Master students of International Project Management on a bus trip to St. Petersburg

A group of Master students of TAMK International Business visited St. Petersburg 14-16 May 2015. St. Petersburg appeared to us as a modern and European big city, which reminded us of the great Russian history. Of course the current economic situation was shown too especially when moving further from the city centre. We had very interesting company presentations of Finpro and Sokos Hotels. Both company representatives told about Russia and doing business there, especially was interesting to hear about the future changes in the Sokos restaurants.

This northernmost metropolis is a huge and is populated almost the size of a Finland. The city has beautiful buildings especially along the Neva, the palaces and museums are in scope of its own (the Winter Palace, the Church of the Saviour on the Spilt Blood, St. Isaac’s Cathedral etc.) – a really one of the unforgettable places to visit. Many of us noticed that St. Petersburg had indications from Paris. 


We were positively surprised that young Russians spoke well English in general. For example in coffee houses and restaurants there was always somebody who spoke English and that made the communication much easier. Plus the restaurant menus were in English too.

Our location in the city center and near the Nevsky Prospect was great. We were a walking distance to the main attractions, shops, good restaurants and night out. I think restaurants had good price-quality relation. A lot of places offered sushi and more Italian and French cuisine restaurants could be found in the center. Positive thing was that some stores were open 24/7. Since the weather was good, we took a cruise on one of the canal ships and experienced some excitement and beautiful scenery in that way.

Honest opinions of adult international students, but most of us for the first time in Russia

“What I experienced once again is that Russia is what it is, fascinating, unpredictable and surprising. What makes it fascinating, is the culture and the way how things works. Their rich culture and history are full of amazing stories. What comes to society and its functions, it is easy to see that Russia is not a fair, modern or democratic society, which take care of its citizens equally. That is why Russians are creative people who will find their ways to survive in unpredictable society. My experience is that Russia also always surprise you somehow, either positively or negatively.”

“I had heard and read a lot about Saint Petersburg before our trip. The more I found out the more nervous I was about it. Especially the news freaked me out so I completely stopped watching them about three weeks before the trip. It was nothing like I expected. It wasn't that difficult or slow to get past the customs as people had been telling, or then we were really lucky. The water in the shower wasn't brown. I didn't get mugged, killed or arrested and neither did anyone else in our group. The traffic in the city centre was surprisingly hectic, but I still wasn't as afraid as when crossing a road in Tampere. I was very positively surprised about Saint Petersburg. I really enjoyed our trip and especially the company. Although when planning the trip a few people were concerned about the location. I'm glad we did this, because otherwise likely many would have never gone to Russia.”

Good way to know each other better – a bus trip from Tampere to St. Petersburg

Trip was excellent way to get to know the team of project managers even better. Absolutely the only way actually! We had interesting talks during bus drive and in St Petersburg also. St Petersburg was lovely and beautiful, getting information from business trips gave more understanding of the Russian business culture. 



Many thanks to all students, Russian student translators, excellent driver with excellent knowledge about St. Petersburg and especially thanks to our teachers Mauri and Kai for making this true with some pressure ! This is an educational trip, which we shall never forget!

Text collected and edited by Ursula Helsky-Lehtola, event coordinator at TAMK and Master student of International Project Management (IPM) 

International atmosphere - BE CURIOUS, GO ABROAD!

It's that time of year again - applications for student exchange in the academic year 2015-16 are flying into the database by the minute (deadline 1st Feb), chat service is busy with all sorts of chatter, and parter universities materials are available for browsing in the main lobby. Info desks have blasted videos from partner universities in the lobbies and all the buzz is positive. :)

Some leaflets are still printed... not everything is online!

TAMK has been steadily growing the percentage of students who spend an exchange semester or a training period abroad during their studies. Most students go to Europe through the Erasmus+ programme, but some venture even further. The only unconquered territory is Antarctica, but that may be only a matter of time...
 

Gabriele Mikulenaite, a recruitment specialist from Rhodesnow, showing the hotels where hospitality students train

Rhodesnow is just one of the companies that visit TAMK or promote training placements for students. With an impressive 1000 openings for trainees in the summer of 2015, they held a presentation to a keen audience at TAMK today. The process is quite easy and flexible, so why not spend a summer where the sun always shines? TAMK supports students with Erasmus+ grants, if the training is accepted as part of your degree!

Did you miss the presentation and would like to secure a training placement? Check out the flyer and email Ms Mikulenaite at work@rhodesnow.com

More info on grants and applying for TAMK students HERE (study abroad) and HERE (training abroad)

Text & Pictures: Piri Hiltunen, TAMK International Services

Leadership, not only Management - Visit to Coventry University, UK

Coventry University has gone through a massive change during the past 6-7 years from a recruiting university seeking for students into a university that is especially chosen by the students. The university received the title University of the Year for Student Experience, 2015. The title Modern University of the year was given to it two times in a row for 2014 and 2015. These acknowledgements were given by The Times and The Sunday Times based on national League Tables for university rankings in the UK.

A group of us from TAMK were able to peek into what lies behind this success. What we found was strategic leadership and consistent work throughout the university. The committed leadership team had a vision of Coventry University being on top of the ranking lists for teaching and learning. It was not only about setting the goal. Money was invested in modern learning environments, in students services, teachers were supported in developing activity led learning, and the campus was developed into a truly multicultural one.

We had an opportunity to interview students from Qatar, Oman, Saudi-Arabia and three students from different parts of England. What especially impressed me was what the students said about their university. Their message was the same as the message we heard from the leadership: Coventry University  is an excellent place to study because of excellent teaching (“teachers are helping students to learn”), excellent student support, good facilities and the multicultural university community.

The student numbers have increased and now there are some 6 000 tuition paying ( 9 000 pounds per year) international students studying at Coventry University together with some 20 000 British students. This has created a surplus of income that makes the further strategic development of the university possible.

As Coventry is now the top university for student experience it needs to look into developing its research activities to move up the League Tables. Again the university has set a stretching goal and is aligning the leadership and management processes for reaching this goal. There is no wishful thinking. There are clear plans and procedures to follow this new chosen path. Money is invested, support is given to staff. Based on what we saw, heard and experienced, I am certain Coventry University will, again, be a different university in  five years known for its excellent student experience AS WELL AS it´s world class research.

Text: Aura Loikkanen,  Director, Higher Education Services

Busy time for TAMK Global Education

Mark and Julia present at Bangkok Educa Conference

TAMK Global Education has had a busy few weeks promoting the programs of the university and raising its international education profile.

The month of October started with a trip to Tallinn, Estonia for a visit to Tallinn Technical University to discuss and explore possible areas of collaboration. There are several areas of follow up and we are optimistic about the possibilities ahead.



 

Bangkok

Next stop was Bangkok, Thailand for Bangkok Educa Exhibition and conference. Thanks to some excellent preparatory work by Her Excellency Kirsti Westphalen, the Finnish Ambassador and her team at the Finnish Embassy in Thailand and Kai Tuorila from FinPro, this was a very worthwhile trip. The trip was notable for the genuine collaboration among the Team Finland delegation. Julia Sergeeva from TAMK Global Education gave delegates an insight into the range of education services that TAMK could provide to help support Thailand in its development. There is currently a lot of interest in vocational education which is currently under developed in the country. Julia’s presentation highlighted the areas where TAMK could help improve this. 

Mark Curcher, program director of 21st Century Educators presented the program to an interested audience who were keen to hear about this established international teacher development program. A high level meeting with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration Education Ministry discussed how Finland could support teacher professional development. Over the months ahead TAMK Global Education will be working with the Embassy and FinPro and a Finnish commercial E-Learning enterprise, Skilltize, to explore the market. TAMK and Skilltize have also been invited to co-author and present a paper at The Eleventh International Conference on eLearning for a Knowledge-Based Society in Bangkok in December.

Team Finland at Bangkok Educa with Her Excellency Kirsti Westphalen, the Finnish Ambassador

 

A meeting with Her Excellency the Ambassador and the Bangkok Ministry of Education

New Orleans

With almost no time to repack the team were then off again, this time heading West to New Orleans (or ‘Norleans’ as it is pronounced by locals) for the AACE E-Learning 2014 conference. This annual international conference brings together around a thousand delegates from 60 countries to present and to discuss innovations and developments in educational technology and E-Learning.

The first task faced by the team was when Mark was asked at very short notice to introduce the opening keynote speaker for the conference. The first presentation session for the team was a showcase session where a poster developed by Julia, Mark and Essi Kannelkoski was displayed and discussed with conference delegates. Later the same day Julia and Mark co-presented the range of programs that TAMK can offer to the international education community. The next day saw Julia present a paper she had written on the adoption of E-Learning in Russia based on some research that she undertaking. She was excited to have some high profile attendees in the audience such as Prof Jon Dron of Athabasca University, Canada. The extended question and answer session following Julia’s presentation was a reflection of the interest and engagement she had engender in the audience. Prof Dron was complimentary about her presentation. 

Mark introduces the Keynote speaker on the first day of the E-Learn conference in New Orleans

 

Julia presents her paper at E-Learn New Orleans

Mark also presented a paper co-written with Esther Carvalho, Head Principal, Colégio Rio Branco, our partner for the Brazilian cohort of 21st Century Educators. The paper examines how a Finnish online teacher education program is impacting Brazilian teachers and their practice.

The conference also saw Mark being invited to join the Executive Committee for E-Learn conferences for a three year term and so he will be playing a major role in the planning and organisation of future conferences. Julia’s abilities were recognized by her joining the Special Interest Group (SIG) which is focused on E-Learning in emerging and developing countries.

Raising TAMK Profile

Having travelled thousands of kilometers across time zones and airport transfers, it has been a pretty intense few weeks for the team. This continues at the time of writing with Dr. Carita Prokki represents TAMK in the Middle East in Oman and Qatar. Information on that trip will be provided in a future blog blog post.

It is true to say that the name and reputation of TAMK as an international provider of high quality education programs has been raised from Bangkok in the East to Hawaii (there was a large delegation from Hawaii in New Orleans) in the West. The stress of travel has brought the team members a few coughs and colds, but there is no doubt that this is a small price to pay for the very real promotional work being undertaken. Look out for future updates.

Mark Curcher, Program Director, 21st Century Educators