Co-operating with Mectalent and KoKiVa, University of Oulu Learning, Education and Technology (LET) Master’s Programme students Joanita, Faith and Nisha experimented utilizing technology as part of work life visits. The students built examples of Mectalent premises by using Thinglink and 360-degree photos. Clickable tags providing details were added onto images.
Have a look at the Mectalent premises in the Thinglink environment (link will be added)
In addition to producing Thinglink content, Joanita, Faith and Nisha interviewed Mectalent employees on video. The employees told e.g. how they got to work for Mectalent, what they had studied and whether their career paths had been linear. The interviews highlighted diversity in the employees’ education, previous work experience, job description, gender and age. The interviewees were women of different ages, some of them working gender-atypical jobs, and a young male employee.
Thinglink and interview videos provide students with a quick and easy introduction to business operations as well as the people and methods behind products. As future employees, young people need comprehensive information on different education and career opportunities. Work life visits are an opportunity for businesses to market their operations.
Businesses can expand perspectives on their field and operations by informing young people on what the business does in practice, whether work is done individually or in teams,
career advancement and work requirements. Meaningfulness is another important consideration. Establishing how each jobs affects e.g. society or matters important to young people, such as climate change, may broaden young people’s understanding of opportunities in each field. Business values are worth highlighting. Benefits of digital solutions include e.g. speed, simplicity and security (Foutsitzi & Caridakis, 2019; Henderson et al., 2017). Digital solutions may also improve accessibility. A multi-channel approach supports students’ learning (Foutsitzi & Caridakis, 2019), and the pedagogical planning of digital solutions makes it possible to offer new perspectives to students (Henderson et al., 2017). In addition, students can use technology to independently familiarise themselves with companies and their premises. Additionally, the technological solution can function as a pedagogical tool for the educator and support in introducing the employer representative. More understanding is needed on the type of content that interests young people, what kind of information they need from different companies, sectors and people, and how this information supports young people in their education and career planning.
