Intellect

Professor Kai Hakkarainen, Ph.D., is an acting Professor of Empirical Education at the Department of Education, University of Helsinki. Simultaneously, he is the director of the Centre for Research on Networked Learning and Knowledge Building (www.helsinki.fi/science/networkedlearning) at the Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki. With his colleagues, he has, for fifteen years, carried out learning research based on psychology and cognitive science at all levels, from elementary to higher education. Many investigations have included a strong theoretical component and have addressed how learning and human intellectual resources can be expanded using collaborative technologies based on the information and communication technologies. During recent years, Hakkarainen’s research activity has expanded toward investigating personal and collective learning processes taking place in knowledge-intensive organizations, including innovative private corporations.

Simultaneously, his investigations, originally oriented towards the cognitive study of individual learning, have moved towards sociocultural and activity-theoretical research and development of his own ‘trialogical approach’. Hakkarainen’s research unit has been strongly focused on international scientific publications, gaining both national and international recognition.