Rauma chose Cloudpoint to support digital transformation
A huge leap in skills was taken in the corona year
When the coronavirus crisis hit in the spring of 2020, the city realized that the digital leap that was already underway needed to be accelerated. When distance learning began, Rauma realized that there was not enough equipment for teachers and students, nor flexible platforms suitable for distance learning. In addition, teaching staff needed additional support and expertise in distance learning methods.
“There was no distance learning pedagogy. My working days stretched from morning until late at night, trying to find, for example, what videos to watch,” digitutor Mariel Eerola-Leino recalls the early stages of distance learning.
The shift towards Google environments had been underway in Rauma even before the coronavirus, but the first distance learning period that began in spring 2020 gave the matter a lot more momentum.
“It was then decided to make a fairly bold move and purchase Chromebooks as a one-time purchase for 4th-9th graders and teachers,” says Hanna Viljanen-Lehto, Director of Education and Youth of the City of Rauma , about the atmosphere a year ago.
Cloudpoint was able to be part of the transformation journey of the Rauma school world from start to finish.
Key factors of change
Collaboration between different experts was a key factor in a major change during a challenging time. In Rauma, an important core team was formed by the project manager, Nanu School's deputy principal Antti Virtanen , digital tutors Jenni Valanne and Mariel Eerola-Leino, and Hanna Viljanen-Lehto.
Of course, the change would not have been possible without the decision of the municipal elected officials to invest in digitalization. “There was not a single dissenting voice in the Education Committee,” says Viljanen-Lehto.
Similarly, the city's information management was of great importance in ensuring that the schools' network connections worked reliably. Antti Virtanen reminds us that if the network is bad, the user experience will be so poor that even high-quality devices and platforms will seem useless.
A very significant factor in the change was the digital tutors, who were detached from the teacher's work to simply tutor. In the turmoil of digital change, teachers in Rauma could contact them in case of problems and quickly received help and an answer. If they could not find an answer immediately, the tutors could ask for help from Cloudpoint.
Hanna Viljanen-Lehto says that clear milestones are important in a major change. Everyone needs to know where they are going, and regular meetings with the core team keep the change moving forward.
“It was important that Cloudpoint listened to us,” says Viljanen-Lehto. Teachers were first allowed to take control of using the Chromebooks before the actual training days. The distribution of the devices to students in the fall of 2020 proceeded in stages so that there was no chaos.
Rauma acquired over 2,200 Chrome device management licenses and a Google Workspace for Education (then known as G Suite) environment from Cloudpoint. Above all, Cloudpoint was involved in change management. Cloudpoint organized 22 different training courses for Rauma's teaching staff and helped communicate the change to the school community.
“We received help and lessons from Cloudpoint in communication. The project team was clear about what was happening,” says Jenni Valanne.
What changed?
In Rauma, the transition to the Google environment went smoothly thanks to the cooperation of various experts - but of course there has also been resistance to change.
“The way we work is changing step by step, and distance learning was the last step. I know it is difficult for many,” says Hanna Viljanen-Lehto, Director of Education and Youth.
But all of Rauma's core team members say that the attitude towards the change has been overwhelmingly positive.
“Perhaps the biggest change has been the teachers' willingness to learn. Everyone really understood that things had to be taken care of. This was a good opportunity to make a big change and the positive attitude towards education has been great,” says Mariel Eerola-Leino.
Deputy Principal Antti Virtanen emphasizes that digital tools bring new things, but do not take away anything that was old.
“What we know how to do has developed tremendously. This job is here to stay. Students have significantly more tools to learn and show their skills. We still encourage using paper and pen, but now we have a digital side to it,” says Antti Virtanen.
“A student can be very creative digitally, not necessarily on paper or in manual skills. Yes, students should be given the opportunity to demonstrate their learning digitally. There is talent there that doesn't show through otherwise. And the school's job is to provide resources for the future. Information technology is now needed everywhere,” Virtanen continues.
Moments of joy in change
Change and its management is above all an everyday, gradual effort. Success is ultimately seen in fun moments, such as when digital tutors go around schools handing out Chromebooks. “We were like Santa Claus and the children were like 'oh yeah, they're coming'! The students' attitude has been truly fantastic. They have enthusiastically embraced the new and taught the teachers,” says Jenni Valanne.
The fact that the entire Rauma school community had adopted a new way of working in less than a year became concrete in early 2021, when upper secondary schools switched to distance learning for the second time due to the coronavirus epidemic.
Jenni Valanne and Mariel Eerola-Leino laugh as they prepare for the start of the new remote period as digital tutors. On the first day of remote teaching, the women were on hand to answer teachers' questions and help with any problems.
But no one contacted me again.
“In the end, only one person came to Digitutor's three-hour question and answer session!” says Eerola-Leino.
Rauma teachers had mastered Chromebooks and the Google environment so well that there was no longer an acute need for help. What a great step towards modern ways of learning!
REMEMBER THESE: Rauma's tips for a successful change:
- A tight project team with primary responsibility.
- Sufficient resources. It may be impossible to be a project manager or digital tutor for a major change in addition to your own work.
- Progressing in steps to allow time to digest the change
- Continuous, regular cooperation between all city stakeholders
- Communication so everyone knows what's happening
- Effort must be made to create a mental atmosphere: "This is the system we're going with now."