Browsing by Author "Halonen, Alisa"

The purpose of this study is to investigate how craft teachers in Finnish basic education perceive their digital technology competence, how they integrate digital technology in their teaching and which factors influence the teachers’ experiences of their own competence to integrate digital technology in crafts . The aim is to map the current state of digital technology competence of craft teachers, so that it is possible to become more aware of the factors that promote and prevent it. The research data was collected with a structured questionnaire and interview. 17 craft teachers responded to the research questionnaire, and four craft teachers participated in the interview. The Likert-scale survey was part of a larger Growing Mind research project. The two datasets were analyzed separately. In the questionnaire analysis, the frequencies, medians and standard deviations of the answers were examined. The interview material was analyzed qualitatively combining data-driven and theory-based analysis. The results indicated that craft teachers' experiences of their own digital technology competence varied. However, teachers felt that their technological competence was sufficient, and instead of static competence, they emphasized the importance of maintenance and continuous development of the competence. Digital technology was perceived as supportive to teaching, but its use in teaching remained rather one-sided. Teachers viewed digital technology as a teaching tool. There were numerous factors influencing teachers' technological competence, and in addition to the teacher's own technological know-how, it is also important to consider the context where teachers work. The teachers identified the lack of technological equipment, programs and applications as the biggest obstacle of developing their own technological competence.