Eduten

Over 15 years ago, a team of young, clever researchers at the University of Turku, Finland, embarked on a journey that led to a better way to teach and learn.

The members of the new Centre for Learning Analytics had observed many failed attempts at applying digital tools to education. A key finding was that available tools did not substantially help teachers with their core tasks of giving feedback, checking tests and marking exams.

Without constant positive feedback, student motivation was low, so the research team tried to design a way to check assignments and mark tests and exams automatically.

Some ‘must-haves’ were that it needed to:

• Fit existing teacher workflows and be very easy to learn.

• Help teachers spend their valuable time interacting with students rather than marking work for hours
• Be a digital tool that would keep students intrinsically engaged

Some would say that this was an ambitious vision… but the team felt optimistic.

The PhD research team was now on a mission to fulfil this vision. They delved into the science of digital learning, feedback and how maintained motivation encourages natural and autonomous learning.

The team also studied gamification and the neurology of concentration.

After deep study and research, the team set out to create software to deliver these new learning models. They responded to 21st century pedagogical requirements and boosted learning motivation for children. This was back in 2005, when e-learning was only a wild, futuristic vision.

After finishing the first version of the virtual learning environment, they offered it under the name of ViLLE to select primary schools in Finland. From day one, it was a runaway success and currently it is the most popular digital learning tool in Finland. More than 400,000 students and teachers across the country have enjoyed its benefits.

Both teachers and students loved it, and very quickly the research team found it brought a vast improvement to learning results.

Based on user feedback, the team started to iterate quickly in order to improve the software. They offered it to more and more Finnish schools and conducted dozens of scientific research studies about its impact.

To date, the team has published more than 80 scientific papers, and over time they have garnered the interest of the international pedagogical science community as well.

As interest in the gamified platform increased, the University of Turku decided to spin off a company to offer this groundbreaking digital learning tool under then name Eduten to teachers and students anywhere in the world. This company, Eduten Ltd. is a Finnish edtech company with the mission to help students reach their academic potential.

In essence, Eduten develops the technology in collaboration with University of Turku to spreads its benefits worldwide. Eduten offers an opportunity for children everywhere to reach their academic potential through a scalable and motivational digital learning path.

Together with the university, Eduten provides its platform to more than 500,000 students globally. So far, Eduten has been used in over 40 countries worldwide.

Meanwhile, the research team continues their work at the Center for Learning Analytics at the University of Turku. Their current research focus is to apply Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms to our data set of more than half of a billion completed student tasks to improve Eduten even further.

Eduten has started to spread across the globe and we can’t wait to see where it will take us next!