The Future of Education

This paper will illustrate the outcomes on the use of learning diaries as a sustainable learning tool. Taking as a case study the research on student empowerment online collaborations projects carried out by Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences in Finland and Stenden University in Emmen The Netherlands. The paper will compare the traditional assessment tools with learning diaries as a way of empowering students to be engaged and committed to their own learning process and learning outcomes.
Online collaborations among universities are cost-effective and allow universities to internationalise their curriculum easily. Once considering a virtual collaboration project the learning objectives are set based on the competences and learning outcomes considered adequate for students to achieve at the end of the collaboration. These steps are taken in mutual understanding among the institutions, and assessment forms to evaluate students are formulated, a course is designed and institutions, and lectures are  offered  on the topics institutions  consider necessary for students to be successful in the collaborations. However, what would happen if institutions  empowered students to be in charge of their  online collaboration, if they could formulate their own learing objectives and reflect on their own learing outcomes. What would happen if students could co-create and manage their own international online collaboration and reflect all in a learing diary aiming at a sustainable learning process.
Many students stated in their learning diaries that their learning objectives were to improve language and communication skills, intercultural and project management competences. However, not all understood the goals of a learning diary since they did not reflect on their own learning process and achievements but on the project itself. Many thought it was difficult to produce a self-reflection in a written way, therefore individual interviews were scheduled to gain more insight into the reflections in the learning diaries. It was remarkable to see how committed and engaged students who understood that to be empowered to lead their own projects and to be engaged in their own learning process, was meant to learn in a sustainable manner.

Keywords: Online collaborations, student empowerment, sustainable learning processes.

References:

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