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AIKOKO – THE COORDINATION PROJECT OF ADULT EDUCATION IN THE HELSINKI METROPOLITAN AREA
Lahti University of Applied Sciences (FINLAND)
About this paper:
Appears in: ICERI2011 Proceedings
Publication year: 2011
Pages: 2993-2996
ISBN: 978-84-615-3324-4
ISSN: 2340-1095
Conference name: 4th International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation
Dates: 14-16 November, 2011
Location: Madrid, Spain
Abstract:
Finland's largest alliance of universities of applied sciences, FUAS (Federation of Universities of Applied Sciences) came out of a partnership between HAMK, Lahti and Laurea universities of applied sciences. The FUAS institutions have around 21,000 students, representing approx. 15% of Finland's university of applied sciences students. The institutions in the FUAS alliance offer all the higher education, research and regional development services needed in their fields of operation by business, industry and inhabitants in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.
The FUAS universities offer comprehensive adult education (degree education, Open UAS studies, further education and specialisation studies), as well as training and development services for private individuals, businesses and public bodies.
Further education can be standard or tailored to a customer's needs and aims. Education is offered in all fields of study and can also be multidisciplinary when necessary. Education services are also offered to the international market.
The aim of this paper is to introduce the main topics of the project called AIKOKO -The Coordination Project of Adult Education in Helsinki Metropolitan Area. The project is a part of the development work done in this FUAS context. It has been financed by the Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland. The project started in the beginning of 2011 and ends in December 2012.
Lahti University of Applied Sciences is in charge of this project. The partners of the project are in the first step FUAS -partners (Laurea and HAMK). Later on in 2012 there will be other UAS -partners from the Metropolitan Area, too.
The aim of this project is to develop a common proactive model to organize the adult education services at the Universities of Applied Sciences in Helsinki Metropolitan Area. We speak of a proactive network-organization model.
In this project our aim is to develop, improve and coordinate all adult education activities (degree education, Open UAS studies, further education and specialization studies). And the focus of the project is our customer (an adult) and her/his needs and demands for adult education services.
How the project proceeds?
This is a two-year project, which started in January 2011. A participative interview is the first step of the project. The first report will be published in autumn 2011. This report consists the results of 23 interviews as well as the analyze of the materials which has been produced from adult education of FUAS –partners.
This report will give us the picture how adult education has been organized in these three organizations, which are the adult education services of each organization and what kind of visions our dean, managers and teachers have about the future of adult education in Helsinki Metropolitan Area.
The second step of the project takes place from autumn 2011 until the end of 2012.
In this step the focus of the project is to develop the proactive model for adult education for Metropolitan Area´s Universities. That means the work of different workshops and meeting groups, as well as more interviews of the key persons.
The result of this action research will be a proactive network-organization model which help UAS (University of Applied Sciences) of Helsinki Metropolitan Area to profile and focus their adult education services for customers. The project will also increase the cooperation between the organizations and minimize the competition between them.
Keywords:
Adult education, Universities of Applied Sciences, coordination project, proactive network organization.