Teaching and Learning Innovation Centre strengthens the development of education at the University of Vaasa
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The University of Vaasa’s new Teaching and Learning Innovation Centre (TLIC) supports the development of pedagogy, educational quality and digital learning solutions. The aim is to strengthen the university’s position as a modern and pedagogically advanced learning environment and to support its goals towards increasingly digitalised and student centred education.
The centre provides teachers with support for everyday teaching situations, develops pedagogical solutions and promotes the use of new digital tools and artificial intelligence. The need is timely: the growing number of students and rapid technological change require new models to support teaching. At the same time, there is a growing interest in utilising digitalisation and AI not only in teaching but also in related administrative processes and services.
Susanna Kultalahti serves as the Head of the Centre and is responsible for building its operations and service model in collaboration with the university’s management group. Tatiana King serves as the Associate Leader. TLIC’s development work focuses particularly on the design, implementation and pedagogical support of high‑quality digital and hybrid teaching solutions.
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– There is already a great deal of advanced teaching development work taking place at our university, but the expertise and good practices are scattered among individual teachers. We have lacked a shared forum for systematically exchanging pedagogical solutions, the use of AI, or new teaching methods. We also need more resource‑wise ways to develop teaching as student numbers continue to grow. TLIC brings expertise together and helps disseminate effective practices across units, Kultalahti says.
Collaboration is at the core of TLIC’s work. The centre serves as a university‑wide development platform that brings together the right experts and supports degree programmes in their specific development needs. It manages projects related to teaching and supports the purposeful use of digitalisation and AI. The aim is to build a model in which expertise and development work do not rest on the shoulders of individual teachers but form part of the university’s shared pedagogical development.
Students are also a key stakeholder. TLIC supports the development of students’ digital skills and AI competencies, promotes unified practices and strengthens students’ preparedness for future working life.