We are pleased to introduce you to our charismatic and distinguished guest speaker for SkyGems Academy Podcast Series 1 Episode 10 – Marika Toivola.

Here’s some key highlights of Marika’s outstanding track records:

Marika Toivola, MA, is the most well-known Finnish pioneering flipped learning teacher. Marika is engaged in ground breaking and award-winning work to enhance mathematics teaching. She has been awarded the Mathematics Teacher of the Year in Finland Award in 2019. 2013, the Technology Industries of Finland Centennial Foundation gave Marika an incentive scholarship and recognized her efforts in promoting open access learning materials.

Today, Marika is one of the most sought-after Finnish trainers of flipped learning and formative assessment. Her books Flipped Learning in Finland and Flipped Assessment – A Leap towards Assessment for Learning have encouraged thousands of teachers to join her in the long-term development of their own role as teachers. In addition to her teaching work at the lower secondary school in Teacher Trainer school a Turku University, Marika is pursuing a PhD in educational science at the University of Helsinki. Her doctoral thesis focus on teacher’s agency and identity in Flipped learning and it contributes to existing research knowledge in two ways. On the one hand, it helps understand the process of conceptualization of the phenomenon of Flipped Learning particularly from math teacher perspective. On the other, the study is contributing in particular to efforts at promoting a change in the teaching of mathematics. Marika has started her doctoral dissertation to become a better teacher. In her books, she justifies theoretically that which she has brought into practice, and not the other way around.

Marika is a mother of four school-aged children, and she is passionate about ending the homogenisation of both students and teachers. She does not give praise to the current, performance-oriented focus in schools, where there is no room for failure. According to Marika, children should be educated to meet the needs of tomorrow. The future requires courage and creativity that will differentiate people from machine intelligence.

We quote and unquote Marika Toivola:

“In flipped learning teachers, we act like a coach of learning. So, for me, online learning is offering every opportunity to do much more than in normal education."

Now, let’s tune in to SkyGems Academy Podcast Episode 10 for Marika Toivola’s Podcast. Let’s go!