Author: Amy Shackleton, Senior Partnership Development Manager at FutureLearn

FutureLearn was pleased to send a delegate to the 31st conference of the European Association of International Education, which took place in Helsinki in late September. Attendance was at a record-breaking high – 6,200 delegates attended from over 90 countries.

EAIE’s annual conference is a huge event with a close and clear focus on networking and academic engagement. Started over 30 years ago, the Association works to bring educators together from all over the world to discuss international collaboration, student mobility and the future of teaching. However, online education did not appear to take precedence during discussions of what it means to embrace an “international” education focus. Of the 181 sessions and workshops planned over the 4 day event, only 19 used the word “online” or “digital” in their title or description. This raised the question – is this a network that chiefly focuses on physical student mobility? And if so, is there space for a digital conversation with the many thousands of EAIE members who put this event foremost in their calendar?

My conviction is a strong “yes”. Discussions with delegates would suggest this is a preoccupation of many, as budgets for traditional recruitment pathways are squeezed and visibility is a continuous issue for many university brands. 

FINLAND – UNDERSTANDING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE WORKPLACE AND THE CLASSROOM

In this sense, Finland was an excellent choice for a host country, taking such pride as they do in their inclusive, transformative curriculum that extends well beyond formal schooling years. Many adults in Finland choose to continue their education independently of any national mandate; and it is a huge part of Finland’s strategic initiatives to support and celebrate this. 

The opening session, led by Anita Lehikoinen (Ministry of Education and Culture) was a remarkably frank assessment of Finland’s standing in international education metrics, and its priorities for the future. This is summarised in four goals – 

1. To raise competence and qualification levels of the whole population in Finland.
2. To reduce the equality gaps in Finnish society.
3. To focus on continuous learning opportunities.
4. To invest in Research, Development and Innovation, increasing social cohesion and competitiveness.

Finland’s EU membership has prompted upskilling and internationalisation programmes for the last 30 years. By 2030, they want a national improvement in educational attainment across their population. This ambition is huge, but realisable – Finland identifies as a reformer and experimenter and is investing seriously in the project.

Equally exciting, a parallel goal to their educational strategy is for Finland to be carbon neutral by 2035. 

UNIVERSITIES ARE GLOBAL COMMUNITIES – THEY SHOULD TEACH THIS

Despite a lack of focus on online opportunities, disruptive and global innovation was a running theme at EAIE 2019. As plenary speaker, Simon Anholt opened his address with the words, “I’m sick of talking. I don’t want to talk.” It was a striking beginning – a personal admission of his frustration at a lack of progress in global collaboration, and a resounding call to action. Known for his creation of the Good Country Index, Simon’s conviction was that universities’ activity as an international community allows them to foster what he chose to call, “The Good Generation” – the future of humanity as global citizens, geared towards considering their impact beyond borders, supported by a global compact. On his prompting, #goodgeneration picked up rapidly across Twitter, with many academics pledging their support. He even shared his email address – which promptly crashed with all the delegates rushing to offer ideas and ways forward. It was an energising and hopeful start to the conference and a clear sign of the total and crucial role of education.

I attended a dozen more sessions during the following days – on marketing, student recruitment, international student experience, inclusivity, accessibility, credential evaluation, and even Brexit. What came across strongly from all sessions – the common theme that linked them altogether – was that people buy from people. Simon Anholt was not wrong when he considered this group as a global community in its own right. The engagement was a levelling experience, with institutions of wildly different ages, sizes and experience working as a group to further individual projects with common aims. The way this levelling came about was through the individual tenacity and passion of each delegate – those presenting, and those in the audience. In my personal experience, it is rare to attend an event where an appetite for change and progress is so tangible. 

We’re looking forward to next year’s conference already. 

Teachers are one of our biggest audiences on the FutureLearn platform and their ongoing commitment to developing their skills is an inspiration to us all. Helen Bilton trained as an early years teacher and worked as a teacher both in London and Reading before moving into teacher training. She is now Professor of Outdoor Learning at the University of Reading, Director of the Postgraduate Taught Programmes at the Institute of Education and the new Academic Partner in the University of Reading’s Online Courses team. She is also the Lead Educator on two very successful courses from the University of Reading: Supporting Successful Learning in Primary School and Supporting Successful Learning in Secondary School. We asked Helen about the value of online training for teachers and how she, as an educator, experiences the interaction with learners in a digital setting. Helen also shared some words of wisdom for academics who now embark on the journey of making their first online course.

“A good teacher will always love learning themselves and this is why they love FutureLearn and keep coming back to it as a source of learning, particularly as it is sharing up to date research which teachers can use either in the classroom or as part of their practice to improve the lives of young people.  The FutureLearn platform works particularly well for teachers because they are busy people and can often only devote small amounts of any spare time they have to their own studies. Learning through FutureLearn enables teachers to do this, working at their own pace and on very specific pieces of learning. I loved reading the discussions that the learners were having on the courses I helped create. I felt that sometimes the responses were more real and honest but still professional than in a face to face classroom setting where there are many students who are simply too shy to share some great thoughts they have. I also learnt from what some of the participants said and they made me really think and have to justify myself and my research. 

I think the most important lesson to learn is to listen to your online team colleagues. You may know you subject, be very passionate about your subject, you may even be a good teacher but this is a different way of getting your message across and in some ways involves more innovation in teaching than being in a room with the learners. This means you have to trust that those who live and breathe online courses, know what they are talking about when they suggest x,y, z! Go with their suggestions, listen to their advice, and be humble.”