ATTENTION TEACHERS AND EDUCATORS! The innovative teaching and learning methods course is coming back in October 2025! Join us on this teacher Training course in Helsinki, Finland, on October 5-11, 2025.
Innovative teaching and learning methods
Have you realized that lectures aren’t always the most effective way to teach the present-day students? Are you looking for inspiration on how to engage your students more? Are you tired of trying to accomplish everything by yourself? This 7-day course adopts a design thinking and phenomenon-based learning approach to help you develop engaging activities for teaching your own topics together with colleagues:
– Finnish Education system
– Phenomenon-based learning
– Design thinking
– Digital pedagogy
– Project work
The course provides new insights into implementing team-based activities across various topics and introduces free digital tools you can use with your students. During this hands-on course, we will vist a local school and open learning environments in
the wood, libraries and museums. The training even includes a day trip to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.
As a takeaway, you will have a toolbox of innovative methods and activities which you can use with your students, and the competence to create more activities with your colleagues in your own school.
Our course can now be tailored for private groups to fit your specific needs and schedule. To get a quote, Contact us at info@visitedufinn.com. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to develop your skills!
DAY-BY-DAY PROGRAM
Tentative program – Please note that minor changes are possible!
Sunday: Welcome (13:00 –16:00)
Setting the learning arch: introduction to the course and practicalities
Getting to know each other
Forming the teams
Distance learning: Prepare for your team presentations, 1 h
Monday: The big picture (10.00-16.00)
Team presentations
Finnish education system
Phenomenon-based learning
Activities: defining learning outcomes and identifying challenges
Next steps: each expert team gets familiar with one digital tool
Tuesday: Digital tools (10:00-16:00)
Jigsaw Workshop: each expert team experiments with one digital tool
Sharing the outcomes
Experts return to home teams and teach their digital tool to the teammates
Design thinking: empathy map and ideating solutions
Wednesday: School visit and Open learning environments (10:00-16:00)
School visit
Lunch at Perho culinary school
Tour in Oodi Central Library and Makerspace
Thursday: Trip to Tallinn (10:30-19:30)
Viking Line Conference room
On the boat: teams polish their project plans
In Tallinn: Guided tour in the Old Town
On the cruise boat: traditional buffet dinner
Friday: Walk in the woods and cultural tour (13:00-19:00)
Walk in the wood: Olari health nature trail
Teams prepare their project presentations
Tour in Emma Museum and KAMU (Espoo City Museum)
Saturday: Land (10:00-13:00)
Landing the learning arch
Team presentations
A walk down memory lane
Lunch and Course certificates
How can I participate?
All registrations must be done using the online registration form.
Discounts available for groups of 5 or more participants! Contact info@visitedufinn.com for more information.
The course will be confirmed later. For the moment, we take binding pre-registrations. If you want to send a group, but you don’t know yet all participants’ names, it is possible to add them to the registration form like this:
participant 1, participant 2, etc.
If you have problems or questions about completing the online form, please contact info@visitedufinn.com
REGISTER (Registration takes place on our sister company, Euneos’ website)
Prices
(Read more about grants and other options for financial support.)
If you have Erasmus+ KA1 funding, it should cover the fees. For those who come from outside the EU countries, there are other professional development grants for teachers. We have tried to keep the costs so low that self-funded participation is also a real option.
The price excludes Finnish VAT 25,5%. For VAT exemption, you need to register as a representative/employee of a company, school or other organization, and during the registration, provide a VAT-number or Erasmus-related OID (Organization ID) number. If you don’t have those, please send a tax certificate, trade register extract, or similar from your country to courses@euneos.eu
Course fee 660€
Price includes
The meal package (140€ excl. VAT) is obligatory, and it includes:
Other expenses
Airline tickets, accommodation, and local travel tickets must be bought separately.
Payments
When we confirm the course we send a link to pay with a credit card or an invoice to make a bank transfer. The participant should assume all the bank transaction fees.
Please note that all payments must be made in advance and in euros (€).
Cancellation policy
Cancellation by participant
All cancellations must be made by email to info@visitedufinn.com at least a month before the course starts. If you do not cancel your participation at all, you will be charged the full fee. Please note that a processing fee of 50€ (excl. VAT) will be deducted from all refunds. If unable to attend, the registered person may substitute someone else from the same organization by sending a notification to info@visitedufinn.com.
Cancellation by VisitEDUfinn
If the documents attached during the registration process are not valid, and the participant does not deliver proper documents immediately after requested, VisitEDUfinn has the right to cancel the participation without any refund. However, participation is always possible, paying the normal fee (or the price difference).
In case the event is canceled due to COVID-19 or a similar situation, all the payments will be refunded without any processing fee. VisitEDUfinn is not responsible for any damage caused by the cancellation and strongly recommends purchasing flexible flight tickets and accommodation.
Invitation letters
VisitEDUfinn will write invitation letters only after the full payment. If the participant cannot get a visa and sends evidence about the rejected visa application, VisitEDUfinn will refund the paid amount. However, 100€ (excl. VAT) will be deducted as an administrative fee.
Irmeli Pietilä
Ms. Pietiläholds a Doctor of Science degree in entrepreneurship and a Master of Science degree in technology. She is a qualified vocational teacher and special needs teacher. She has decades of experience in upper secondary level and higher education, teaching subjects like math, IT, business studies and entrepreneurship. Since 2005 she has worked as a teacher trainer. She has facilitated 60 credits vocational teacher training programs for international participants in Finland, Colombia and South Africa, and shorter trainings & workshops in Vietnam, China, Japan and in several countries in Europe.
Irmeli’s areas of expertise include learning design, digital pedagogy, design thinking, playful learning, and peer mentoring. She enjoys face-to-face interaction with participants in the classroom and in the woods, but she is equally at home online and in hybrid encounters. For her virtual is real. Small video greeting from Irmeli
VisitEDUfinn (OID CODE: E10020922 / PIC CODE: 899855324) organises ERASMUS+ Staff Mobility job shadowing and professional courses designed for teachers at all levels. Our programs are organized in different parts of Finland in cooperation with other stakeholders in the field of education (schools, universities, municipalities).
All the courses are designed following the Quality Standards for courses under Key Action 1 and participants are provided with certificates that meet the Europass criteria.
Course title: Innovative teaching and learning methods
Audience
Working methods
Course outcomes
After the course, you will be able to
European/ International dimension
We wait participants from many European countries as well as from outside Europe. Sharing ideas together with colleagues from different countries offers a broader perspective on the topic. The course is also a great opportunity for networking for future collaboration.
The participants can freely choose their accommodation. However, we highly recommend being located close to Senate Square as the most interesting sights are within walking distance from the Square. Forenom offers comfortable accommodation in different locations around Helsinki area, and our clients get 10% discount (ask for a code). For those with a limited budget, Eurohostel is an excellent option.
Tell us what kind of accommodation you prefer, and we can help to find a place for your stay!
How to get from the airport to the hotels
Several Taxi companies are offering their services in the airport. The price to the city center is approximately 50€. There are also public transportation options; both the railway and bus station are located in the airport. The price is around 5€, depending on whether you pay cash or use an application or ticket machine.
Weather in Helsinki
Depending on the time of the year, the temperature can be anything between -30 and +30 Celsius. Please visit the Finnish Meteorological Institute’s website for updated news on weather in Helsinki.
Language
The official languages in Finland are Finnish and Swedish, but practically everyone knows basic English, and especially the people involved in tourism speak very good English.
Currency
The Finnish currency unit is the Euro. There are numerous cash machines (ATMs) open around the clock and accepting all major credit cards. Besides, Visa and Mastercard are widely accepted almost everywhere (hotels, restaurants, shops, taxis, cafeterias, bars, etc.).
Voltage
The electric current in Finland is 230V, 50Hz. Plugs are two-pin continental size.
Time
The time in Finland is GMT/UTC+2 (During Daylight Saving Time +3)
Is Helsinki the coolest city in the world?
Probably yes! In the capital of Finland, you can find the influence of both our neighbors, Sweden and Russia, but still the city is unique. It’s a modern metropole with over 650, 000 inhabitants (1,5 million in the larger metropolitan area) and yet you are never more than a 10-minute walk from nature. On the same day, you can pick berries in a forest and go to the Opera. Helsinki is a lively big city that never sleeps, but so safe that you can see 7-year-old first graders the take the tram to school on their own.
Feeling the fresh breeze of the Baltic Sea while wandering around the picturesque streets of this easy-going city, it is not so difficult to imagine why Finns are the happiest nation in the world. After the walk, warm yourself up with a cup of coffee and a cinnamon bun. These coffee breaks with friends and colleagues are almost sacred moments to Finns.
While in Helsinki, check out the libraries as a social innovation in Finnish education, interactive museums, the islands around Helsinki and the sauna. There are many more attractions that promise unforgettable experience in Helsinki such as Alvar Aalto’s studio, Helsinki Cathedral by Carl Ludvig Engel, Senate Square, Old Market Hall, Löyly sauna and restaurant, and much more.
During our events and courses, you will get familiar with all the characteristics of Finnish education:
How is education in Finland?
Read more about Finnish Education.
For additional information about this course, please contact:
VisitEDUfinn Ltd.
c/o Eira High School for Adults
Iso Roobertinkatu 20-22 A
00120 HELSINKI
Tel. +358 407 516 478
Email: info@visitedufinn.com
Ms. Rauhala (B.A.) is an educational sciences student at the University of Turku with studies also in the fields of psychology, business and HR, and sociology. As an education major, she is passionate about lifelong learning and the Finnish education system. She believes in change through education. In addition, Ms. Rauhala loves to learn new languages. She completed an Erasmus + university exchange in Spain as a part of her studies and wants to work toward everyone getting international learning opportunities. Ms. Rauhala is working for VisitEDUfinn part-time while finishing her studies.
Contact:
melina.rauhala@visitedufinn.com
