The 3DBear team was delighted to participate in the HyGGe project involving eight vocational colleges, combining the network's outstanding learning environments into a coherent pedagogical whole. The result was an open virtual HyGGe School — supporting the learning of wellness technology topics across vocational disciplines.
In the virtual HyGGe School, students can explore wellness technology by virtually visiting the homes of Sirkka and Seppo and reflecting on the wellness technology devices that support their daily living. In the virtual wellness technology room, students can access numerous interesting devices and their applications. The HyGGe School serves not only students but teachers as well!
In the HyGGe School, careful design of learning paths, color coding, and navigation buttons was central to developing a coherent and accessible learning environment.
Mirva Julkunen, Project Manager of WinNova's HyGGe project team, along with Lecturers Jonna Vuorinen and Eija Kallio, write the following about the project:
The HyGGe School has been presented at various events, and reactions have been curiously enthusiastic. Users have noted its clear visual identity and the innovative new way of combining work from multiple institutions. The HyGGe virtual school is an example of a new alternative approach to learning and innovative pedagogy. This was also recognized at WinNova, where the HyGGe School received an honorable mention as the pedagogical achievement of the year.
The HyGGe School features a dedicated wellness technology room where students can explore various wellness technology solutions through technology cards produced in the project.
Narrative pedagogy, which serves as the guiding ideology of the HyGGe School's learning paths, has been particularly well received. Although the HyGGe School is a virtual environment, the central element of learning is customer stories — that is, real people. The HyGGe School's customer stories guide students to observe care actions suited specifically to each customer/patient/resident that address their particular life situation.
Network members also found the HyGGe project rewarding:
"Through network collaboration, we got to know other educational institutions closely and shared good pedagogical practices with each other."
"It was an opportunity to hear about the operating models and teaching practices of different educational institutions."
"The project has motivated teachers to develop their own wellness technology competence and inspired them to utilize it in teaching as well."
When the HyGGe network began searching for a functional and innovative platform and technology that could serve learning, 3DBear was chosen as the partner. We considered it important to find a partner who would become an active co-development partner and companion on the shared HyGGe journey. We also wanted expertise in the technical structuring of learning paths. The project collaboration began with 3DBear's Rasmus, and we immediately felt that HyGGe's needs and goals were understood. Sara from 3DBear, who was responsible for the development work, solved many of the network's needs and challenges whenever we had ideas about how the stories and learning paths should progress. A final thanks to Sara's team for their commitment to bringing our project to a high-quality conclusion and for the final sprint we did together at the beginning of 2022 as we finalized the whole package.
The HyGGe School table of contents.
As the person primarily responsible for the development work on 3DBear's side, I want to thank the entire network for wonderful collaboration. Working with the whole network was truly enjoyable — all network members were actively and enthusiastically involved, and this absolutely shows in the final result. This project is a great example of leveraging virtual environments to support learning and is also unique in its implementation across institutional and subject boundaries. I recommend everyone to make use of the virtual HyGGe School in teaching!
The HyGGe School can be found here.
Authors:
Sara Saloniemi, 3DBear Project Lead
Mirva Julkunen, HyGGe Project Team Manager
Jonna Vuorinen, Lecturer, HyGGe Project
Eija Kallio, Lecturer, HyGGe Project
Read more about the HyGGe project from the developers: winnova.fi/hygge