Higher education increasingly relies on digital solutions in everyday teaching and learning. At Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences, Mediamaisteri’s learning environment (LMS) serves tens of thousands of users and continues to evolve in close collaboration with SEAMK. As part of this ongoing development, new features such as AI Tutor have been introduced to provide students with support while reducing teachers’ workload.
Mediamaisteri and SEAMK have worked together for around ten years to develop SEAMK’s digital learning environment. SEAMK uses the online learning environment provided by Mediamaisteri as a central part of everyday teaching and learning.
The environment has more than 30,000 users and over 10,000 courses, with more than 150,000 logins every month. The scale reflects just how central the learning environment is to the entire university community.
- The digital learning environment is the digital counterpart of the campus. It supports the student’s journey all the way towards graduation, says Isto Laapio, Sales Manager at Mediamaisteri.
The system is expected to be available around the clock while meeting growing expectations for flexibility and accessibility.
The learning environment is an extremely important system for us, says Matti Mäkelä, Learning Designer, Educational Technologies at SEAMK.
Matti Mäkelä, Learning Designer, Educational Technologies, SEAMK
The partnership between SEAMK and Mediamaisteri is long-standing and collaborative. Over the years, the learning environment has been continuously developed to meet the university’s changing needs.
The collaboration has been equal and genuinely two-way. We have been able to bring forward our wishes and needs, and Mediamaisteri has always responded to them quickly, says Riikka Muurimäki, Student Counsellor and Learning Designer, Educational Technologies at SEAMK
Riikka Muurimäki, Student Counsellor and Learning Designer, Educational Technologies, SEAMK
Online and blended learning are now a normal part of higher education. At the same time, students’ expectations for flexibility have increased: they want to be able to study on campus, remotely and flexibly depending on their situation. The learning environment has an important role in enabling this flexibility without losing sight of the value of the campus community. - We want digitalisation and AI to be a natural part of everyday life for both students and teachers. They are also important skills for working life, Muurimäki says.
As part of the continuous development of the learning environment, SEAMK has also introduced new features such as AI Tutor, which provides students with course-specific support. The solution addresses a very practical need: students have many questions about the everyday details of their courses, such as where to find an exam or when it will take place.
A large number of individual questions about a course can create a surprisingly significant workload for the teacher, Muurimäki says.
AI Tutor answers students’ questions regardless of the time of day. Students get the information they need quickly, while the tool also provides useful insights for teachers.
Teachers can see the kinds of questions students are asking and use those insights to improve and clarify the instructions in the learning environment. AI Tutor has been extremely well received, and students have actively embraced it as part of their learning experience.
The use of AI is seen as a natural next step in the development of the learning environment.
- AI brings a new dimension to digital learning, but everything still depends on having a reliable and stable learning environment as the foundation, Laapio emphasises.
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Over the years, the partnership has developed on a foundation of strong mutual trust. SEAMK and Mediamaisteri work closely together towards shared goals, with communication remaining straightforward and responsive.
If we call Mediamaisteri or submit a support ticket through the portal, we get a quick response. We feel that the collaboration is smooth and built on trust, Muurimäki says.
The partnership is guided by a clear shared goal. Solutions are always considered from the perspective of how they support students in their everyday studies and help them progress towards graduation.
Our shared goal is to help students move forward in their studies and ultimately graduate. That is at the heart of everything we do, Laapio summarises.
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