Learning Services – enabling success for students
Learning Services enables students a new, digital experience of Aalto.
Learning Services – enabling success
Learning Services (LES) supports future-oriented learning and the smoothness of daily work.
Our operating environment is changing rapidly – but we are not just subjects of change, we are active agents of it. Educational and geopolitical transformations, the evolution of work and study, challenges in well-being, expanding learning needs and global crises are shaping our everyday lives and our future. At the same time, they open up new opportunities to build more impactful services, more flexible learning paths and a more sustainable working life.
Due to technological disruption and the impact of the global economy, job requirements are changing more rapidly than before, and one degree is no longer enough for an entire career. Individuals must continually or repeatedly update their skills to remain relevant in the workplace. Educational institutions are expanding their roles by offering more flexible learning solutions, enabling lifelong and flexible learning. Education provides essential support for individuals in reshaping their professional identity.​
The challenges of well-being and diversification challenge the forms and structures of support offered by higher education institutions. Higher education institutions are expected to provide support for both flexible learning needs and study support and integration and employment support. These needs can partly be met by technologies, but alongside digital solutions, allocating human resources wisely is essential. As a counter-trend to development, the importance of social interaction and community is rising, and for individuals, community may be a key asset, support and safety in a changing world.
The requirements of work are changing faster due to technological disruption and the impact of the global economy, and a degree once gained no longer meets the needs of an entire career. Individuals must constantly or repeatedly update their skills to remain relevant in the workforce. Educational institutions are expanding their roles by offering flexible learning solutions more broadly, which enable continuous and flexible learning throughout life. Education provides individuals with important support in reshaping their professional identity.​
Higher education faces funding pressures and various demands from national education goals to international interoperability and intensified collaboration within the higher education sector. These requirements are reflected in both service solutions and the implementation of education. Geopolitical tensions and Finland's reputation impact cooperation. The demand and competition for education are anticipated to grow although the esteem of universities is not guaranteed.
Global crises, such as the global sustainability crisis, wars or pandemics, and their resolution are a major challenge of the coming decades. Universities are expected to have an impact and take responsibility in solving global problems, while the possibility of global crises makes the operational environment of higher education institutions more unstable and unpredictable. Therefore, higher education institutions are required to be highly change-resilient, meaning the ability to adapt quickly to even significant changes in the operational environment.​
As a service unit, we want to strengthen the agency of our community: support continuous learning, use technology wisely, enhance wellbeing and community, and increase our university's ability to respond proactively to changes. Understanding these variables is not merely an analysis of the future – it is a tool with which we can aim together towards a hopeful, meaningful, and impactful future.
We help you succeed in education and learning
-
We offer solutions and timely support for the development and delivery of education.
-
We enable a seamless learning path with innovative pedagogical practices and smoothly functioning learning environments.​
-
Together with you, we promote a learning atmosphere of diversity, responsibility and inclusion, utilising academic expertise in developing our services and the learning environment..
We support you in your studies
-
We are a reliable partner in your learning journey, guiding you forward at the different stages of your studies and in moments of decision.
-
We ensure that the framework for your everyday study life is in good working order.
-
We anticipate your needs so you can focus on the essentials and enjoy your time of studies.
We enable cooperative work
-
We enable accomplishment of the basic mission of teaching and learning at university.
-
In a changing work environment, we support the well-being of our community through person-to-person encounters.
-
We promote collaboration between students, academics and services. ​
-
We offer the community and the individual meaningful tasks and development opportunities.
In line with the Aalto University strategy, we advance high-quality and data-driven teaching and learning with a life-wide learning path. Learning Services (LES) has a key role in making these goals possible. We develop our service offering in a future-led and user-oriented manner.
Learning Services activities structured into process areas
The activities of Learning Services are structured into different process areas, each of which has an assigned process owner. The process owners are members of the Learning Services Operative management team (LESjory).
In the process owner model, each Learning Services process has a clearly defined process owner. Attached you will find LES' current process area descriptions and process owners. The owners are responsible for managing and developing the processes of their own process area in line with the strategy in cooperation with key stakeholders, such as students, academic staff and other university service units. Process owners evaluate development processes and their progress and schedule future development projects in quarterly reviews.
The process owner model has been developed to support the organisation and development of the Learning Services operations. The model is based on the OPI reference architecture (2015), which is a common reference framework for higher education institutions, used to structure the shared activities of higher education institutions.
The roadmap summarises Learning Services’ development work
The Learning Services development projects are compiled annually on a roadmap spanning four years at a time. The roadmap is created in cooperation between process owners in a review held in October each year, and it is evaluated throughout the year with checkpoints around March and August. The roadmap work includes the development needs arising from the process areas of each process owner, which fall into three categories: process development for services to be digitised; actual digitalisation development on the Service Platform, Sisu or elsewhere; and other development work. The development work is strongly linked to Our plan and milestones recorded there. In addition, attention is paid on small-scale development in process areas. The development needs are prioritised with the help of criteria common to all service units.
When working on the roadmap, it is also ensured that there are sufficient resources and the organisation is able to manage the changes needed. Aalto IT Services (ITS) participates in the roadmap work, highlighting the perspective of platforms and IT resources in particular.
LeSG (Learning Steering Group) approves the roadmap presented by LESjory.
You will find the latest version of the roadmap here.
Learning Services – enabling success for teachers
Many teaching and learning services and workflows will be renewed over the coming year.
Learning Services – enabling success for services personnel
The number of students and lifelong learners is likely to increase in the future, and so is the digital collaboration between universities.
Learning Services
Management of education