Greetings from the student union!

17.12.2021
Greetings from the student union!

The year 2021 is coming to an end. This year was again different from last year, which went almost entirely remotely, at home and online. This year, we have also enjoyed events in the fall where students have been able to experience community after studying online. Many students may have seen fellow freshmen face-to-face for the first time, even though their studies began more than a year ago. DAS has also been a long-term partner in enabling many of LYY’s student activities, so thank you for that!

 

Covid leaves a mark on students and studying. The studies will certainly continue to be also in some way online. Hybrid studies, where the same lecture or other teaching situation is carried out simultaneously on site and online, are more common. At least for the time being, I am not a big fan of them. I see challenges in pedagogical equity between online and on-site students in such teaching situations, where the quality of teaching may vary a lot. Online studies, which were originally designed for the web - yes, I support them. For many master’s degree students, who have already reached their working lives, distance learning has been a salvation that has helped them graduate during Covid.

 

However, on campus studies will continue to be an important part of the study cycle and celebration. Housing for students and creating a community in their new hometown is an important part for many for whom studying in higher education is the first place of growing into adulthood. Your own apartment, your own income and expenses, your own kitchen where cooking and housekeeping will happen to many for the first time when university’s doors are opening.

 

The second section of the Universities Act begins as follows (free translation): "The mission of universities is to promote free research and scientific and artistic education, to provide research-based higher education and to educate students to serve the homeland and humanity." I like that the law has a choice of words to educate, not to train, for example. In my opinion, the discourse of education also includes, more broadly, finding an identity and growing into independence. For this reason, I strongly support on-campus studies in the first years of studies.

 

Happy New Year and thank you for the past year!

 

Antti Eteläaho

Advisor of educational and social affairs, LYY

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