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School Day Wellbeing Model Analyzes, Explains and Supports Student Wellbeing

School Day Wellbeing Model Analyzes, Explains and Supports Student Wellbeing

It was a year ago when first students started using our School Day Wellbeing Solution. During the past year, we have received a lot of feedback and ideas on how to further develop our model. Our network has grown in size and knowhow, and there have been huge investments in research and product development. Nevertheless, the best ideas often come from the schools. 

In research and development, we have put a lot of effort into developing our data analytics, automatics, visual design, and user experience, as well as building a comprehensive wellbeing model. Let's take a look at the model next. 

Wellbeing and AI - When Two Worlds Meet

Wellbeing is an extremely important topic. We all need help sometimes and support from other people around us. Unfortunately, our busy lives make us forget it sometimes, and wellbeing experts and teachers do not have enough time for everyone.

Student wellbeing leads to increased engagement in learning situations, and evidently to better learning outcomes. Wellbeing covers a variety of topics in interplay in different situations in our lives. For example, engaging in physical activities has been shown to have a positive effect on learning results. And we have to remember that if children are able to collect positive life experiences, they will be happier in their adult years as well.

As a mathematician, my challenge has been to teach wellbeing to AI so that schools will get help in their challenge to build better learning environments. It sounds a bit like sci-fi, but very enticing.

Wellbeing and its phenomena reside within the core of humanity, whereas AI does not. Combining these two is something completely new, and quite often mathematicians and other people working on developing AI have much more concrete topics to harness.

School Day Wellbeing Model

At School Day we are developing AI which combines wellbeing, pedagogy and many other fields of study for a solution that effectively supports wellbeing at schools daily. Our biggest achievement so far has been to develop a method that enables harnessing know-how in wellbeing and education to the use of AI.

Our knowledge of wellbeing and pedagogy comes straight from schools. The best experts are the students, teachers, principals, moms, and dads. Our job is to collect that understanding, put it into the language our AI understands, and build a solution that will help promote wellbeing at schools around the world. We collaborate with top scientists and experts. Even our geographical location is favorable to us since Finland is a leading country in technology, education, and wellbeing. It takes just a few minutes to the university by car and a few more on foot. :) 

What Wellbeing Consist of in Our Model?

Wellbeing is a complex term with many interpretations. At School Day we have wanted to see it as a broad framework that includes all age groups and various phases and situations in life. For example, to promote learning engagement, we also have to look at the student's life outside school.

At the moment School Day Wellbeing Model comprises of five categories:

  1. External Conditions
  2. Social Relationships
  3. Means for Self-Fulfillment
  4. Health
  5. Social-emotional Skills

Since I write blog posts only about once a year, I assume that next time I am asked to write, that list has grown. Each of the five categories have more detailed subcategories that form logical entities concerning the lives of the students. The interplay of all these factors and their role in students' lives is exactly what we have been teaching our AI.

Image 1. School Day Wellbeing Model includes five wellbeing categories. 

Our Model Analyzes, Explains and Supports Development 

A year ago our goal was to find wellbeing phenomena in school communities and voice them. It still is our main goal. By analyzing wellbeing, we enhance knowledge-based leadership and help school communities address the right questions.

In our updated model we want to take this even further - we aim to find the reasons for enhanced wellbeing or the lack of it. That is why we wanted to add levels in our updated model. Our AI is the key to finding patterns and deviations in them so that the most relevant wellbeing issues will pop up. 

Image 2. School Day Wellbeing Model is built on multiple levels and comprises of a vast array of information. 

As I described earlier, our wellbeing model consists of five wellbeing topics. Each of these topics include 6-8 wellbeing phenomena, totaling 36 phenomena altogether. All of them include elements that measure the phenomena at hand, and elements that explain it. We have created a model for explaining wellbeing phenomena so that we can provide school communities with valuable information, and support the wellbeing of its members.

Naturally, our model is dynamic- it keeps developing whenever new research data becomes available or our users feel the need to it. According to these needs, the number of phenomena in our future updates will either grow in size or diminish. However, we want to make sure that our model consists of all the important wellbeing phenomena in the students' lives.

School Day Wellbeing Model is the most precise and comprehensive of all the models that have been developed around the world. It is based on a vast array of scientific research and the know-how of the best Finnish educators.

Even though our model is developed by top researchers and experienced teachers, all ideas that come up at school will be appreciated. Especially the ones that come from schools that have already used our model. Your ideas on how to develop our model further so that we can best support the wellbeing of your students are all warmly welcome. 

Personified Feedback Supports Development

Since we have added measuring and explaining elements into our model, we are now able to provide the students, teachers and school leaders with data-based, personified feedback to support their wellbeing. There is no other model like ours anywhere in the world.

Every school leader wants to develop their school and offer a better learning environment for their students. We know that the best school is the one whose students are not suffering from wellbeing issues. Every teacher and parent wants that the students feel well and learn. And most importantly every student wants to be able to enjoy learning without any barriers to it and get feedback on their wellbeing.

The data that School Day collects is shown in the reports that school leaders and teachers get from School Day. School leaders are presented with the collected wellbeing data combined with the information from the administrative program, such as students' grades, absences, and lesson notes.

Teachers have access to a lighter view of wellbeing data. They can follow the phenomena on a class level, for example on a mobile phone. How are my students feeling this week? Are they content or do they have any wellbeing issues on their minds? School Day AI sends feedback cards to teachers and school leaders telling them if there are any issues they should be concerned about and giving tips on how their peers have previously solved similar problems.

Later this fall we will add a feature to our model, providing also students with feedback cards that include personified wellbeing feedback, encouragement, and tips. It is a central part of our philosophy to always approach learning and wellbeing from a positive point of view.

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