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Digital Competencies of Elementary School Teachers

Dragana Trninić — 2024-12-20

Digital competencies contribute to the development of other significant skills for the modern, digital age, such as communication, content creation and participation. To teachers' digital competencies can influence their abilities to integrate technology into the teaching process. This paper addresses the digital competencies of elementary school teachers in the Republic of Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The aim of the study is to highlight the necessity of continuous education of educators in the field of digital literacy, enabling them to transmit the necessary knowledge to students in an adequate and acceptable manner. The results of the survey conducted through the questionnaire method indicate insufficient level of digital competencies among elementary school teachers, their awareness of this issue and their desire for additional education. This study has shown that primary school teachers in the Republic of Srpska (BaH) have basic knowledge about media and information literacy (MIL), but that their digital skills are insufficiently developed.

The Digital Leap in March 2020 – Teachers Assessing Their Digital Competence After the Distance Learning Period

Erika Tanhua-Piiroinen — 2024-12-20

The Covid-19 pandemic and the emergency remote teaching (ERT) that it brought along in spring 2020, forced educators and educational institutions worldwide to quickly adapt to the technology needed for teaching and learning. This was situation in Finland too. Now, three years after the pandemic, when the extensive school closings and emergency remote teaching at least now are behind us, we wanted to find out how do the teachers assess their digital competence after the ERT period compared to the time before it. Based on the self-assessment questionnaire, teachers’ competence and their confidence in their own skills has increased, but in moderation. When looking at competence assessments compared to age, confidence and competence seem to decrease with age, teachers under age 30 being the most competent. In the period under review, competence has grown the most among people between the ages of 30 and 60. Although teachers' activity in the use of information and communication technology in most of the lessons has somewhat increased, no remarkable change can be seen in students' use of ICT in most of their lessons. Teachers are still the most active part in the use of technology in learning.

A Systematic Review of Research on Learning Writing Skills Using Gamification

Johanna Pentikainen — 2024-12-20

Multimodal interactive text genres, such as games, have gained wide popularity, while the reading of written texts has decreased among today’s youth, affecting their writing skills as well. In this systematic review, we investigate how games can be beneficial in writing learning. By combining and analysing the results of 11 academic articles on the gamification of writing learning, we discuss how games can support pupils’ writing processes while promoting transmedia skills. The immersive aspects of games can encourage young writers’ sense of agency, fluency and internal motivation. Games also encourage verbal rehearsal and collaborative creation. Additionally, games seem to promote idea generation, character development and other narrative and personal-imaginative genre features, while in factual writing, games can also develop an incoherent writing attitude. While the results seem rather encouraging, there is a lack of discussion regarding how the transfer of learning can be supported.

Gamified App-based Well-being Interventions for Children and Young People: A Systematic Literature Review

Olli Kelhä — 2024-12-20

This study examines gamified app-based well-being interventions (GABWI) for children and adolescents. It aims to guide app developers and policymakers in designing human-led and peer-supporting well-being interventions at a comprehensive school. The study explores these interventions’ features: goals; background theories; and gamification strategies. PRISMA systematic literature review guidelines were applied, and sixteen studies from 2017–2022 were analyzed.

The results underline that interactivity is essential for engaging children and adolescents in well-being apps, but offline connections in interventions are also necessary. Moreover, the study emphasizes the holistic approach including the combination of physical and mental aims in GABWI, and a strong theoretical background of interventions. The study showed that Self-determination Theory is prevalent in GABWI. However, Social Cognitive Theory may enhance tailored support, particularly for students with special needs. The study is situated in the context of Finland, considering the specific curriculum and health needs. Despite Finnish young people’s high overall fitness level, about 40 percent of pupils have low physical capacity, and a third of girls and a fifth of boys at the end of comprehensive school perceive their health as average or poor.

Improving Learning Design Using Learning Analytics in Relation to Study Experience

Satu Aksovaara — 2024-12-20

In higher education, the learner-centered approach faces challenges due to the growing number and diversity of students and the increasing complexity of course delivery. Study experiences, which correlate with academic achievement, may be enhanced through learning analytics. In particular, analytics can offer valuable, timely insights by collecting and analyzing data on the study experiences and student-related metrics. This allows teachers to gain understanding of students' psychological qualities, which are not typically inferred from standard learning management systems.

Our case study aims to demonstrate how the practical application of learning analytics (LA)-generated data on students’ psychological qualities can guide teachers in enhancing their instructional delivery and, consequently, enhance student experiences. Initially, we assess the reliability of data concerning students’ psychological traits and study experiences. Subsequently, we explore whether these data can provide insights for teachers that can lead to improved student experiences. Student experiences across two consecutive course implementations are compared to illustrate the potential of LA in informing teachers.

The results show that data can be collected reliably on students' daily academic activities and emotional states during the teamwork week. Preliminary findings from the spring term are shared with teachers, which indicate that the use of LA data can positively influence student experiences without requiring structural changes to instructional materials or course implementation. Although the study is not experimental, it provides valuable insights into specific methods of applying LA to inform teachers and enhance student experiences. Further research is needed to deepen the understanding of these applications.