MinnaLearn, the team behind Elements of AI, spins out of Reaktor to introduce cohort-based learning to Finland

With the changing world of work and the COVID-pandemic, companies have accumulated enormous educational debt. The European Commission estimates that in the future, 90% of jobs will require digital skills while 169 million Europeans currently lack them^[1]. At the post-pandemic workplace, especially digitalisation and remote work set demands for rapid transformation of organizations.

The current corporate learning solutions are inadequate

When working with companies, MinnaLearn constantly runs into the same problem: old-fashioned training is rigid and takes too much time and money. Ten years ago, online courses were believed to solve the problem, but their take-up has not risen to the desired level.

“Studies show the best form of continuous learning is to combine the formal, such as courses, and non-formal, such as work-based learning. Traditional classroom learning focuses too much on one day of training and new skills are rarely transferred to practical working life. Online courses, on the other hand, enable taking in the information gradually but get buried under other work without the social encouragement,” comments Ville Valtonen, the CEO of MinnaLearn.

MinnaLearn brings cohort-based learning to Finland as a solution for engaging students. The students take an online course at the same pace and meet other students in professionally facilitated learning groups during the course. The skills learned in the course are reviewed together as practical exercises, and in this way the new skills can be applied immediately in practical work.

MinnaLearn got started from the artificial intelligence course Elements of AI

MinnaLearn got started four years ago from the artificial intelligence course Elements of AI conducted together with the University of Helsinki. Elements of AI quickly became a sensation, not only in Finland but throughout the world. It already has nearly a million students from more than 160 countries. The course has been awarded as the world's best English-language online course in computer science.

“We quickly realized many dropped out of the course. Although the completion rate of our courses is almost three times the industry average, we can’t settle for it. Students and customers have long wanted the opportunity to take the course together with other students, regardless of location — now it’s possible!”, comments Valtonen.

In addition to artificial intelligence, the topics in MinnaLearn's course catalog include agile work, cybersecurity and startup entrepreneurship. MinnaLearn has created courses together with top universities in both Finland and internationally. The company's partners are e.g. Delft University of Technology, Aalto University and the Sorbonne University. The company aims to educate 1% of the world's population for the future of work.