Teacher’s Handbook

Digital platforms for teaching and learning in Aalto University

Every teacher's core digital platforms include the student information system Sisu and the digital learning environment MyCourses.

Below, you will also find digital platforms that facilitate everyday tasks in contact and online teaching.
Teacher's handbook illustration: magnifying glass
Teacher's Handbook is provided and maintained by LES, Teacher Services.

What digital platforms does Aalto University use to facilitate teaching and learning?

The two digital platforms that every teacher needs to operate with are the student information system Sisu and the digital learning environment MyCourses. 

In addition to Sisu and MyCourses, there are other recommended digital platforms to facilitate teachers' contact and online teaching tasks. You can find the most common cases below, accompanied by links to instructions, and contact details for support staff.

We highly recommend favouring the use of the digital tools supported by Aalto University. Then you are assured that the data security of the software has been checked and is maintained, and that support is available to answer questions that may arise regarding its use.

Sisu and MyCourses interfaces
Sisu and MyCourses interfaces
Sisu is the core information system for teaching and studies MyCourses is Aalto University’s main digital learning environment
Sisu is a tool that students, teachers and Learning Services staff in their various roles can use to handle all aspects of study planning, scheduling and credit entry. Most of the learning activities (discussions, individual and group assignments, submissions, automated assessment) and tools (Zoom, Teams, Panopto, Turnitin and Course feedback) are integrated or otherwise made available for easy use through MyCourses. 
Teachers need to confirm students to the course in Sisu and save the final assessments of the course into Sisu. You can build a complete course with course material, quizzes, assignments, and workshops using MyCourses.

MyCourses is highly useful and accessible for both contact and remote teaching needs.

Sisu introduction

sisu.aalto.fi

MyCourses introduction

mycourses.aalto.fi

Sisu and MyCourses: the core systems and their connections

Most common teaching needs and recommended digital platforms

Read more about the digital platforms

Three smiling persons and the text "let's move on with Sisu"

Sisu

Basic information about Aalto's core information system for teaching and studying.

Services
Image of MyCourses interface view before logging in

MyCourses digital learning environment

MyCourses is the learning environment for Aalto University courses. With MyCourses, teachers can share course material, resources and other content. A teacher can set up and grade assignments, quizzes and workshops. MyCourses also provides tools for collaboration and interaction with students.

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Teacher's handbook illustration: pencil

Digital learning assessment and online examination

Digital, or online assessment enables flexibility in studies, and allows to reimagine assessment methods. Aalto has several digital assessment and online examination services: MyCourses assignments and activities, remotely proctored exams, EXAM, Turnitin and Safe Exam Browser (SEB).

On this page, you will find brief descriptions of all our services, along with helpful links. These services are not only supported by the university, but they are also secure and adaptable to various situations.

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panopto logo and computer

Panopto media service

Panopto media service for uploading and sharing videos and for creating video captures and webcasts.

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Teams-kuvituskuva

Online meeting tools - Teams and Zoom

Teams and Zoom are tools for video conferencing, online meetings, chat, and mobile collaboration. Panopto is a software and media service that is designed to capture, edit, stream, and share video presentations and recorded lectures. You can not use Panopto for online meetings.

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Turnitin logo

Turnitin an originality checking and feedback software

Turnitin is a tool to help you not only identify plagiarism, but also teach students good scientific writing practices. Turnitin compares submitted text to a massive database of text, highlights all similar text found and creates a similarity report.

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Presemo view

Presemo: a fully web-based classroom participation system

Presemo is a fully web-based classroom participation system.

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Zulip logo

Zulip chat platform

Zulip is an open-source chat platform suitable for group discussions. It offers LaTeX support and collaborative features that can be useful in teaching. Features like private streams, user groups and the option to mark topics as resolved can be used to enable Q&A and groupwork activities.

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Aalto OpenLearning palceholder image

Aalto OpenLearning learning environment

Aalto OpenLearning is Moodle based learning environment for open online courses and educational materials created by Aalto teachers.

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Image of virtual tour view in ThingLink platform

ThingLink

ThingLink is an education technology platform that enables it to augment images, videos, and virtual tours with additional information and links. You can use ThingLink to create accessible, visual learning experiences in the cloud.

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Course feedback support illustration

Main page for instructions of course feedback tool

At Aalto University, course feedback is collected from almost all courses. On these pages you will find teacher's instructions for using the course feedback tool on MyCourses.

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Published: Guidance for the use of artificial intelligence in teaching and learning

Aalto University has published guidance for the use of artificial intelligence in teaching and learning - read also about artificial intelligence in research

Read more
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Training for teachers

Note! You will find the entire training schedule and enrolment at Workday Learning: Teaching competence development.

Pedagogical specialists at Aalto University offer university pedagogical training for employees engaged in teaching. The training offers possibilities to develop one's own teaching skills and philosophy as a teacher. We arrange several pedagogical training events each year both in English and Finnish.

If you need training or support, feel free to contact Teacher Services or Book a session with a specialist.

Tiimitapaaminen / kuvaaja Aalto-yliopisto, Unto Rautio

Training to support digital teaching

The Teacher services team organises training events, webinars and workshops for users of shared learning platforms and tools. MyCourses, Panopto, Turnitin, EXAM, Presemo

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People talking and working in the café in Harald Herlin Learning Center, white lamps hanging in front.

Aalto University pedagogical training for faculty

Do you want to develop yourself as a teacher? Start Aalto pedagogical training with A! Peda Intro and continue with other core courses, or check the available elective courses.

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Looking at course information on MyCourses

Teacher services

The Teacher services team advances learning centricity and the quality of teaching by offering support services for the teaching staff. The team is a part of Learning Services.

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Applications, software and data storage for Aalto University employees and students

Lecture hall during the lecture

Teaching and learning

A landing page for teachers to help them find services and support related to teaching and learning.

How did we succeed to deliver essential information?

Our mission is to provide teachers with accessible, current and accurate information. We develop the Teacher’s Handbook based on received feedback, as an ongoing process. We need users' help on this.

Please, take a minute and give us feedback with this simple ‘I like, I wish form.

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