferred to authentic en- The development of educational tech- Adaptable and developed applications vironments and authentic learning situa- nology, such as GSM phones and PDA de- and learning platforms are needed for mo- tions. Mobile devices are a teacher’s ped- vices or mini-laptop based learning envi- bile learning. These applications take into agogic telescopic hand. ronments, creates a completely new op- consideration the features of mobile de- Mobile devices can naturally be used portunity for learning in a corporate envi- vices, their strengths as well as limitations

16 02/2009 02/2009 17 Hans Põldoja, Jukka Purma, Tarmo Toikkanen LeGroup, Media Lab, University of Art and Design Helsinki of resources are often missing from the same license. This is a powerful source of lection that contains Tools, Methods, Con- educational repositories that are focused content that teachers can build upon. tent, and an explanation of how they are on reusable learning content. LeMill has supposed to be used together or how a simple structure that contains four sec- Content and more they were used. Learning are still tions — Content, Methods, Tools and Com- rare, but they have high visibility in LeM- LeMill for teachers munity. Content creation and editing in LeMill is ill. Resources that are used in Learning There are several important differenc- based on simple templates for different Stories display stories as suggestions of es between LeMill and typical learning ob- kinds of learning resources. LeMill tem- how the resources can be and have been ject repositories. Firstly, any learning re- plates aim for simplicity and ease of use used. Other resources in LeMill are by source in LeMill can be modified and im- instead of rich features, because in addi- default shared and collaboratively edited, LeMill is a teacher community with a twist - it provides proved by other teachers. This is easy to tion to being able to create new resourc- but Learning Stories and Collections are do in a standard web browser, because es, we expect teachers to modify and en- personal. In addition LeMill tracks all the learning resources for teachers, not just students. all the learning resources that are cre- rich resources created by their colleagues. resources that a teacher has contributed ated in LeMill are web-based. Teachers The current web ecosystem has special- to and builds a dynamic portfolio. do not have to worry about breaking the ized services for creation, sharing, and copyright when they modify a resource in storing certain types of content such as Numbers and visions n last decade a lot of work has been Open resources through tonia, Hungary and Norway. In the begin- LeMill, as all content is published under presentations, videos, maps, and imag- done in order to encourage teachers collaboration ning of the project we organized design the Creative Commons Attribution-Share es. LeMill supports embedding of external In the fall of 2009 LeMill has over 6700 Ito share their educational resourc- sessions with teachers from these four Alike license, which allows to modify and content into resources and respectively, members, over 400 groups, over 5000 es. In most of the European countries In the Media Lab at the University of Art countries in order to find out how teach- remix the content, as long as the original LeMill content can be embedded to oth- learning resources, over 1900 method there are national repositories which pro- and Design Helsinki we have designed ers use and create educational resourc- author is credited and the resulting work er services. descriptions, and over 700 tool descrip- vide learning resources that are created and developed the LeMill web community es. The results of the design sessions is shared under the same conditions. It is In addition to Content, LeMill provides tions. These resources are written in over by teachers. We however think that teach- (see http://lemill.net) that enables teach- created a basis for the general structure possible to use texts from Wikipedia and Methods and Tools. Methods are how-to 50 different languages. The largest re- ers need a simple way to customize the ers to create, share, and reuse education- of LeMill. We found that teachers per- its sister projects, images from Flickr, and knowledge for teachers; they are instruc- source languages are Georgian, Estoni- learning resources that they use and con- al resources. The work was carried out as ceive different categories of education- other material that is published under the tions and descriptions for all kinds of ped- an, Czech, Spanish, Lithuanian, Hungar- tribute their work back to the educational part of the European Commission’s 6th al resources such as educational content, agogical activities, theories, and tasks. ian, Russian, and English. In addition to community. This is currently not possible Framework Programme project CALI- pedagogical methods, and tools that can Tools are similar how-to knowledge about these languages, German, French, Finn- in most of the educational repositories. BRATE, together with partners from Es- be used in learning. The two latter types familiar and new instruments of teaching, ish, and Swedish are well represented including physical objects, software, and among the community members. services - anything that can be used for Because of LeMill's multilingual sup- pedagogical purposes. We see Methods port and initial testing in Eastern Eu- and Tools as the most valuable and excit- rope, it seems to have developed sever- ing part of LeMill, because there doesn't al communities around relatively rare lan- need to be a comprehensive library of re- guages, like Georgian and Estonian. The sources before they become useful. Meth- future of LeMill is certainly tied to these od and Tool descriptions are also naturally communities; as long as there is at least shared between teachers. one country where LeMill is actively used Collections and Learning Stories are and where LeMill is beneficial, it is worth LeMill's way of binding resources togeth- the effort and cost to maintain and devel- er. A Collection is self-explanatory, but op it. Even when most of LeMill resourc- Learning Stories are a special type of col- es are created by these two small linguis- tic groups, it still grows faster than most learning resource publishing services (8.0 new resources per day in LeMill; 4.6 in Merlot, 1.8 in Connexions, 1.1 in Ariadne). These active communities are also good examples of the potential benefit of LeM- ill to countries that reach critical mass in LeMill. Resources in LeMill are published with open licenses, so their future is quite safe: they are not tied to LeMill in any way by their license or copyright and wherever LeMill development goes, they can stay with it, be copied into some other repos- itory, or changed into some other form. For most teachers, we see LeMill as the first steps towards the comfortable use of open content and social media.

18 02/2009 02/2009 19 Liisa Kirves, Marja-Liisa Viherä The authors are the project manager and expert in the Know-how-talkoot project

Tietotaitotalkoot -hanke Closing the information technology gap • The ESF Operational Programme in mainland Finland • Ends in May 2011 communication skills for communities • Executed by The Finnish Information – processing Association, FIPA • www.tietotaitotalkoot.fi • Eerikinkatu 28, 5th floor, through voluntary action 00180 Helsinki

he gap between information technology experts and the Below is a report on the Future Vol- ble, least desirable and a possible scenar- dents design a future city by planning a average user continues to be great or is even growing. untary Action of Mankkaa School, Espoo, io were selected. These were named the scenario appropriate town plan. T The more sophisticated and diverse programs and serv- in which 9th grade students construct- Technology Scenario, the Cold Scenario ices become, the greater the difficulties average citizens ed three different scenarios of the fu- and Collaborative Scenario. A cooperative work method for and their communities have in finding adequate, workable and ture, producing concrete outcomes from IT professionals compatible programs and services for their use. What is need- each scenario, that is, scenario appropri- Scenario appropriate meals ed are simple, tested, free services and ways of use, explained in ate meals, a video or publication suitable The voluntary action was also tested in a clear understandable language, through which people and com- for the scenario and a discussion on life Once the scenarios were clarified, students group of IT professionals, who aimed to munities are able to maintain contact, participate in society, make according to their scenario as a founda- began to plan appropriate meals, purchase create a social media electronic desktop. themselves visible and realise their creativity. tion for everything. ingredients and prepare food. Food for the One goal was to create it on one’s own Know-how-talkoot is a method of collaborative doing in which Technology Scenario included saute rein- machine for one’s use, but some partic- learning occurs indiscernably, in addition to and through doing. People, tools and methods of deer, mashed potatoes and lingonberries; ipants sought a new kind of use for so- This is an EU venture, which, through advice from pilots and do- the voluntary action the Cold Scenario meal was fish fingers, cial media to motivate students. Collabora- ing by one’s self, provides existing organisations with skills individ- dehydrated mashed potatoes, white choc- tive work, reciprocal learning, and increas- uals or organisations feel they need to enhance their activity. The On Monday at noon there were 18 stu- olate mousse, Pepsi-Max and gummy bear ing understanding through discussion pro- use of freeware in the voluntary action enables organisations to dents, their teachers and three voluntary sweets. Many different salads, grated car- duced many different electronic desktops, enhance and further develop learned operational models without action pilots gathered in the biology class- rot, smoked salmon, strawberry milkshakes new ideas for teaching, new social con- having to invest money in software. Thus the models learned in the room of Mankkaa School. During the next and oat biscuits, made by the group, were tacts, and increased trust and social capi- venture are retained by the organisation for continuous use. two days, the future was constructed em- enjoyed in the Collaborative Scenario. tal. In these voluntary actions, deciding on Know-how-talkoot method starts with the premise that the ploying a video camera, three projectors, In addition to food preparation, each meals, their preparation and enjoying them participant operates as an independent thinker and actor, able to two Mac computers, two mini-laptops group created a narrative of their scenario, together formed an essential part of the combine acquired knowledge with previous knowledge and skill (Linux operating system), a multi-function- either by filming it on video or making an il- venture. Planning, preparing and partaking structures. There is no teaching or lecturing; rather the group be- al device, three web sticks, memory sticks, lustrated publication. of meals are, as processes, similar to any gins to collaboratively do that which they consider important for extension cords, a dictating machine, pa- other creative process, and food allows their organisation. Of course, various issues are explored while do- per, marker pens, tape, and the school’s The method is suitable for those who are uncertain about information ing, such as intellectual property rights and so on. The principle of Windows computer. The voluntary ac- schools technology to participate in the venture. completed products is also an essential part, that is, participants tion took place in the school’s biology and This EU venture began at the end of 2008 remain in the venture until a or publication is finished and home economics classrooms. There was an exceptionally enthusiastic and will continue until mid-2011. The ob- ready. This venture aims to create new communicative practices The students began work by writing up and creative atmosphere in the Mankkaa jective is to organise 150 know-how vol- for organisations and improve the organisation members’ commu- small moments of happiness which were School venture. All outcomes can be seen untary actions ventures. An essential com- nication skills in order to increase social capital, trust and open- analysed from a future perspective. They on the Know-how-talkoot website. Feed- ponent of the venture is the training of pi- ness. also considered in what kind of society is back received from the teacher afterwards lots, which has been initiated with the Lau- Know-how-talkoot ranging from video or website creation to paid employment possible, what environ- indicates that other classes are interested rea University of Applied Sciences’ Kerava publications and audio processing have been held during 2008 mental factors are necessary to preserve in the products, and the participating stu- unit. A website will be created during the in various parts of the country. This model is applicable to organ- nature or how will people study in the fu- dents have been ’absolutely enthusiastic’. venture into which will be collected all use- isations and associations who work to empower civic activities. ture, will schools exist at all? The school immediately received some- able freeware, products and discussion. The model has been tested as a learning method for schools and Reflection was followed by the - draw thing new from the venture, in that the sce- The aim of the website is to act as peer an IT professional’s custom of taking up new applications and ing up of a futures table. Students voted narios now form part of the learning ma- support, an example and data bank. understanding the user’s perspective. on the alternatives and the most desira- terial for geography lessons in which stu-

Know-how-talkoot website can be found at www.tietotaitotalkoot.fi

20 02/2009 02/2009 21 Pieta Tukkimäki-Hildén, principal, Hämeenlinnan Yhteiskoulun lukio – an upper secondary school in Hämeenlinna Teachers on students’ heels – social media is taken hold of in AVO training

hat is social media?” asked cial media tools ranging from Second Life service open to everyone, offering a pos- per secondary school network, Y-love, learning that has occurred in informal sit- which students mentor a business and of- " one teacher, when asked to Twitter and Blogs to Ning. The goal is siblity to record knowledge and narratives which gathers together 20 upper sec- uations. The objective is that they are fer their social media abilities for the busi- W if s/he was interested in not only to offer teachers time to become regarding Häme province. Häme-Wiki ondary schools offering entrepreneuri- able to continue compiling the ePortfo- ness’ use. Before this plan proceeds to participating in continuing education for familiar with different tools by trying and in- was realised as part of the ESR funded al education. The network was given the lio after matriculation. Some of the teach- an implementation stage, teachers need Hämeenlinna City upper secondary school vestigating these, but also to expand learn- Information Society Spaces and Content National Board of Education’s learning ers in the Hämeenlinna Yhteiskoulu Up- to be trained – students of course are al- teachers. The response indicates that there ing environments by producing learning Project that aims to improve the work-age environment project, which aims to de- per Secondary School AVO project have ready able to do this. is a need for the course beginning in Oc- material or a teaching moment with their population’s information society content velop upper secondary school students’ became familiar with social media specif- tober. After an introduction to the training chosen social media tool for content they skills and develop the competence and use of ePortfolio, examine the possibili- ically from an entrepreneurial education course, twenty enthusiastic teachers reg- have already taught. Teachers will also be know-how of library staff, employees in ties afforded by social media in entrepre- perspective. They have challenged their istered for the four-day workshop in which provided a large helping of knowledge on, advisory positions and teachers. neurial education in schools, and devel- German entrepreneurial sister school to AVO project and Y-love entrepreneurial they will attempt to catch up with students for example, netiquette, intellectual proper- op a web-based social networking envi- join the development work. upper secondary school network. in the area of social media. Teachers cur- ty rights and information security. Entrepreneurial education ronment model to support entrepreneur- The Hämeenlinna Yhteiskoulu Up- Further information: rently make extensive use of information The training will also encourage teach- benefits from social media ial education. Through these, entrepre- per Secondary School is also consider- principal Pieta Tukkimäki-Hildén 03-6212578, technology in planning teaching and pro- ers to use, for example, wikis in teaching. neurial students have the opportunity to ing what the institution could reciprocally [email protected] ducing learning materials, but when they Students can complete wiki-texts using is- One school involved in the AVO project is demonstrate their entrepreneurial skills offer partner enterprises that provide ex- Knowledge and culture open learning environment. move into learning environments on the sues covered in teaching. An excellent ex- the Hämeenlinna Yhteiskoulu Upper Sec- more effectively and diversely. Students pert knowledge for the school’s use, as- Further information: web, they often feel ill at ease and outside ample of this kind of opportunity is Häme- ondary School offering a Creative En- gather self-evaluations, ideas and refer- sist various projects financially, and - ac project designer Maija Saraste, their comfort zone. Wiki, a collaborative online service opened trepreneurship stream for students who ences from their upper secondary school cept students into theTET programme puh. 050-3482 439, [email protected] During the workshop, AVO network ex- in August introducing the Kanta-Häme re- pass an entrance exam. The school is entreprenurial studies into a continuously (Introduction to Work programme). One perts will guide teachers into adopting so- gion, people and events. Häme-Wiki is a part of the national entrepreneurial up- developing ePortfolio, and also describe idea is to develop ’reverse mentoring’, in

Y-love meeting in Jyväskylä, May 2009 Photo: Terho Aalto

22 02/2009 02/2009 23 Elias Aarnio, Open Source expert its higher cost. In Kauniainen low cost was not the pri- mary concern – quality and suitability to meet needs were. Low cost is general- ly speaking the top reason why schools in LTSP – quality and Finland choose LTSP. One major reason is the possibility of prolonging the life cycle of old computers: when they cannot run the monolithic proprietary operating sys- practical reasoning to tems any more, they are still high-end, fast to use LTSP terminals. An old PC with 1 Ghz CPU and 256 megabytes of RAM workstations gives an amazing user experience. In many schools old boxes like these, hard disks re- moved, are used in combination with new flat displays and – voilà – a new efficient he ICT systems in education face ernet cable. All programmes and process- is simple: learning is seen as a process computer class is equipped. Very old hard- Topology of LTSP system (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuLTSP/ by Oliver Grawert). a difficult problem. New servic- es are also run on the server. The resourc- the student does; hence all structures and ware can be used in hallways and other T es and software such as social es and processor time of the server are functions of the school should support this unlocked places: diskless old computers room cool enough to work in. The cost of frastructure for LTSP and FLOSS. Swed- media and eLearning are required – yet shared among the users: those who need view. The reason ICT infrastructure exists is are not interesting to thieves, either. a cooling unit is about the same as that of ish schools use the common proprietary budget resources remain at the same lev- the CPU time at a certain moment get to support the learning process. It is there the 20 computers in the classroom. Why software and Windows PC approach. The el or are even reduced. This puzzle is a it. The situation is totally different from a primarily for the learners, not the adminis- Energy saving and ergonomic should one make a choice like this when resource need of the Finnish schools in very hard one to solve using traditional typical PC setup where the resources of tration, ICT department, principal or even there is an elegant way to do the trick? the 2009 budget was 80 000 € which methods. That is why Linux Terminal Serv- the computers are usually not maximised. the teachers. An LTSP system is both ergonomic and As the server and router room is needed included the building of open wireless er Project (LTSP) is gaining in populari- Even if a PC could spare some CPU time The board of education in Kauniainen environmentally friendly. There are no hard in any case, the extra thermal energy can LAN to all schools. The Swedish schools ty: it has major social, technical, ecological it cannot be given to another user due to facilitated a process where needs were de- disks producing high pitch noise. Commer- be collected from there to heat tap water announced the need of 145 000 € with and economic advantages over traditional technical limitations. scribed anew from this angle and a thor- cially available thin clients have no fans and for instance. no development activities. Both adminis- PC based environments. LTSP is technically very robust and ough analysis of how to produce these are thus noiseless, are typically the size of trations were given 90 000 €. This calen- LTSP is a Thin Client system running well-behaving: the boot up process is services was done. They ended up with a a VHS cassette and can be hidden behind Resourcing with thought dar year will show how big the already ex- on the Linux operating system. There slightly faster than a new PC running Win- solution where workstations are mostly LT- the display. The difference in consumption isting difference in service levels will be are proprietary Thin Client systems but dows OS. Maintenance is easier: instead SP terminals and the services the students of electricity is huge: an LTSP client needs There is a huge variation in the amount of by 2010. Linux is the ultimate educator's choice of having an armada of standalone com- use are run with FLOSS software. The lat- around 10 watts, a PC typically around money used in the ICT systems of educa- Lauritsala School Centre, Lappeen- because it brings all the advantages of puters there is only one server to main- ter was not even the goal – it just hap- 150 watts. A setup of 20 PC machines tion in different towns and municipalities. ranta has chosen a turn key, all inclu- Free/Libre and Open Source Software tain. A faulty client machine is simply un- pens to be the case that when buying even annually consumes 13140kWh and a set- In many places it is not known how much sive LTSP based learning environment. (FLOSS) with it: cost efficiency, no ven- plugged and changed into a working one slightly tailored solutions cost efficiency is up of 20 LTSP terminals plus server con- money is actually used for ICT in different The overall annual cost per workstation dor lock-in, freedom to make changes to in five minutes. on different level when using FLOSS com- sumes 4380kWh. Based on the consum- ways and thus comparing the present sit- is 140 € where the general Windows software yourself. pared to proprietary software. The reason er prices of electricity this means a differ- uation with alternatives is impossible. PC system produced by the ICT depart- The Thin Client System differs funda- ICT services for learning – not is of course the licensing model of FLOSS ence of 700 € annually. Kauniainen gives us a good basis for a ment of the town costs 400 € per work- mentally from a standalone PC. Instead of for organisation software: you may make modifications to This cost factor remains mostly unno- comparative analysis as it has two educa- station annually. Many schools run either having the operating system and software the software as you wish. Even though the ticed as it is not treated in the same class tional systems of almost exactly the same self-made and self-maintained LTSP sys- on a hard disk drive of the PC, thin cli- The Dreamschool project of Kasavuori Up- council of Kauniainen is one of the wealth- of expenditure inside the budget. The size, Finnish and Swedish speaking. Based tems or they buy some parts of the whole ents are booted over the network. The op- per Secondary School in Kauniainen, Fin- iest in Finland, the service level which has calculation fails to note that usually the on the Dreamschool concept the Finnish as a service. These users communicate erating system is transferred to the Ran- land is a good case example of LTSP in op- been achieved would not have been possi- computers dissipate so much heat that a board of education has for years devel- actively, sharing tips and advice using the dom Access Memory of the client via Eth- timal use. The basic idea of Dreamschool ble using only proprietary software due to cooling unit is needed to keep the class- oped both learning methods and ICT in- Educoss mailing list and web forums.

LTSP workshop at Mäntykangas school, Kokkola, Finland, October 2009. Photo: Elias Aarnio.

http://ltsp.org/ http://kasavuori.fi/images/stories/ dream_school.pdf

24 02/2009 02/2009 25 Tiina Front-Tammivirta, development manager, The Association of Finnish eLearning Centre Open Learning and The Association of Learning Networks Finnish eLearning Centre for teachers and learners – Promoter and Network-builder in Finnish e-Learning Branch

Finnish national project Open Networks for Learning – (AVO) facilitates open learning resources and peer-production he Association of Finnish eLearn- provides expert services and spreads in- services. We provide leading speakers in ing Centre is an independent, na- formation on e-learning. We assist e-learn- the field of e-learning in a variety of semi- T tional non-profit organisation that ing professionals and other stakeholders in nars and workshops. We participate in na- promotes the use of e-learning achieving common goals and bringing out tional e-learning policy making and in the penness in the AVO project Scope of the AVO-project and digital education solutions in Finnish their know-how and promote research and work of the Finnish Digibusiness Cluster means that users have a sig- companies and organisations. It was es- usability of results achieved in the branch- programme. O nificant role in content pro- • Strengthening open content tablished in 2002. Our purpose is to de- es of e-learning and e-studying. Our expertise is based on the knowl- duction using synchronic and asyn- production with high quality velop and increase the skills and knowl- We co-operate with the best experts edge of our members and associates. chronic methods. The production proc- • Moderating interaction in edge of e-learning in education, teach- and provide up-to-date information about The goal of our data service is dispers- ess is run in strong cooperation result- virtual worlds like Second Life ing and business operations. We organ- research, development, trends and ex- ing existing, well-working practices and ing in high-quality products and a spirit • Training for teaching professionals ise annual events such as meetings, sem- periences from e-learning. We promote creating fresh information. Theme group of doing together. • Developing peer-production Operating through a national network, inars and briefings for our members. The sharing of knowledge, best practices and activities promote networking and learn- Open content can be textual, visual, networks there are a dozen organisations and tens largest national event is the Digital Com- quality in e-learning. We also distribute in- ing from one another. Discussion, learn- audio or video. The focus is on production • Developing schools as learning of experts involved in the project. The petence and Learning -conference, which formation and perform as a contact sur- ing and education seminars deliver exper- methods and end-product modes. Open communities main themes are mobile devices, blogs is organized traditionally in November in face for finding partners, such as experts tise and promote networking. access is a key word and special atten- • Providing online communities and wikis in learning and interaction, Hämeenlinna, this year is the third time. and service providers, on the Finnish e- tion is paid to those procedures that sup- for individual workers training and education on virtual worlds The Association is a national meeting learning market. port high-quality open content and open • Developing tools and pedagogy and online conferences; piloting social point which provides networking links for Our networks offer contacts to the access to everybody participating in the for social media in schools media tools, open source solutions for the Finnish e-learning projects and re- producers and users of the e-learning process and using the content. Open con- • Generating optional open schools and web-communities as learn- gional clusters and helps to create con- tent has close connections to the social source software for school users ing resources for teachers. An essential tacts between companies, organisations media concept through the technology • Strengthening active citizenship sub-project is quality evaluation; how to and individuals. Since 2008 we have used and especially through the means and democracy define criteria for peer-production and been coordinating a significant Finn- of production and delivery • Increasing media criticism open content. ish national project “Open Networks for The main outcomes of AVO are new Learning –(AVO)” which promotes open networks and forums to facilitate a learning resources and open content pro- web2.0-learning culture; handbooks and duction, virtual and online learning envi- toolkits for teachers, decision makers and ronments and social media tools, peer- citizens about social media; patterns for production and open source solutions social networking and open content pro- for schools. Operating through a nation- duction, roadshows and online confer- al network, there are a dozen organisa- ences; hands-on workshops and semi- tions and tens of experts involved in the nars to train users to apply digital tools to AVO-project. their everyday activities. The Association of Finnish eLearn- AVO is a large national project coor- ing Centre organises also annually the dinated by The Association of Finnish e- eEemeli e-learning competition for do- Learning Centre and it is funded by the mestic e-learning products, services or Finnish Ministry of Education and Euro- policies produced or owned by the com- pean Social Funds (ESF). Project will last pany itself. The competition seeks for till the end of 2011. domestic e-learning solutions and en- hances innovation and quality of e-learn- Contact information Association of Finnish eLearning Centre More information: ing products. www.eoppimiskeskus.fi/avo [email protected] www.avoinvirta.fi The Association serves as a co-opera- www.eoppimiskeskus.fi sometu.ning.com/group/avo tion forum for e-learning interest groups,

26 02/2009 02/2009 27 02/2008 02/2008

Members of the Association of Finnish eLearning Centre

Organization Members

3T Results Ltd. HAMK University of Netop Finland Oy www.3tratkaisut.fi Applied Sciences www.netopfinland.fi www.hamk.fi AEL Oy Otava Publishing www.ael.fi HCI Productions Oy Company Ltd. www.hci.fi www.otava.fi Ambientia Ltd. www.ambientia.net Humac Oy Palmenia Centre for www.humac.fi Continuing Education Fronter Oy www.palmenia.helsinki.fi www.fronter.fi Internetix www.internetix.fi Päivi Kunnas Oy City of Hämeenlinna www.hameenlinna.fi Lifelong Learning Technology Centre Institute Dipoli Innopark Ltd. Consulo Oy www.dipoli.tkk.fi www.innopark.fi www.consulo.fi Markkinointiviestintä 42 TIEKE Finnish Information DIGIBUSINESS www.42.fi Society Development Centre cluster programme www.tieke.fi www.digibusiness.eu Mediamaisteri Group www.mediamaisteri.com Valopi Oy Discendum Oy www.valopi.fi www.discendum.com Mikrolinna Oy www.mikrolinna.fi WSOYpro Ltd. Ellibs Ltd. www.wsoypro.fi www.ellibs.com Mobiletools International Oy www.mobiletools.fi

Supporting Members

Apprix Oy MJK Institute Siikaranta Institute, Espoo www.apprix.fi www.mjk.fi www.siikaranta.fi

Festo Oy, Didactic Nordea Bank Finland Abp, Tampere Vocational Adult www.festo.fi Hämeenlinna Office Education Centre TAKK www.nordea.fi www.takk.fi Kymenlaakson ammatti- korkeakoulu, University Pori Adult Education -opisto of Applied Sciences Centre PAKK www.vero.fi www.kyamk.fi www.poriakk.fi

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