University of Turku Postdoctoral Researcher Visits Tallinn University to Strengthen Learning Analytics Collaboration

Exploring shared research interests

The visit focused on exchanging research insights, meeting with colleagues across disciplines and identifying new collaboration opportunities in learning analytics and technology-enhanced learning.

Throughout the week, Lehtonen held meetings with researchers working in areas such as learning analytics, game design and digital learning environments. 

According to her, the discussions highlighted strong common interests between the universities and a shared ambition to advance research that supports teaching and learning through data-informed approaches.

“We wanted to learn what Tallinn University researchers are working on, get to know each other better and explore meaningful ways to cooperate in the future,” Lehtonen said.

She noted that artificial intelligence and learning analytics are rapidly expanding fields in education globally, and many institutions are exploring similar research questions, creating a natural foundation for joint projects.

“It is quite interesting that people here and also elsewhere have been doing, not exactly the same, but similar research topics. There is something different and something overlapping, and I think there are possibilities to cooperate,” she added.

Supporting teachers through learning analytics

Lehtonen’s research focuses on how learning analytics can support both students and teachers. One of the core challenges, she says, is not only developing effective tools but also increasing teachers’ motivation and confidence in using data-based approaches in everyday teaching practice.

“For some teachers who have experience using learning analytics, they see the benefits and have applied it in their class. But the majority of teachers still have not decided or have a negative attitude. It is not only about convincing, but how we can communicate and improve that for these types of teachers.”

Learning analytics in practice: ViLLE

Lehtonen also discussed the ViLLE learning platform developed at the Turku Research Institute for Learning Analytics, which is widely used in Finnish schools. ViLLE provides teachers with immediate feedback and detailed analytics on students’ learning, helping them understand where learners progress and where they struggle. Most tasks are automatically assessed, allowing teachers to focus more on supporting students.

“At the end of each lesson, teachers get very insightful information for each individual student, like how they progress and in what specific topic area they struggle. It helps teachers plan the next steps and support both the ones who struggle and the ones who are really advanced. Before using the platform and without this analytics information, they had to manually observe students, and it was not possible for them to get all the information for each student because they have to be with one student at a time. With the platform, they collect the data for each student for the whole lesson, so it is totally a game changer.”

Pathways for future cooperation

Tallinn University and the University of Turku have already collaborated in small European projects, and this visit focused on deepening mutual understanding and identifying areas of complementary strengths. While no specific new initiatives have been agreed yet, discussions centred on shared interests in technology-enhanced learning across different educational levels and subject domains.

“Hopefully at the end of this visit we will already have a couple of ideas on how to cooperate in the future.”