22/05/2025

EdTech week: Snapshots from Helsinki!

The next stop for the EmpowerED EdTech week was Helsinki, Finland! In collaboration with Helsinki Education Hub, this event provided a snapshot of the evolving EdTech ecosystem, focusing on how different stakeholders evaluate technology—before adoption, during use, and at renewal points. Through expert sessions and hands-on discussions, we aimed to bridge intentions with actual outcomes, aligning with the needs of educators, learners, and EdTech companies.

The first day was dedicated to ‘grounding’ the participants in real-world contexts and stakeholder perspectives from the Helsinki EdTech ecosystem:

• Seeing EdTech in Experimentation: We visited a local EdTech testbed, TEKLA, and focused on how innovations are trialled, evaluated, and scaled (pre-decision stage).
• Seeing EdTech in Practice: A visit to an innovative school using EdTech in daily practice. We had a chance to hold discussions with educators and students on the actual use, challenges, and outcomes.

Our second day was all about listening to the perspectives of the ecosystem. During three interactive workshops, 40 participants—including educators, researchers, EdTech innovators, and policymakers—explored how to evaluate educational technology before adoption, during use, and at renewal. We discussed how teachers experience EdTech in practice, how the public sector approaches it, and how these insights can support more impactful Finnish EdTech solutions.

A big thank you to all our colleagues and collaborators who organised a splendid two-days: Johanna Pihlajamaa (Oamk), Niko Lindholm and Heidi Lammassaari (Helsinki Education Hub), Michelle DuQuette and Antonia Clary (EEA).

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