A course from Skytte Institute was chosen as the e-course of the year

On the 20 of May, Eesti Kõrg- ja Kutsehariduse Kvaliteediagentuur (EKKA) arranged a higher education spring seminar “DigiÄkk 2.0” which focused on the developments of digital learning in higher education for the last two years. The seminar introduced a good experience with digital learning, acknowledged the courses that received the e-course quality mark, and announced the e-course of the year.

The title “E-course of the year 2022” was given to UT Johan Skytte’s Institute of Political Studies for the course “Common challenges of competing regionalisms”. The course was designed by Anna Beitane, Stefano Braghiroli, Andrey Makarychev, Maili Vilson, Kristel Vits, Reina Shehi (Zenelaj), Nikoleta Dukanovic, Iryna Maksymenko, Shota Kakabadze and Mari-Liis Sulg. With the prize, the authors of this course receive a 2000€ scholarship.

According to the jury, the course is a systematically designed cooperation course. According to the learners, the positive study experience is supported by the sense of study community and a very well-structured support system. The course includes targeted video materials of different levels and types, supported by interactive embedding activities and self-tests.

“We are very grateful to EKKA and the course evaluators for the high recognition given to our MOOC. Receiving the title well reflects the many months of effort put in by our entire team to develop and deliver this course. We aim to offer a MOOC that raises participants' awareness of a topical and yet under-researched subject and is designed to ensure a high level of learner engagement and activity. We are grateful to everyone who contributed to the success of this course,” said Anna Beitane, the project manager of continuous education and e-learning of the Skytte Institute while receiving the prize.

This year, nine e-courses that received the e-course quality label in the 2022 application round were nominated for the e-course of the year. In addition to the six e-courses from UT, two courses from Tallinn University of Technology and one course from Tallinn University of Technology applied for the title. The nominees for the e-course of the year are available on the EKKA website.