Media Education at the Top

Heli Ruokamo is a Professor of Education (Media Education) at the University of Lapland, Finland, where she is also a Research Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Education and a Director of the Media Education Hub. She is a member of the Finnish Board of the Directors and the Sino-Finnish Joint Learning Innovation Institute (JoLii), and Head of the JoLii Teacher Training Center, Finland. She is member of the boards of the Finnish Multidisciplinary Doctoral Training Network (FinEd), the Finnish Educational Research Association (FERA), and the CICERO Learning Network. Her research has focused on mobile and meaningful learning, and playful, game-based, and simulation-based learning environments. She has directed several research projects and published more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications.

Marjaana Kangas, PhD, is a Lecturer at the University of Lapland, Finland. She is also an Adjunct Professor of Playful and Game-based Learning at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Her doctoral dissertation, “The School of the Future: Theoretical and Pedagogical Approaches for Creative and Playful Learning Environments”, received the national Professor Lea Pulkkinen Award in 2012. She has worked in multidisciplinary research projects over 15 years and published several research articles focusing on teaching and learning processes in various innovative learning contexts, especially on the use of digital tools, play and games in 21st century education. She is a co-editor of the books Research on Playful Learning Environments (2006; 2007) and Learning and Games: Games, Gamification and Playfulness in Teaching (2014).