Creating a National Digital Learning Environment for Enhancing University Teachers’ Pedagogical Expertise : The Case UNIPS

Abstract

This article analyses the design, implementation, and evaluation of a nation-wide project to create a common digital solution for university teaching staff’s pedagogical training in Finland. During three years, eight universities collaborated in developing an online learning platform called UNIPS, the University Pedagogical Support system. The areas to develop were A) a learning platform based on technical design principles, B) pedagogical principles, and C) broadening the scope of offered studies. The results have been promising. With a carefully planned timetable, all participating universities were able to produce, test, and offer UNIPS modules in collaboration with other universities on the area of their expertise. This paper presents the design process and looks at both developers' experiences on how they perceived the process and the UNIPS platform as its result, and students’ experiences about studying in the UNIPS platform.