The MasterClass of the international Corship project was launched on Thursday

Less than a degree, more than a course. That is one way to describe the grand finale of the ambitious Corship project, which will end with a MasterClass course leading to micro-credential.

Corship
12.04.2021
Article

The last phase of the ambitious Corship project began last Thursday. Erasmus + Knowledge Alliance funded project focuses on co-innovation and micro-credentials. The Co-Innovation MasterClass is a continuation of the Co-Innovation Journey for Startups and Corporates course, held in April 2020. 

The popular Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) gathered around 2,400 participants, from which 42 most motivated individuals were selected based on precise criteria to continue towards Microcredential awarded at the end of the MasterClass.

The mission of the micro-credential (MOOC+ MasterClass) is to establish and improve the collaboration across Europe between startups, corporates, and universities by bringing together a group of learners from these three actors.

The course offers participants real and hands-on challenges where they can, among other things, innovate how to make European cities more vibrant.

The Corship is based on the need to create a common language between large companies, small startups, and universities to exploit the potential of internal entrepreneurship and joint innovation more widely in different industries.

From Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, project manager Timo-Pekka Uotila, designer Johanna Koskinen and business lecturers Anette Kairikko and Maija Suonpää participate in the project.

The need for micro-credentials is obvious

Timo-Pekka Uotila, the project manager responsible for Haaga-Helia's part on the project, says that the pilot course has started successfully. The 42 students selected through a tight screening form a heterogeneous group where creativity and new ideas can flourish, he says.

According to Uotila, micro-credentials have not been recognized in Finland before, although the need for them has been obvious for a while.

–In addition to working life, the business world is also in a state of constant change. Businesses need to be able to innovate to stay relevant. I believe micro-credentials could one solution to this challenge, he states.

Uotila works as a coach for one of MasterClass's seven teams together with Haaga-Helia's business lecturer Anette Kairiko. As coaches, their task is to create the best possible framework for innovation and to facilitate the journey we take.

– We try to avoid hierarchy in our coaching so that there is more space for collaborative learning, Kairikko says.

According to the duo, the heterogeneity of the group surprised them. There are business actors, startup entrepreneurs as well as doctors who are influential in the university world.

Haaga-Helia belongs to the forefront

Haaga-Helia's education planning specialist Johanna Koskinen says that networking has been an important part of the course's planning and implementation. This can be seen, among other things, in the fact that the networking service LinkedIn was already included in e-learning during the MOOC course held last spring.

According to Koskinen, in courses organized entirely in online environments, it is really important to keep in mind that participants most likely will never meet face to face.

– We had to find other ways to positively influence grouping and the construction of the learning environment. LinkedIn was one of them, she says.

This means that the participants of the Co-Innovation MasterClass learn not only the latest trends in co-innovation, but also networking methods that break traditional boundaries.

Koskinen reminds that Haaga-Helia is committed to basing its operations on innovative solutions for continuous learning and guidance.

For this reason, she believes that Haaga-Helia should be at the forefront when it comes to the globalization of education and the innovations of e-learning.

– The Co-Innovation MasterClass is an excellent opportunity for Haaga-Helia as it provides us the possibility to work towards this goal, she says.

The Corship project is a multinational project funded by the Erasmus + Knowledge Alliance. In addition to Haaga-Helia, the project involves the Austrian FH Joanneum University, the Polish Economic University Economiczny, the German Hasso-Plattner-Institut für Softwaresystemtechnik from the University of Postdam, the Portuguese innovation consulting company BETA-I, the Belgian European Startup Network, and the world's largest family business, the Austrian AVL List.

www.corship.eu

 

 

Contact
Johanna
Koskinen
Development Officer
johanna.koskinen@haaga-helia.fi