Professor: Technology use in teaching remains rare
At the beginning of August, an amendment to the Basic Education Act restricted the use of personal smart devices during classes in primary and secondary school education. The goal is to reduce disturbances in classes and enable students’ better concentration on learning.
It does not mean, however, that all digital devices should be removed from classrooms. Pupils need increasingly diverse digital skills in order to cope in society and future working life. Professor Päivi Häkkinen, Vice Director at the Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä, is specialised in the pedagogical use of technology and would like to see much more pedagogically purposeful use of technology in classrooms than is currently the case.
“When technology is used in a pedagogically appropriate way, research has demonstrated that it promotes learning,” Häkkinen says. “It can also ease a teacher’s workload in assessment, for example. However, how much these opportunities are taken advantage of very much depends on an individual teacher’s interest, coping and competence in digital pedagogy.”
Does the concern about excessive use of digital devices in free time prevent their purposeful use at school?
In the light of research evidence, teachers rarely use digital devices for learning purposes, and there is considerable variation within individual schools themselves. This is the finding of a research review (in Finnish only) which a group of researchers from the University of Jyväskylä published in the spring.
At the same time, experts are worried about the digital competences learners gain at school – or rather about the lack thereof.
“School children need increasingly diverse digital skills in order to cope in the information society,” Häkkinen says.
“The introduction of AI is a transition comparable to the introduction of the mobile Internet at the beginning of the millennium.”
She suspects that the concern about excessive smartphone use during leisure time is distracting from the purposeful use of technology at school.
“Where else than at school would children and adolescents learn the responsible use of digital devices as well as the critical evaluation of information?” Häkkinen points out. “Understanding algorithms and AI, for example, is more important than ever before. If the learning of digital skills is left to the responsibility of homes only, it is a threat to equality, as we can see a strong differentiation trend in terms of children’s and adolescents’ home backgrounds.”
Multiliteracy has weakened
Digital skills are generally assessed through two essential domains, namely multiliteracy and computational thinking. These days, both of these strongly involve AI-related literacy as well.
The researchers’ and other experts’ concern arises from the weakening of multiliteracy, together with the deterioration of basic literacy skills. Multiliteracy refers to the ability to read, understand and interpret as well as produce and evaluate different digital content, and it supports the development of critical thinking, learning and digital skills. In computational thinking, in turn, problems are broken up into smaller parts in order to recognise and develop related operational patterns. This involves the use of thinking skills and creativity.
“Thus far, multiliteracy and computational thinking skills have remained at a reasonable level in international comparison, but we can already see some weak signals of declining competence levels,” Häkkinen says.
For example, in computational thinking the differences between learners are increasing, which is alarming.”
The next results from international comparisons regarding Finnish teenagers’ digital skills will be received from the ICILS (International Computer and Information Literacy Study) and PISA studies in 2026 and 2027.
Digital devices and the use of technology at schools is an emotionally sensitive topic, where concepts get easily confused. Underlying all this, there are naturally concerns about the declining learning outcomes – could a reason be, however, even the minor digital leap taken at schools in recent decades?
“The pedagogical use of technology cannot be blamed for the decline in learning outcomes, as it has been so scarce to date,” Professor Häkkinen says. “Instead, there is reason to consider and investigate the impacts of intensive use outside of school.”
Digital pedagogy is not synonymous with a teacher’s digital skills
According to Häkkinen, it is typical that computers are used in classes only as “an extension of pencils” or as a means to return assignments.
It is not particularly activating from the viewpoint of learning, however, and there would also be potential for much more.”
Digital pedagogy skills can be described as the teacher’s ability to plan and provide teaching by means of different digital services and environments so that the learners’ cognitive competence as well as learning and interaction skills improve. It is not about any particular device, tool or application, but rather about a kind of pedagogical and social infrastructure.
“It can start, say, from the point that we have a science problem. Could virtual reality help demonstrate it from various perspectives? Would the use of VR yield any added value? What then would be the teacher’s and other learners’ role in the learning situation?” Häkkinen says. “It is also essential to recognise when technology does not serve learning and should be set aside.”
At the same time, she says that she understands well that it might be difficult for an individual teacher to get excited about the introduction of new learning platforms when lacking knowledge, experiences or good examples of it. It may also be hard to find the time needed for further training.
And when teachers are highly stressed in general, the acquisition of new ideas is easily placed at the bottom of their priority list.”
Good experiences from exercising basic skills such as literacy have been gained, for example, from the Ekapeli game for learning reading developed by JYU and Niilo Mäki Institute. Many learning solutions like simulations, virtual reality and problem-solving environments, for example, can be used collaboratively, and they can also serve the development of self-regulation and socioemotional skills.
As the activities leave digital traces, it helps teachers follow up and assess progress. The traces indicate the learning process and help target teaching more individually where necessary.
Jyväskylä as a pioneer
A research team led by Professor Päivi Häkkinen and Associate Professor Piia Näykki works as a part of the JYU-led EDUCA Flagship, Education for the Future, where the effects of the digital transition at Finnish schools and in society is a major research area.
The City of Jyväskylä and the Teacher Training School of the University of Jyväskylä are open-minded pioneers in adopting digital pedagogy. The Flagship programme is starting a study with personalised learning contents based on the students’ own interests.
“We will investigate, for example, how teachers facilitate learning using exercises offered by AI bots in connection with students’ hobbies, for instance, and how this impacts student engagement,” Häkkinen says.
Taking a digital leap may understandably be frightening to some teachers. Uncertainty about one’s own digital skills can pose an unconscious hindrance.
Of course, a teacher must have rudimentary technological skills, but there are simple tools that can be appropriately utilised for pedagogical purposes. Any technology can be harnessed for traditional use or, then again, for such use that enriches learning.”
