Have you ever wonder what a lecturer's work really looks like?
My story began 2 years ago when I was introduced to my new colleague Ilkka Kurkela who was recruited to Laurea as a digital guru. :)
My story began 2 years ago when I was introduced to my new colleague Ilkka Kurkela who was recruited to Laurea as a digital guru. :)
Together with Ilkka we created a brand new Digital Business
–study module (30 cr) from scratch. I still remember the days where we used a
lot of post-in notes and drawings about the topics we should teach in the
course.
Believe me it wasn't an easy task but it felt so great to have an
opportunity to create something new. I always liked challenges where I could
use my skills and creativity. We at Laurea are the lucky people who have quite
much freedom to do things the way we want as long as we keep the quality of
teaching and meet objectives we promise in our curriculum.
Our
courses involved lecturers, workshops, projects with real companies and a lot
of guest speakers. I had a feeling we are creating a big picture out of
hundreds small pieces of puzzle. Every single piece has to be in place. The
details are very important as each piece carries its own impact on the whole of
the puzzle. Every
piece must be in the right place in order to see the big picture. It was the
most difficult yet the most amazing part of the job to get all the pieces where
they belong so that the big picture can be revealed to everyone. I was so proud
of the result. We made something new! :)
And
the course started, some students were very enthusiastic, some very critic.
Sometimes I felt hurt when I thought about the hours spent on planning the
whole course. If they only knew how much effort it takes to get the whole
picture ready with all those small pieces of puzzle. Every time we got a nice
feedback from the students or the visitors I was happy. Positive words about my
work motivates me the most. This way I feel appreciated and I want to get
better and better so I can receive more positive feedback.
After
two years in Laurea my wonderful colleague Ilkka got opportunity to develop himself
further and his career path led him to other university. I was really proud of him but at the same time very sad I would not work
with him any longer. I am however very grateful for what he taught me while
working with me. Even though at first it felt I would not manage myself I got super power
from other colleagues, my boss, and the students who believed in me.
The
best part of the study module is working with senior students who act as
digital coaches. Their
task is to assist me in all possible way. This time I have 11 amazing coaches
who are very committed to the success of the course. Together we are leading 8
groups of students who are doing practical projects for different companies.
The biggest project is being done for Suomen Suoramainonta Oy where students
are working on digital marketing strategy for the company.
Behind the scenes
Being
honest with you, planning a new study module on my own has been the biggest challenge
in my whole career. Even starting a new degree programme in English in Otaniemi
by myself didn't feel that hard. I don't know why. Maybe because I was informed
about Ilkka's new job only one week before Christmas holiday and I knew the new
course starts in January and nothing was planned yet. I had an empty piece of
paper, 14 weeks, 2 times a week, 4 hours per lesson meaning 112 hours with a
group of over 50 students (including new international students coming to
Finland) to be planned. My first reaction was - PANIC! What should I do? How
can I manage to plan the whole module in about 2 weeks when people leave for
their Christmas holidays and nobody is answering their emails?! Even my
digi-coaches didn't seem to understand what the situation was really like at
that moment. I was terrified! Empty paper and no help. That's
how it felt then. I don't need to say I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, and
couldn’t enjoy the Christmas time. I could only think about work and all undone
tasks. And then little by little I started to plan what I could do
myself. I made everything I could: divided the
students in 8 project groups, created Facebook group for the course, updated
Facebook page I created earlier, started discussion with digital coaches and
planned the main project and tasks for the students. Little by little I started
to see the bigger picture, very blurred picture, but still something I was
satisfied with. That's how I survived the Christmas time. :)
Now
the course is going on and I'm positive it will be a success. Together with
coaches we are working hard and only we know how many times we had to "put
out a fire". For example last Sunday at 21:30 I got a message from my
colleague who booked a guest speaker for us that the person would not come on
the next day. What can you do in this situation? Either cancel the lecture or think
of plan B. I never cancel my classes so I chose plan B and started to prepare
the lecture of my own. Sunday night. On Monday quite tired but very glad I
managed the situation I pretended everything was as it was planned. The biggest
award is to see happy faces of my students who have no idea about what's going
on behind the scenes. As I often say, being a professional teacher requires
skills of an actor too. You simply have to go on stage whatever the situation
may be, put
a good attitude in it, and believe that you can succeed.
One of the
tasks in the course is writing a blog. Each student is required to write a
blog-post about our classes every week. The biggest award of my work is to read
positive feedback from the students. Nothing makes me happier than nice words
about my lectures or my work as a teacher. It means the world to me.
The course
began on 16.1 and will end on 20.4 and I can only hope there will be no more "fires", I'm a teacher not a fire-fighter after all. :)
Last but not least, now when I wrote a blog-post by myself I appreciate blogs of my students even more. Blogging is not an easy task if you are not a natural writer. Only those who tried themselves know the feeling. It also applies to making videos. It may just look easy, but making or rather editing a 2 minute video can take many hours or even days. Don't get me wrong I don't complain as I really love what I do. Being a teacher, mentor, guide, call me as you wish, is the best thing in my professional life.
Last but not least, now when I wrote a blog-post by myself I appreciate blogs of my students even more. Blogging is not an easy task if you are not a natural writer. Only those who tried themselves know the feeling. It also applies to making videos. It may just look easy, but making or rather editing a 2 minute video can take many hours or even days. Don't get me wrong I don't complain as I really love what I do. Being a teacher, mentor, guide, call me as you wish, is the best thing in my professional life.
If you are interested in our Business in a Digital Environment study module visit our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/digitalbusinesslaurea/
This blogpost can also be found in LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/behind-scenes-what-does-mean-lead-study-module-anna-ikonen?trk=prof-post
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