EMVITET Managers Study Visit in Finland

EMVITET (Empowering Vietnamese VET teachers for transformation towards Education 4.0), co-funded by ERASMUS+ Program of European Union, is lead by Häme University of Applied Sciences (HAMK, Finland) with the participation of its 8 academic partners, including: Dublin City University (DCU, Ireland), KU Leuven (Belgium), Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education (HCMUTE, Vietnam), Lac Hong University (LHU, Vietnam), University of Technology and Education - Da Nang University (UTE-UDN, Vietnam), Ho Chi Minh City College of Technology II (HVCT, Vietnam), Ho Chi Minh City Industry and Trade College (HITC, Vietnam) and Hue Industrial College (HueIC, Vietnam). EMVITET aims to build learning communities and ecosystem for Education 4.0 in Vietnam to create sustainable and meaningful education in Asian-European collaboration. The ecosystem is based on student-centred learning, competence-based education, collaboration/networking in digital environments, and sharing knowledge through communities of practice.

After the kick-off meeting organized at HCMUTE at the end of February 2019, to prepare well for teaching and learning towards Education 4.0 in Vietnam, managers from the Vietnamese partners had an official one week study visit to HAMK in May to familiarize themselves with Education 4.0 practices and to build a common understanding and support for the forthcoming development process. This was an important element to ensure effective outcomes in this project.

Study visit provided interesting introduction and shared helpful information about the modern model of Finnish Education in general and of HAMK in particular, active teaching and learning methods, proactive learning environment, innovation activities and effective approaches in enhancing the industry-university linkage to adapt to the current digital era. Moreover, the fruitful discussions among the partners resulted in key areas for a successful implementation of EMVITET in terms of its expected outcomes and declared objectives. Importantly, the managers expressed the way they can build a new learning culture, like “We need to trust and support our teachers to learn” or “Encourage students to join and take their role in teaching and learning process”. In addition, they mentioned the need to make a strong linkage between higher education/college and industry by research and project-based learning and to change the curriculum to meet the requirements of working life. They also saw the need for utilizing digital tools and environments in building inspiring learning environments for teachers and students.

Besides the above activities, leaders of HAMK and the Vietnamese partners also explored possibilities for mutual collaborations in faculty/student exchange, joint researches and other future opportunities.