Peer Tutoring Pilot Model Supports Online and Multiform Students
Maiju Tyni (39) and Sandra Aalto (28) have served as peer tutor trainers in SAMK’s pilot project, which developed a new model to support online and multiform students. Both have themselves completed their entrepreneurship degree studies online and experienced firsthand how important community and peer support are when studies don’t take place in campus hallways.
Where did the idea come from?
In the 2024 well-being survey, it became clear that online and multiform students need more support and guidance at the beginning of their studies. Unlike full-time day students, online learners don’t have the same easy access to everyday support networks. Based on this, a peer tutoring pilot was launched in January 2025 to co-develop the model together with students.
During the 2023–2024 academic year, Maiju and Sandra worked as peer tutors in the entrepreneurship degree program as part of a five-person tutor team. The team created a Tutor Handbook, drawing on the tutoring practices that had evolved in the program over the years. The handbook was presented at SAMK’s Pedagogical Guidance Day in the spring and generated broad interest. It also served as the foundation for the pilot, which Maiju and Sandra then helped take forward.
Concrete ways to lower barriers
The pilot employed several practices:
-Tutor videos: New tutors made introduction videos, so incoming students immediately saw a familiar face they knew they could reach out to.
-Virtual coffee breaks: Informal meetings on Teams where students could ask anything and get to know others in a low-threshold way.
-Active outreach: Tutors proactively contacted new students if they hesitated to ask for help at first.
“Networking online isn’t really difficult once you get the right tools and a safe space to start a conversation,” Maiju and Sandra explain.
Different life situations show up in studies
Backgrounds among blended and online students vary widely. Some continue straight from previous studies, while for others returning to school after many years can be challenging.
Sandra shares an example: “If it’s been more than 20 years since your last studies, the online environment can feel like a shock. Peer support helps you adapt to the new study routine and shows you how to get started.”
Maiju adds that studies can easily stall right at the beginning without self-directed learning skills: “After the flood of information during orientation days, the first question is often how to actually get started with the studies. Peer tutors can play a crucial role at that stage.”
Community also forms online
Tutoring not only helps with studies but can also create lasting networks. Maiju and Sandra themselves met through online studies and have worked together on study-related projects.
“Tutoring lowered the threshold to connect with other students and created a sense of community. That’s also important for adult learners, whose life situations vary a lot,” they say.
Think Future
The pilot has already produced good results, and the model will continue to be developed year by year and group by group. Feedback is collected from both teachers and students, with the aim of finding flexible solutions that suit different fields of education.
Maiju sums it up: “Online and blended degree programs are constantly increasing. At the same time, student services and support models must evolve too. Peer tutoring can encourage many to pursue studies, even if their life situation is different from that of young full-time students.”
Maiju Tyni (left) has 15 years of experience in the retail sector and now works as an entrepreneur at Luonnon Oma Oy, a company specializing in natural cosmetics. Sandra Aalto (right) previously qualified as a child instructor and now runs her own communications agency, Kupla Kreations. Photo: Inna Saarinen, SAMK.