Browsing by Subject "Tekniska utmaningar"

Background and goal. The aim of this study is to examine which technical challenges teachers in elementary school experience while using digital tools, aswell as how the challenges affect their work. Teachers’ experience with the education for using digital tools is also a focus for this study. Earlier research suggest that network-, storage- and login difficulties are usual in the classroom, while the administrative programmes are difficult to use. These challenges mainly affect the teachers timewise and are a cause for frustration. Studies also suggest that teachers aren´t always properly educated or knowleadgable with the use of digital tools. Methods. This study is of qualitative nature. I have interviewed six elemntary school teachers (year 1-6), from two different schools in southern Finland. The answers have been analyzed with thematical analysis. Results and conclusions. Teachers experience different kinds of technical challenges with digital tools. Network-, storage- and login difficulties were common challgenes. The teachers put more emphasis on the difficulty of using the different administrative programmes, and pointed to several issues with them. Waste of time and frsutration became apparent as two main outcomes of teachers experiencing technical challenges. Regarding teacher education, most of the teachers felt quite comfortable with the use of digital tools, but pointed out some weaknesses in their knowledge, i.e. the Smartboard was a digital tool many teachers felt a bit unfamiliar with. The teachers felt the need for more education. Support was a theme that came up in many oft he interviews, where the teachers pointed out that the supporting network for technical difficulties is a bit lacking. First and foremost it isn´t easy to know who to contact with which problems, which led to the collegial support being the first choice. My study show that teachers still experience different kinds of technical challenges with digital tools. Some of my results confirm earlier studies, which show that things haven´t necessarily improved or changed, while teachers feel the need for a change in the administrative side of the work. Teacher educationwise there is a need for more availible eduaction and courses, that offer learning on different knowledge levels, aswell as the support structures may need a closer look. The support structures may need renewing or changing to reliev the teacher´s work.