A concise presentation of the Finnish Online University of Applied Sciences (Finland). VirtuaaliAMK-verkoston perustiedot englanninkielisenä esityksenä.

1. The Finnish Online University
of Applied Sciences
amk.fi oncampus.fi
30 Nov 2012 Copyright Finnish Online UAS 1

2. Universities and UASs –
(universities of applied sciences) in Finland
 The Finnish university education system consists of two sectors:
universities and universities of applied sciences (UAS).
 The mission of universities is to conduct scientific research and provide
instruction and postgraduate education based on it.
 UASs train professionals in response to labour market needs and
conduct R&D which supports instruction and promotes regional
development in particular.
 Source:
http://www.minedu.fi/OPM/Koulutus/ammattikorkeakoulutus/?lang=en
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3. Finnish educational system
Licenciate & Doctoral
AGE
level
25
MA / M.Sc. MA / M.Sc.
24
23
22 UNIVERSITIES UNIVERSITIES OF
APPLIED SCIENCES
21
20 BA / B.Sc. BA / B.Sc.
19
19
18 UPPER VOCATIONAL
17 SECONDARY SCHOOLS
16
SCHOOLS
16
15
14 Upper Stage
13
12 COMPREHENSIVE
11 SCHOOLS
10 Lower Stage
9
8
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4. Universities and UASs in Finland
 Finland has 16 universities and 26 universities of applied sciences.
 UASs are run either by
 local authorities
 municipal educational consortia
 private organisations or foundations
 UsAS get most of their financing from the Finnish Ministry of Education.
 In Finland, UsAS give Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, but have no
doctoral level studies.
 UsAS are oriented to applied sciences and labour market needs.
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5. Finnish Online University
of Applied Sciences
 Founded in 2001, was at first called ”the Finnish Virtual Polytechnic”.
 A consortium of all (26) Finnish universities of applied sciences
 Based on the Information Strategy of the Finnish Ministry of Education
 Coordinated by the Development Unit, located at Tampere UAS
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6. Rectors' Conference of
Administration and actors
Finnish Universities of
Applied Sciences Online UAS contact
person in each UAS
Steering group Administrator of the
Chairman: Jouko Paaso, Rector course exchange system
of Oulu UAS in each UAS
eOfficials of the course
exchange system in each
Finnish Online UAS UAS
Development Unit
Four councelling groups
from UsAS
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7. Objectives of the Finnish Online UAS network
 To arrange exchange of online courses between all Finnish UAS’s.
 To develop policies of acceptance of studies between universities of
applied sciences.
 To offer quality assurance tools for evaluate online materials and
courses
 To promote modern information and communications technology in
learning.
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8. The Portal – amk.fi, oncampus.fi
 A gateway to educational contents and courses offered
by all the Finnish UASs
 Centralized e-learning services for everyone interested
in learning
 Study Services for students (applying for courses online)
and staff (handling the applications)
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9. 9

10. Study Services
 The most important service of the portal, in use since
2001.
 UAS students can apply for courses arranged by
other Finnish UASs.
 The study officials handle the students’ enrollments for
courses electronically.
 The studying takes place mainly outside the portal.
 From the technological point of view any educational
institution could easily be added to the system –
including foreign universities.
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11. Study services and search for courses
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12. Two-phase acceptance
for the students’ applications
 The student applies for a course arranged by
another UAS.
 The home university of the student supports
(or does not support) the student’s electronic
application for a course arranged in another
UAS
 The receiving university (the university
arranging the course) gives
its acceptance
for the student’s application.
 The student gets an e-mail and instructions how to start the course.
 The information system as such could easily be used with foreign
universities
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13. Application and administration process

14. Financial issues
 The studies via the Finnish Online UAS are free of charge for Finnish UAS
degree students.
 The money transfer only takes places between the universities. Money
transfers are invisible for the student.
 The home university of the student pays for studies the student takes at
another UAS.
 The receiving university (arranging the course) gets a payment for each
incoming student / course.
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15. Numbers of courses on oncampus.fi portal
2003 - 2011
1000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Opintojaksojen lkm 192 363 548 494 682 707 811 893 845

16. More information
oncampus.fi
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