Aihearkisto: opiskelijaliikkuvuus

GBS St. Gallen in Jyväskylä

Board  members of GBS St. Gallen from Switzerland have visited Jyväskylä Educational Consortium for two very  intensive days 24-25 August 2017. 

The visitors were given an extensive overview of the organisation, education system and all the development going on at the moment. GBS St. Gallen is since several years a partner for the media  sector (printing, photography). They are also one of the external partners in the KA2 project Commercialpolis. One of the concrete aims of this visit was to expand this cooperation to other fields and to the strategic level as well.

Amongst many other things the principals and managers of GBS St Gallen (name list below) were introduced to Finnish vocational teacher training,  development regarding digitalisation of both processes and learning, quality assurance, language teaching and guidance processes. Teacher training was presented by Harri Keurulainen, Hannele Torvinen and Tuulia Kiilavuori from JAMK Teacher Education College.

Thursday afternoon the visitors met with Principal Pirjo Kauhanen to discuss the organisational changes and the VET reform.

Friday morning was devoted to regional development and global partnerships presented by Director of Development Anu Tokila and Programme Manager Marleena Tuuri.

 

During the visit both parties found out that, although there are significant systemic level differences, there are a lot of similiarities on strategic level that can be advanced through cooperation between the two VET providers. In the more immediate future there is hope to work on issues around digitalisation as well as staff and student mobilities. We are expecting the first mobilities to take place during this school year from electrical engineering and hairdressing programmes.

Participants from GBS St. Gallen

  • Lukas Reichle, director of GBS
  • Daniel Kehl,  deputy-director of GBS, head of vocational education and training at GBS
  • Thomas Klement, head of the technical departement of GBS
  • Patrik Forrer, head of the school of design of GBS
  • Nicole Bauer, head of KSD – social care team of GBS
  • Jürg Pfeiffer, head of paedagogical advice and support team of GBS
  • Michael Andrist, head of IT at GBS

More information on the Commercialpolis project:

http://www.commercialpolis.eu/project/about-commercialpolis/ project

Picture credit: Daniel Kehl

More information: Rea Tuominen, international coordinator

 

Business students in Jyväskylä

kotikansainvälisyys, opiskelijaliikkuvuus, saapuvat opiskelijat

This spring has been very international in the business department of Jyväskylä College.  Since March we have hosted twelve students from Slovenia, Netherlands and Spain for three to ten weeks. Their programme has consisted of studies at the college and work placements in various retail shops around Jyväskylä.

Teacher Jaana Eirtovaara with Gladys and Sara at K Citymarket Seppälä.

Gladys, Sara, Claudia and Laura came from Malaga, Spain already in the end of March and will be staying until 5 June.  They have already been with us for a month and a half and Sara has learned a little bit of Finnish:  “I’ve learned a few words in Finnish like moi, kiitos, terveydeksi, hyvää päivänjatkoa, no nii, some fruits and some numbers.”  

When we asked them what have been the best moments during their stay so far Claudia said she enjoyed especially the tour of the town and the frozen lakes. She also likes the fact that Jyväskylä seems to be (and is) a very safe place.  For Sara working at  K-Citymarket has been the best part of the stay. She says that people who work there try to make you feel as comfortable as possible which is wonderful to hear.

 

Niels (right), Len (left) and Aniek are business students from ROC Friese Poort in the Netherlands. They are staying in Finland for a total of five weeks and have been doing their placement in Palokka either at KCM or KappAhl.

 

 

Len recommends packing a good pair of shoes suitable for walking.  Aniek very kindly call our hills mountains 🙂 which is understandable considering how flat the Netherlands is compared to Finland but it’s true, in Jyväskylä you need to go up and down hills when getting from point A to point B! This can be especially challenging in the beginning when riding a bike but also a good way to get some excercise in while commuting from accommodation to the college or work.

Larisa, Dani, Mojca, Aljaz and Tina were the last group to arrive from Nova Gorica, Slovenia. They have been on placement in Minimani and Prisma Seppälä. For Mojca placement in Minimani has been the best part. “I really enjoy working since it’s my first time working and I’m glad I had a chance to work in such an amazing place for the first time.”

We asked everyone our standard question: give three tops and tips (based on your own experience) to someone who is planning to come to Jyväskylä. How should they prepare? What should they do/see/visit/experience and this is what they had to say:

  • Learn some Finnish before coming, like ‘en puhu suomea’ just in case.  (You can do it   free online here http://www.uuno.tamk.fi/ or  here http://www.oneness.vu.lt/fi/)
  • The people here are very nice and friendly, if you need anything they will always help you. The only disadvantage is that not all people speak English that good, but you can still talk about basic topics.
  • Visit Kuokkala bridge around 11 p.m. because at that time the lights turn on and it is just beautiful.
  • You should also see the ski jumping hill Matti Nykäsen Mäki, go on top of it and enjoy the view over Jyväskylä.

Regarding weather the opinions are mixed. Some recommend bringing a lot of warm clothes (it has been the coldest spring in over 50 years) and others recommend to prepare yourself to feel warmer than you expected – it isn’t as cold as they say.

It’s been lovely to have you all in Jyväskylä and hope you have a safe trip back home when your stay with us is over!

More information Jaana Eirtovaara (at)jao.fi

More visitors from VWNotts

ECVET, globaalistuminen, henkilöstö, koulutusjärjestelmät, opiskelijaliikkuvuus, osaaminen, saapuvat opiskelijat

Jyväskylä Educational Consortium had the pleasure of hosting Mr. Andrew King (Director of Innovation and Strategy) and Ms. Kadri Saat (International Coordinator)  from our partner college in Mansfield, UK for three days between 10-12 April 2017.

The visit was short and intensive covering many areas of mutual interest including entrepreneurship education, management of the blended learning (VET & Adults), use of technology, plans for the future as well as relationships with employers (delivery and what part they play in VET) and relationship with HE and progressions for VET learners.

Kadri Saat, Pirjo Kauhanen and Andrew King

The visitors impressions were very positive and although the visit was short  we were able to indentify several areas where we can continue cooperation and learn from each other. When asked to mention three main takeaways from the meetings and discussions they had during their visit Andrew and Kadri mentioned the following:

“Firstly,  the relationship you have with the local employers: the way you nurture these, the impact to the skills and competencies from an extended on-the-job learning and how the end competency test is often completed at the workplace.

Then, how the entrepreneurship is embedded across the college and how all students are encouraged to establish and run mini companies with the support from the college.

The partnership and strong collaborative work that you do with two local universities. The new centrally based joint company to share the resource, expertise and support the progression.”

Andrew King, Jaana Virtanen and Hanna Frilander visiting the new facilites at Harju Campus.

Kadri and Andrew would like to thank everyone who participated in their visit: Pirjo Kauhanen, Anu Tokila, Maarit Kaija, Hanna Rajala,  Niina Helin, Pia Kotro,  Sinikka Luukainen, Sari Mynttinen, Mira Ahtila, Milka Niskanen, Minna Ahokas, Jaana Virtanen, Hanna Frilander & Markku Tarvainen.

More information: Rea Tuominen p.6159

http://www.wnc.ac.uk/

ECVET and entrepreneurial mindset in Wien

ECVET, kielitaito, koulutusjärjestelmät, opiskelijaliikkuvuus, osaaminen

Learners from the project partner colleges from Macedonia, Slovenia and Finland had an extraordinary opportunity to participate in the workshops for VET learners in Vienna, Austria, organised by IFTE organization.

IFTE is an Austrian association that promotes entrepreneurial attitudes of young people for their professional and entrepreneurial independence in order to create a culture of entrepreneurship. http://www.ifte.at/

The training activities during the blended learning activity  will enable students  to gain new experiences of entrepreneurial learning and  development of the students’ entrepreneurial mind. Challenges trigger brain activity and they provoke development of the essential entrepreneurial skills such as self-motivation, leadership qualities, innovative mind and competitive spirit.  The training workshops were held by IFTE’s professionals and they inspired students to work towards broadening their entrepreneurial minds and developing logical and skills of negotiation.

The Finnish participants Veera Romppainen, Milja Lahdenvesi, Saara Vänni and Taija Nuorgam from the surface treatment programme (painting and decorating) were especially impressed by how sustainability and environmental issues were always at the core of all activities and presentations no matter what the sector was in question. CSR – corporate social responsibility is a corporation’s  initiatives to assess and take responsibility for the company’s effects on environmental and social wellbeing. The term generally applies to efforts that go beyond what may be required by regulators or environmental protection groups.

Participating staff (Maja, Brigitta and Mimi) discussing implementing ECVET into curriculum planning for the next and final PEEISS blended learning activity in Macedonia in May 2017.

More information  about the project http://peeiss.com

Storytelling in Lisbon

ECVET, opiskelijaliikkuvuus, osaaminen

Commercialpolis project off to a flying  start in Lisbon, Portugal, 20-24 March 2017

“Creativity is increasingly perceived as a strategic driver for economic growth and a real asset for improving competitiveness in a knowledge-based economy. The Creative Industries are knowledge and labour intensive and foster innovation, so the sector is perceived to have a huge but largely untapped potential for generation of employment and export expansion (CIGN, 2015).” Not surprisingly, the creative industry is recognized as a high growth sector in the EU and its member states.

Nearly 50 learners and staff from Netherlands, Spain,  UK,  Switzerland,  Belgium, Finland and Portgual came together for a 5-day workshop on ‘storytelling in marketing’. Jyväskylä College was represented by students Santeri Nikkinen, Susanna Ranta and Juha Raivio and teachers Tiina Hiekkaranta and Raimo Kosonen. 

As a marketing tactic, storytelling is based on the premise that people remember information better when it is told as a story rather than presented as a list of facts because it involves the audience in the process by engaging their brains at multiple levels. This is largely because stories are more relatable and inspire an emotional reaction in an audience. Any marketing campaign that rouses an emotional response – whether it be empathy, sympathy, outrage or laughter – is more likely to be remembered (www.zideate.com). It makes consumers more receptive to marketing efforts than through encouraging them to buy a product or service.

Storytelling is increasingly recognized as a key discipline and activity to bring ideas to the market and to build customer loyalty. As a result, both new media storytelling and new media advertising (e.g., mobile advertising, leveraging social media, creating virals) have become an inclusive part of a new marketing strategy, presently barely covered by the existing curricula in many schools. The way of storytelling in commercials, how they are produced and distributed with all the technical possibilities the sector provides, evolved profoundly to meet changing consumers preferences and needs.

Next workshop will be arranged in Newcastle, UK in the autumn term 2017.

More info about the project here: http://www.commercialpolis.eu/

The project is partly funded by ErasmusPlus KA2 funding.