Browsing by Subject "etäopetus"

Aims. Student’s participation is one of the most important aspects in primary school. Participation means that students’ views and opinions are being heard and considered, and that they have a say in matters concerning them. Students should also be involved in matters and choices in their schools. Student participation should be encouraged and supported. Student’s participation has been researched in regular classroom setting but not in distance education. Due to the Covid-19 situation in March 2020 schools were closed and studying in classrooms changed to distance learning at homes. The aim of this study is to research teachers’ views on student participation in distance education. Harry Shier’s and Johanna Kiili’s theories of children and student participation are being used in this study. Methods. This study is a qualitative research made with the theory-based analysis of the content method. The research data was collected from teachers who participated in distance teaching during school years ¬2019–2020 and 2020–2021. The data was collected from February to April in 2021 using e-forms, which asked teachers to describe their views on student participation during distance education. 19 teachers participated in this study. Results and conclusions. The participation in distance education did not differ much from classroom learning. Teacher’s saw the importance of taking student’s views into account and their freedom to make choices during both distance learning and classroom learning. The sense of community in participation was decreased during distance education. The use of information and communication technology provided new ways to participate. The students who were less likely to speak in classroom had more chances to have their voice heard during distance education. There were different kinds of learning environments for students during distance education since studying did not happen in classrooms. Those students’ who were self-determined were able to benefit from the participation in distance education. Those who needed more support during studying faced more challenges during distance education. The teachers utilized their knowledge and information about their students in different ways during distance education.

The purpose of this study is to find out, through the class teachers' own experiences, how differentiation was implemented in the distance education during the exceptional period incurred in spring 2020. This research is focused on finding successes and challenges teachers experienced in distance teachings differentiation. In addition, the study examines the types of support teachers received during this time. Being a fairly topical issue at the moment, the available scientific research, which would specifically address classroom distance learning, is limited. The research approach in this paper is mainly qualitative also utilizing multi-methodological means. The research material has been collected through a questionnaire and four interviews in order to obtain additional qualitative information. A total of 33 primary school classroom teachers from 24 different municipalities responded to the survey. The survey comprised of 26 questions, some of which were Likert-scale questions and some open-ended questions. The respondents were mainly collected from a Facebook community of almost 40,000 teachers and those interested in education. The quantitative data obtained from the questionnaire has been analyzed with Microsoft Excel and the open questions have been coded. Qualitative material was collected through four short semi-structured thematic interviews. The interview questions were based on questions already answered in the questionnaire, that required further qualitative research. The majority of the teachers who responded to the study found distance learning differentiation challenging. However, some found it even easier to implement differentiation than in face-to-face teaching. The most common way to differentiate teaching was the variations in the number and level of schoolwork and the use of implements. The successes of differentiation experienced by the teachers were related to provision of support to pupils who needed it, the usage of new ways of working, such as instructional videos, and more personal communication with students. Majority of teachers felt that the support they received from their colleagues most important form of support. Some would have liked more unified guidance from superiors. Others, on the other hand, found the guidance from their superiors unnecessarily demanding in a situation where support and understanding would have been needed. The challenges faced by teachers in distance learning were mainly due to the rapid transitioning to distance teaching, as well as the unpreparedness.

The coronavirus outbreak disrupted life around the globe in 2020, which led to the suspension of face-to-face teaching. Based on previous research, it is clear that student participation in face-to-face lectures has a positive impact on their academic performance. Now, however, we find ourselves in a situation where it is not even physically possible to attend lectures. This raises the question of how distance education has affected the level of students’ academic performance and how do students experience distance education. The aim of this mixed methods study is first to quantitatively identify the effect of distance education on the level of students’ academic performance when compared to the results of normal course implementation. The results were obtained by examining the exam results and the course assignment results of a total of 728 students over a three-year period from the same course, two of which were implemented normally and one remotely due to the coronavirus outbreak. The preliminary analysis of the first phase raised the need to examine these results in more depth through qualitative analysis. The aim of the qualitative analysis is to find out how students experienced distance education in the Quantitative research methods 1 course. This second phase of the study consisted of eight students, whose exam results were also reviewed in the first phase of the study. Staying true to the mixed methods’ Explanatory Sequential Design, the final phase of the study sought to explain the results of the quantitative phase with the help of the qualitative results. In other words the students’ experiences sought to explain the fluctuation of the level of students’ academic performace. The quantitative part of the study showed that distance education had a positive effect on the level of students’ academic performance. A statistically significant positive correlation was found when examining the overall exam grade, the exam question scores regarding the lectures and exercises, and the course assignment results. The qualitative part of the study showed that students associated both positive and negative experiences regarding distance education. Positive experiences were related to the utilization of lecture recordings, the choices of the lecturer, and the benefits of a distance exam, while negative experiences were related to a lack of interaction, challenges in organizing one’s own work, and IT related probelms. This study shows that it is in the interest of both students and the university to provide lecture recordings regardless of how the course is organized.

The aim of this master’s thesis is to examine the teacher efficacy and collective teacher efficacy of those teachers who taught remotely during the autumn of 2020. Furthermore, the aim is to find out if some background variables are connected to these above mentioned constructs. Teacher efficacy and collective efficacy are based on the self-efficacy beliefs which describe person’s beliefs in their own ability to succeed in specific situations (Bandura, 1977). Teacher efficacy is connected to many positive outcomes, e.g., remaining in the profession (Burley et al., 1991), and job satisfaction (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2010). There is also evidence that teacher efficacy and collective teacher efficacy are connected to each other (Goddard & Goddard, 2001). This master’s thesis aims to supplement the previous research data on teacher efficacy and collective teacher efficacy in the context of COVID-19. The data used in this study are from a research project that aims to examine the effects of COVID-19 on studying, teaching and well-being. The project is run by University of Helsinki and Tampere University. The data were collected in November 2020 by sending electronic surveys to every comprehensive school in Finland. In total there were 5797 teacher participants, but the final sample consisted of those 1095 teachers who said that they had taught remotely during the autumn. The methods used in this quantitative study included describing the data and running correlation analyses and Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The dimensions of teacher efficacy were more correlated between themselves than the dimensions of collective teacher efficacy. The correlations between the two were even weaker. Class teachers had higher teacher efficacy compared to subject teachers or special education class teachers. Female teachers of the lower levels of comprehensive education had the highest levels of efficacy when teacher efficacy and collective teacher efficacy were examined together; the result is in line with several other studies (e.g. Greenwood, 1990; Edwards et al., 1996). Results indicate that remote teaching has weakened the collective teacher efficacy by decreasing the encounters of the work community. The result that class teachers had the highest levels of teacher efficacy might be explained by the vast level of general competence brought by the education or by their more reasonable workload.

The purpose of this thesis was to study and analyze teachers` experiences of distance teach- ing in crafts and their views of its future. It is important to acknowledge the unique nature of crafts also in distance teaching, and by sharing experiences and thoughts, the maintenance of quality and equality in teaching and learning can be enhanced. This study examines and analyzes craft teachers` and craft teacher students` groupdiscus- sion notes from “Kässää etänä” webinar, which was organized by craft teacher educators from the University of Helsinki in spring 2020. The data was collected with semi-structured group conversation applying the methods of the- matic interview. In total, 49 persons participated in the group conversations, in groups of 4-7. The groups` notes were analyzed with qualitative content analysis. The results of this study show that the participants` experiences of distance teaching in crafts and views of its future included both positive and negative attributes. Teachers experienced that distance teaching increased students` inequality and teachers` workload. The flexibility of time and place of teaching and learning was considered positive, as well as the new devel- opment possibilities for students. The participants experienced that in the future, technology has a significant role in distance teaching of crafts. Technology, digital tools and apps offer various possibilities for teaching and learning, but they also include features that might in- crease inequality. Craft teachers saw that distance teaching has its place in schools, although the unique features of craft were considered challenging to transfer into distance teaching.

The aim of the thesis was to describe the effects that the distance learning period, caused by the Corona pandemic, had on the field of Finnish liberal adult education, from the viewpoint of senior students. The main research question was the following 1) What are the reasons for the senior student to choose between distance learning and contact learning. In addition to liberal adult education, this thesis addresses traditional adult education, life-long learning, as well as distance learning phenomena. The thesis emphasises how liberal adult education has adapted to distance learning and how the senior students, who were used to the traditional classroom learning situation, now prefer to learn. The study method was mixed. The thesis was set on the study field of adult education and voluntary learning. The study was conducted via a voluntary questionnaire, which included open questions and multiple-choice questions. The thesis material consisted of the answers made by the senior students N = 188. The material was analysed with the methods of content analysis, as well as numerically. The written sources included international articles, scientific studies, and books. The thesis concluded that the senior students have vastly different kinds of viewpoints on what is good learning and teaching. The senior students are not a homogenic group that share similar pref-erences. Only a small majority of the study sample preferred contact teaching in a classroom to dis-tance learning. Those who preferred contact teaching felt the sense of community important. Rather than the technological side of online learning, the social and pedagogical side proved out to be a bigger explanation why they do not wish to take part in distance learning classes. Preferring either of the studying methods is not only connected to a person’s skillset, resources, and home support but to the content and substance of the course itself. Hybrid teaching was noted to be in demand in the answers of the students. Organizing it might challenge the institutes of liberal adult education. The role of Finnish liberal adult education in the future is providing accessible, voluntary, and equal education for everyone.

Aims. The purpose of this study is to investigate how home economic teachers implemented distance teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020. The research data was collected by interviewing home economic teachers. The theoretical framework for the research is based on previous research in distance education, the basic curriculum for the home economics and the research on home economics education. The research questions are: 1. How did home economic teachers implement distance teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic? 2. How was communication technology used to teach the home economic skills? 3. How did teaching home economics at distance affect the evaluation? Methods. The material of the study was collected by interviewing six home economic teachers. The interviews were conducted as individual interviews in accordance with the principles of the thematic interview. Research material was analyzed using a qualitative content analysis method. Results and conclusion. The experiences of the home economics teachers were relatively similar. Differences were found in the communication technologies adopted during teaching and partly also in the tasks planned for the students. Experiences in regards to the level of support provided by the school also varied. In terms of evaluation, the assessment of cooperation and interaction skills was found to be challenging during distance teaching.

The purpose of this study is to examine, whether there have been changes in the forms or quantity of bullying before the corona pandemic (covid-19) compared to the duration of the pandemic. Traditionally, there has been various definitions for bullying, the latest of which is that there is a power imbalance between the bully and the person being bullied, which causes discomfort to the victim. Starting from late 2019, Coronavirus caused the covid-19 pandemic. Pandemic is an intercontinental epidemic that poses significant threat to public health. Due to the pandemic schools were closed from March 2020 until late May, during which teaching was done remotely online. By autumn of 2020 in-person teaching mostly resumed, with some special arrangements. The method chosen for this study is qualitative interview survey. Five teachers and one special needs teacher were interviewed. Five of the interviewees worked in the capital region and one in Varsinais-Suomi. All the interviewees had long experience working as a teacher. The interviews were conducted orally individually. The result of the study is that there haven’t been noticeable changes in the quantity of bullying, but the forms of bullying have transformed. This is partly because during remote online teaching there wasn’t any face-to-face interaction between pupils, and bullying was done mainly in virtual environments through the Internet, for example in games and WhatsApp. The same phenomenon has persisted after resuming in-person teaching.

Changes in the education system are often preceded by a vision of the future labor market situation. In January 2020, following a flagship project in Juha Sipilä ́s government ́s strategic program, the teaching of A1 language was stated early in the first grade and the class teachers were given a new subject to teach. The aim of this study was to find out classroom teachers ́ perceptions of early language learning and working methods. Due to Covid-19 pandemic, in March 2020, it was necessary to switch to distance learning. The new teaching arrangements provided an opportunity to explore the link between the distance learning system for classroom teachers and the working methods of early language teaching. In addition, I studied classroom teachers ́ perceptions of the need to support both student learning and the organization of teaching in early language teaching. The material for this qualitative study was collected through a semi-structured thematic interview. I interviewed five classroom teachers and one special classroom teacher who had started early language teaching in January 2020. The transcripts of the interviews formed the material, which I analyzed according to the analysis of the phenomenographic study. In the analysis, I classified descriptive categories from the data, with which I presented the research results. The survey showed that some classroom teachers felt that they had received too little in-service training in the new subject being taught and they were unsure of their competence. Other classroom teachers felt they received adequate in-service training and the teaching was meaningful. Everyone had positive experiences, especially of students ́ enthusiasm and motivation for early language. The different learning difficulties of the students were perceived as challenges. The experience of learning support for students as well as teaching support varied slightly. Classroom teachers used functional, varied ways of working, as well as songs and games. In distance learning, working methods changed completely. Only half of the classroom teachers held early language lessons or small sessions weekly remotely. Students were sent links to the topics they were studying, and the responsibility for teaching and the student ́s support were largely transferred to the parents. The goals of early language teaching had to be compromised. As a key conclusion, I can say that classroom teachers need adequate in-service training that takes into account the different needs of teachers. To ensure the quality of teaching, many classroom teachers want to clearer guidance on what goals and how to proceed in early language. Closer co-operation with subject teachers would increase the confidence of classroom teachers to provide the right kind of teaching and support for students in early language learning.

Goal. The corona pandemic during spring 2020 led to closing of schools. Therefor majority of the teachers had to move to distance education. The teachers were in a whole new situation and had to rapidly develop a new way to teach. Co-teaching is an approach becoming more common. It refers to a situation where two or more teachers cooperates. The objective of my study is to figure out how the teachers who were working as co-teachers executed distance education during Spring 2020. Furthermore, I study possible advantages and challenges the teachers experienced from the co-teaching in the distance education. My goal is to add knowledge and understanding of the foundation pillars of co-teaching and distance education through this study. Methods. I sent an e-mail to ten co-teachers where I asked their willingness to participate in my study and three teacher pairs were willing to be a part of my study. Therefor there were three cases in my study. Materials were collected with pair interviews and the theme interview was selected to be a survey. As an analysis method I used the content analysis. Results and conclusions. All Teacher pairs considered it most reasonable to divide their pupil into two separate groups. Each pair had about an hour lasting virtual study hall in a day through video conference. After this the lines were left open so that for example the pupils who needed support were able to stay and work with teacher's assistance. In all three cases the benefits from work pair were mainly the same. Some of the found advantages were divided responsibility, the colleague's support and work stress relief. Challenges due having a work pair were minimal. The reason can be the fact that the interviews were carried out in a pair. One case brought up the occasional disagreements and additional work through work phone. One case experienced that here had been some challenges with communication and it had lead to a few misunderstandings. However, all the teacher pairs emphasised that none of these challenges were a threshold question.