Browsing by Author "Oinonen, Enni"

Objectives. The purpose of this Master's thesis is to study how the elementary school teachers of Koulumestari school in Espoo, Finland are making use of Fronter, a data based learning platform, as part of their work. This case study investigates how the users of Fronter, the Koulumestari school's teachers, make use of the platform and what problems they have encountered while using it. Methods. The data for this qualitative case study was collected using questionnaires and theme-centered interviews. During the interviews, teachers were also videotaped while demonstrating, on a computer screen, how they use Fronter learning platform in their work. A total of 18 elementary school teachers took part in the questionnaire, while 8 of them were chosen to be interviewed based on their use of Fronter in their work. The theme-centered interviews were transcribed, followed by their analysis using conventional content analysis. The goal was to find, within the content of the interviews, the answers to the following two questions: In which ways do teachers make use of Fronter data based learning platform? And, what problems are included in the use of Fronter data based learning platform? Results and conclusions. The study shows that the teachers of Koulumestari school make use of Fronter learning platform in three different ways: pedagogical use, communicating information and uses within the school. The problems that made the use of Fronter challenging were described as technical problems, administrative problems and problems related to motivation. In the discussion section, the pedagogical use of Fronter learning platform was mirrored to attributes of meaningful learning, which are presented in the theory section of this study. Attributes of meaningful learning are active, constructive, intentional, collaborative, contextualized, conversational, reflective and transfer. All eight of these attributes were linked to pedagogical use, which the teachers of Koulumestari school followed in their day to day activities. This Master's thesis could also be continued in order to study elementary school teachers, as information and communications technology users, more broadly.