Tampere University visited Tallinn University to deepen institutional collaboration

As a follow-up to the Tampere University visit from 25 – 28October 2021 by a three-member team from the School of Digital Technologies, a delegation from Tampere university paid a reciprocal to Tallinn University for the period 07-09 June 2022. The key objective was consolidating cooperation in shared course deliveries and joint project engagement pursuits. The Tampere University was represented by Markku Turunen, Professor of Interactive Technology; Sirkku Kotilainen, Professor of Media Studies; Anna Castrén, Education Specialist and Pauliina Baltzar, Doctoral Researcher. The delegation was received by the Leadership of the School of Digital Technologies (Peeter Normak, Director of Digital Technologies, Hans Põldoja, Director of Studies and Merja Bauters, Professor of Digital Transformation and Lifelong Learning. In his welcoming remarks during a meeting, Peeter Normak gave a nostalgic account of the long collaborative history between TLU and Tampere University. He expressed his excitement about the new cooperation between the institutions and promised his support for the collaborations between the Digital Transformation and  Lifelong Learning Research Group and Tampere University.

Activities began with various institutional presentations from the Tampere team. Markku and Sirkku showcased their research activities on Accessibility/XR and Perspectives of Sustainability on Digital Literacy, respectively. TLU team PhD student and junior researcher Ekaterina Krivich on empathy research, Darja Tokranova on participatory design in the creative use and Associate Professor in  Digital Transformation Nuno Correia on audiovisual design and novel technologies in the use of performance artists gave their presentations.

Figure 1. Presentation by Sirkku Kotilainen on Perspectives of Sustainability on Digital Literacy.

Figure 2. Presentation by Markku Turunen on Accessibility/XR
Figure 3. Presentation by Nuno Correia on embodied experiences

Next on the agenda was a visit to the EduSpace, where Visiting Research Fellow Janika Leoste presented the EduSpace theoretical background, methods and tools such as robotic games and telepresence.

Figure 4. Janika Leoste presents the EduSpace https://eduspace.tlu.ee/en

After visiting EduSpace and playing with tools, the participants went to see Citizen OS to understand the collaboration the Open Society Technology (OST) program does with Citizen OS. Sara Sinha presented what Citizen OS does and how they collaborate with OST. Anett Linno, the CEO, provided in-depth views on Citizen OS’s future strategies. The discussion was lively on qualitative and quantitative analysis of deliberate democratic platform use, social hackathons and virtual environments on where and how these could be useful.

Figure 5. Sara Sinha explains the Citizen OS platform use and technical background. https://citizenos.com/

The outcome of the visit was tightened collaboration between the Tampere University program on Sustainable Digital Life and OST, student and teacher exchanges, and joint funding applications.

Contact: Merja.bauters@tlu.ee