The ManagiDiTH project partners and teachers were invited to a Train the Trainers (Teacher) workshop, which was held in Finland on 11th – 13th of March.
The plenaries of the workshop included mastering the H5P tool, understanding the impact of pedagogical media videos and 5E method for learning design, as well as refining assessment practices through rubrics. In addition to learning about these valuable subjects, the participants also continued their curricular unit work on Moodle and were given an opportunity to record a short video in Laurea’s video recording studio, under the guidance of Laurea’s professional media producer Juha Takanen.
Our first day started with a H5P tool workshop, in which Laurea’s digipedagogical and MOOC experts Katariina Husman and Essi Tammisto delivered an introduction to H5P, a versatile content creation tool renowned for its ability to produce interactive and engaging learning materials across various digital platforms.
Facilitators guided participants through hands-on sessions, demonstrating how H5P can be utilized to develop interactive quizzes, games and other materials. After the introduction, it was the attendees turn to try out the tool themselves. Many saw great potential with using the tool in making interesting and engaging content!
The first plenary, “Impact of Pedagogical Media”, was presented by Juha Takanen. He gave insights into benefits of media in education, as well as best practices for designing and integrating multimedia content into curricular units. One interesting note was about podcasts, which have become more popular in recent years with both listeners and media makers. Juha also gave the following tips, which help teachers in making media for their courses: think about your target group, your tone and style, location, engagement and what emotions you want to convey.
The second plenary, “5E method for Learning Design”, was presented by Konstantinos Diamantis. 5E model of instruction consists of five stages: engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate. This model supports the teachers in building a coherent and student-centered learning process.
The third plenary, “Assessment Policies and Practices Demo on how to use the Rubrics”, was presented by Anssi Mattila. It focused on the practical application of rubrics in assessing student performance and providing constructive feedback, as well as how rubrics can be used in the Moodle environment.
Teacher teams worked actively on their curricular units, planning and creating contents and materials to Moodle. There was also excitement in the air, not many months until the master’s programme begins, in September 2024!
Decision-making in the Consortium Coordination Meeting
The week continued with an in-person consortium coordination meeting from Thursday to Friday with university partners and consortium partners partaking in the meeting. It is true what they say that meeting in person is a gold mine for productivity and decision making.
The discussions on Thursday and Friday included important planning and decisions regarding the Master’s programme and its implementation. Some questions that we’re discussed included:
- How do we offer the best experience for our students?
- How do we make the application process as seamless and equal as possible?
- What can we do to improve our communicative efforts?
In the evening the group met to have dinner together to enjoy some famous Finnish salmon soup in traditional Finnish weather: rain and wind! No matter the weather the atmosphere inside the restaurant was warm with friends from three different countries meeting and enjoying good food together.
