Learning Environment and Networking Practice (5 cr)

Objectives (course unit)

Teacher student
- evaluates various operating and learning environments in vocational education and their affordances for learning
- analyzes different operating cultures in educational institutions and their impact on teachers' work
- participates actively in and builds new professional networks that support their teaching
- evaluates their own and others' actions in the multi-professional networks of their educational institutions and in their own field of education
- knows the transitional stages of their field of education
- possesses group and team work skills and recognizes both their own
strengths and areas for improvement as a group member
- can act as an instructor of workplace learning or practical training
- understands the importance of working life as a learning partner

Content (course unit)

Contents
How can my field of education create learning environments which promote learning?
How can a teacher have an impact on different learning and working environments as well as the construction of the operational culture in an educational institute?
How can accessibility be advanced in learning environments?
What multi-disciplinary and multi-professional networks help teachers in their work?
What kind of collaboration can be created between educational institutions and the parties who carry out education and facilitation outside the educational institutions (including working life collaboration).

Assessment criteria, pass/fail (course unit)

Pass: Teacher student
- combines theoretical data with their own experiences and observations while evaluating how the operation and learning environments and practices contribute to learning
- reflects their observations, actions and experiences and evaluates their significance to their own competences and knowledge
- participates actively in the group learning process by sharing expertise, searching for information and collaboratively creating knowledge at online and at face to face
- analyzes and evaluates their learning results and choices made
- can describe how they can utilize their professional networks for the benefit of their students' learning

Fail: Teacher student
- describes theoretical knowledge and experiential knowledge and observations separately
- discussion is shallow, presents disconnected facts and/or paraphrases literature
- does not participate in the group processes actively and/or has not submitted the learning tasks according to instructions
- cannot plan their own learning and needs constant support from the teachers
- lacks professional networks or fails to make the connection between their professional networks and teaching

Assessment scale

Pass/Fail

Teaching methods

Learning activities:
Planning, monitoring and assessing own learning
Observations
Interviews
Familiriazation with documents guiding education
Participation in professional networks
Reflection
Report

Learning materials

to be selected by students

Student workload

5 x 26,7h Most part of the practice is individual but students also work in small groups on their contact education days, in other small group meetings and online.

Content scheduling

students plan their own schedule

Practical training and working life cooperation

This is all practice in authentic school and workplace environments.

International connections

Possible to utilize TAMK's partner universities' networks

Further information

Learning is not confined to the institutes which offer education. It is ubiquitous, i.e. it happens everywhere and all the time, in various physical and online environments and in networks between people and even between people and devices.
It is important for a teacher to recognise different learning environments, and to design and use them
appropriately in their own teaching. In the learning environment practice teacher students observe different learning environments, their pedagogical constraints and affordances, learning situations, and pedagogical approaches, learning atmosphere. They also observe how educational institutes enable learning through their operational cultures.
In networking practice teacher students familiarize themselves with the professional networks of experienced teachers and build their own multi-disciplinary and multi-professional networks and collaboration with working life and educational institutions.

Assessment criteria - pass/fail (Not in use, Look at the Assessment criteria above)

Pass: Teacher student
- combines theoretical data with their own experiences and observations while evaluating how the operation and learning environments and practices contribute to learning
- reflects their observations, actions and experiences and evaluates their significance to their own competences and knowledge
- participates actively in the group learning process by sharing expertise, searching for information and collaboratively creating knowledge at online and at face to face
- analyzes and evaluates their learning results and choices made
- can describe how they can utilize their professional networks for the benefit of their students'
learning
Fail: Teacher student
- describes theoretical knowledge and experiential knowledge and observations separately
- discussion is shallow, presents disconnected facts and/or paraphrases literature
- does not participate in the group processes actively and/or has not submitted the learning tasks according to instructions
- cannot plan their own learning and needs constant support from the teachers
- lacks professional networks or fails to make the connection between their professional networks and teaching