Anadolu University - Mega-Partner!

This week we have had a visit from Turkey - Anadolu University has been in collaboration with TAMK since 2007 and now it's time to see what new and exciting challenges we could come up with in the new Erasmus+ era.

Anadolu University is one of the biggest mega-universities in the world, with a staggering amount of 1.3 million (yes, million) virtual open and distance learners. TAMK's keen interest in developing new learning environments and perspectives gave birth to a flurry of excited discussions with colleagues during the visit.

Nil and her mother Nider

Ms Nil Canbek from Anadolu University also met with colleagues in the TAMK International Services to benchmark some good practices in student and staff mobility, to negotiate future collaboration under the Erasmus+ umbrella and to see if there would be ways to broaden our scope of collaboration from traditional mobility.

Nil arrived in Finland for the very first time and decided to bring along her mother. "I have a young child and a busy job, so this gives us some mother-daughter quality time as well." smiled Nil, when we asked about her personal motivations for the trip to Tampere. With a brief stop in Helsinki before heading back home, the guests seemed to enjoy the unseasonably warm and sunny September weather.

Two-three hours by plane between Finland and Turkey is not far - but in the virtual world the distance is non-existent!

Text: Piri Hiltunen
Photo: Krista Merikoski

The first International Week for Language Teachers was a success

Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK) and JAMK University of Applied Sciences organised together the first International Week for Language Teachers with the theme "Innovative Methods in Language Teaching and Learning". The week took place on 15-19 April, and the programme was divided between the two cities. This way, the international participants got to see two UASs and Finnish cities instead of only one, and also the organisers were able to share the responsibility and collaborate on several levels.

The participants were university-level language teachers from 12 different countries. The programme included extremely interesting and hands-on workshops and presentations on a wide range of topics and visits to different companies. Students were heavily involved in the programme: business administration students hosted the sessions, took care of the decorations and gave information to the participants; tourism students organised a city tour, and hotel and restaurant management students planned and prepared excellent dinners and served refreshments during the coffee breaks.

The week was very successful, and the participants received lots of fresh ideas and broadened their network of international colleagues. The organisers' experiences were also very positive, and we may possibly organise something similar in the future as well, so stay tuned!

Text: Henri Annala
Photos: Tarja Haukijärvi