The Play and Learn project is a longer project that focuses on equipping teachers with new skills and ideas for their teaching, and it revolves around topics such as gamification, teaching financial skills, and the use of digital tools (see the project website). The intensive week was one of the final elements in this project.
The week consisted of four different elements: seminars for a smaller group of public school teachers on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday on Finnish pedagogy, participatory and activating teaching methods, and digital teaching tools and AI in teaching. On Thursday, there was first a session for school directors on innovative methods for school administration, and in the afternoon, a seminar for a larger group of teachers on the best and most innovative teaching practices. Lastly, on Friday, we visited Dunalastair private school network and gave their teachers a good practices workshop. This session was not part of the project, but a last-minute addition to conclude the week.
Our work trip was wonderfully fruitful, and we got to see the environments in which different classes of higher education operate. At the campus of the Universidad de Sciencias de la Educación (UMCE), the auditorium was cold and damp as the autumnal outdoor and indoor temperatures were quite equal, but the reception and the atmosphere were wonderfully warm. Similarly warm was the atmosphere at the Colegio de Ingenieros, but the premises were more modern. This, according to our local colleagues, was representative of the still existing class system in Chile. One could really feel the level of appreciation, especially in the UMCE.
In our sessions, we had simultaneous interpreters, who were very helpful. However, and this is a good tip for other people travelling abroad to give presentations, the new PowerPoint automatic translation and subtitling feature was also extremely useful. This allowed the audience to follow our English speech much better with real-time Spanish subtitles. Mikko had also used a combination of different AI tools to create captivating animations in Spanish, to both entertain and inform the local audience. All in all, with good preparation, the official part of the work trip was very successful. Our hosts stated that our visit exceeded all expectations. Hopefully our visit will result in further cooperation between Finland and Chile in the field of pedagogy in the future.
Text: Henri Annala and Mikko Turunen
Photos: Henri Annala and Jorge Morales Madrid
