Forerunners of Learning

Greetings from the Forerunners of Learning (Oppimisen edelläkävijät) -conference! University of Applied Sciences teachers and lecturers gathered in Turku, Finland to develop and collectively imagine the Universities of Applied Sciences of the future.

We had the chance to hear from Novia and Turku University of Applied Science students who are applying social methods in their learning. Social entrepreneurship students presented their case and we had the rare opportunity to sit in on team meetings while students were socially building their knowledge on eg. restaurant management and marketing.

During discussions we got discuss projects like ISTUS and the role of social media in social learning. We noticed that social media were only mentioned in students cases and did not have a prominent role on any level. Does this mean that social media as a concept is going out of style or is social media so common and ever-present that it needs no separate discussion? What do you think?

First meeting in Lahr, Schwarzwald

Project partners for the ISTUS project met for the first time face to face in Lahr, Schwarzwald 4-5 Oct 2011.

The meeting kicked off with thorough introductions of the partner organisations. The afternoon was spent establishing key concepts for the project. Social media was defined in relation to application, idea and education.

The first evening excursion took the partners to the near-by baroque town of Ettenheim.



During the second day work packages for the partners were prepared and agreed upon. The three major areas during the project will be capabilities of staff, research review and survey, and publicising the project.



All in all, the first meeting was a success. The meeting took place in a convivial atmosphere and a great raport was formed between the partners. The expectation are now high after a successful kick-off!

A special thank you goes out to the organisers in Lahr, Germany for taking good care of the group and making sure that everything ran smoothly!