University of Helsinki Open Online Courses

What the University of Helsinki offers

The University of Helsinki runs a set of free open online courses, or MOOCs, through its Open University. They are a product for learners: anyone can take them, and the courses page opens with the promise that "A MOOC is your gateway to the most interesting contents at a top university. Study according to your schedule!"

The page defines its terms plainly. MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Course, "Therefore, MOOCs are online courses which are open for everyone without limiting the number of students." They also stay open longer than a regular course: MOOCs "are typically available for a longer period (e.g., one academic term or year)", and learners are invited to browse the course catalog and join flexibly on their own schedule.

The courses sit inside a large research university. The university's home page describes it as "an international research community of over 40,000 students and staff", founded in 1640, with 11 faculties on four campuses. It says the University of Helsinki "ranks among the top one percent of universities in the world", and names its top research areas as future technologies, a sustainable planet, precision health, and learning and evolving societies.

The courses

The MOOC page leads with artificial intelligence. Under the heading "Stay up to date on AI" it asks three questions the courses set out to answer: how does artificial intelligence work, what is its role in society, and how to address the ethical issues related to AI. The university calls these its top-rated MOOC online courses and invites learners to study them for free and flexibly on their own schedule. The list, with the credits the page gives for each:

• Elements of AI: Introduction to AI, 2 cr
• Elements of AI: Building AI, 1 cr (Intermediate)
• Elements of AI: Building AI, 1 cr (Advanced)
• AI in Society: Introduction, 1.5 cr
• AI in Society: AI and Democracy, 0.5 cr
• AI in Society: AI, Justice and Security, 0.5 cr
• AI in Society: AI and Discrimination, 0.5 cr
• AI in Society: AI and One Health, 0.5 cr
• Ethics of AI, 2 cr

The structure is easy to read from the names. Elements of AI opens with an introduction and continues with two Building AI courses, one intermediate and one advanced. AI in Society starts with an introduction and then offers short modules on democracy, justice and security, discrimination and health. Ethics of AI stands on its own at 2 cr.

The second theme is Finnish education. A course invites learners to "Become familiar with the key features of the Finnish education system, as well as with the current development directions." The university's teaching guidance names Uncover Finnish Education, along with Introduction to Sustainability, as good examples of courses built in its MOOC environment.

Beyond these featured courses, the page links to a list of all University of Helsinki MOOC courses and to the full open university course catalog for anyone looking for something else.

Where the courses run

The university's internal teaching guidance, written in Finnish for its own staff, explains how the MOOCs are built. It separates three online learning environments. HY-Moodle, the university's Moodle, is used for degree teaching and for Open University teaching. A course that is open to the whole world, with no cap on participants and no advance enrollment, is most likely a MOOC, and staff are told to use the MOOC Center's environment for it.

That environment is MOOC.fi. The guidance says the university's MOOC Center (MOOC-keskus) creates customized online courses together with teachers and develops its own online learning environment, MOOC.fi, built in-house by university staff and students. It suits courses that want automated assessment and automated registration of completions, which is what lets a course on a topic of wide interest take very large numbers of learners. Where a degree program or project can pay for the development work, the MOOC Center can also build new features, such as a new exercise type. MOOC Center courses are listed both in the university's course search and on the MOOC.fi portal.

The third environment is DigiCampus, a Moodle-based learning environment shared by Finnish higher education institutions. The guidance says some University of Helsinki MOOC courses also run there. For a learner, the practical point is that a University of Helsinki MOOC may sit on MOOC.fi or on DigiCampus, and the course's own page says which.

How taking a course works

The FAQ on the MOOC page answers the basics. There is, as a rule, no advance registration: "the studies commence simply by registering in the online learning environment." Learners do not get a University of Helsinki user account, "since you do not need a user account to study a MOOC course." Courses are not always open on the same terms, and the FAQ points learners to the timetables and other instructions on each course's own page. For more detail it links to the Instructions for Students.

Cost and credits

The FAQ is direct on cost: "Participation in MOOCs is free of charge." Credits are handled separately. The FAQ explains that a completed course's credits can be entered in the University of Helsinki's student information system, and adds that "Some MOOCs are completely free of charge also in terms of credit registration." Credit registration is therefore free for some courses but not for all, and the Open University section has its own page on enrollment and study fees.

The credit values themselves are listed per course, from 0.5 cr for each short AI in Society module up to 2 cr for Elements of AI: Introduction to AI and for Ethics of AI. For a learner who wants a record of the work in a university system, that is the main reason to look at credit registration at all; for one who simply wants to learn, the courses are free to take.

The wider Open University

The MOOCs are one part of the Open University's offer. Its menu also lists open university studies by degree program and by theme, introductory courses, multidisciplinary themed modules, summer courses, and an overview of the open university in brief. A learner who starts with a free MOOC can move on to that wider catalog, with enrollment and study fees set out on a page of their own.

Who it suits

These courses suit curious adults who want a free, flexible introduction to artificial intelligence from a large research university, and who would like the option of credits. Elements of AI and its two Building AI follow-ups give a clear progression from understanding to building, while AI in Society and Ethics of AI suit people who care more about the social and ethical side: teachers, public servants or anyone whose work is being changed by AI. The Finnish education course suits teachers and education students interested in how Finland runs its schools.

The offer suits fewer people looking for a wide catalog in many subjects. The featured MOOCs center on AI and Finnish education, and the broader open university catalog is a separate offer with its own enrollment and fees. Learners who need a guaranteed start date should also check each course page, since timetables vary from course to course, and those who want credits on record should look at credit registration and fees before they finish rather than after.