(2309) HIGHER EDUCATION MICRO MASTER’S PLANNED AND OFFERED IN COLLABORATION WITH INDUSTRY FORERUNNERS

摘要

Many people have come to the realization that the university degree they achieved 10 years ago, or even less, seems irrelevant in today’s world. Change in organizations, new competence and skills requirements and being stuck in their present jobs have made them wonder how they can stay relevant in dynamically shifting work environment. The three biggest universities of applied sciences in the Helsinki Metropolitan area in Finland, namely Laurea, Haaga-Helia and Metropolia together, decided to offer part-time master’s level program in the area where organizations are facing lack of skilled workforce in the substance area of digital marketing and sales. The author of this paper was involved in planning and building the program and finally acted as one of the instructors. To ensure relevance of the learning objectives and course contents, more than twenty recognized companies were involved in the planning phase. Company input was gathered in workshops and interviews and results were analyzed by HE professionals who also continued the planning the whole program. Adult learners, who work full-time, are motivated by the possibility to integrate challenges in their job with learning program (Olusegun, 2015). When designing courses, learning activities, instruction, and learning assignments, careful attention was paid to usefulness of them to learners’ tasks in their jobs. Furthermore, other important motivational factors for adult learners are quality of instruction, relevance and pragmatism. To achieve these measures, outside experts in relevant fields were involved in instruction together with higher education professionals to complement theoretical aspects with up-todate practical knowledge. The learners considered this combination of instructors useful for the learning that they were able to utilize and carry into practice in their respective companies. The program has proven to be highly useful and relevant for learners. According to learners’ feedback, they have been able to use education for them and for their companies’ benefit. New skills that they have acquired enable them to do their jobs better and more efficiently. Several of them have been promoted in their companies, or have been offered a new job outside of the organizations where they worked when they started the program.