Papers by Marja Kankaanranta
Ruusupuiston kärkiuutiset, 2020
Miten erityistä tai tehostettua tukea saavien oppilaiden etäopiskelu sujui koronakevään aikana? M... more Miten erityistä tai tehostettua tukea saavien oppilaiden etäopiskelu sujui koronakevään aikana? Minkälainen oli vanhempien rooli opiskelun ohjauksessa? Miten perheet jaksoivat? Muun muassa näihin kysymyksiin haettiin vastauksia kesäkuussa 2020 toteutetulla tutkimuksella. Tutkimuskyselyyn vastasivat lasten ja nuorten vanhemmat, ja vastauksia saatiin yhteensä 616 lapsen tai nuoren osalta. Suurin osa lapsista osallistui etäopetukseen kotona, ja vain kolme prosenttia oli lähiopetuksessa koululla. Pienellä osalla lapsista oli käytössä erilaisia joustavia opetusjärjestelyjä, joissa lähi- ja etäopetusta yhdisteltiin eri tavoin. Muutama lapsi palasi lähiopetukseen kevään aikana etäopiskelun haasteellisuuden takia.nonPeerReviewe
Human Technology is an interdisciplinary, scholarly journal that presents innovative, peer-review... more Human Technology is an interdisciplinary, scholarly journal that presents innovative, peer-reviewed articles exploring the issues and challenges surrounding human-technology interaction and the human role in all areas of our ICT-infused societies. Human Technology is published by the Agora Center, University of Jyväskylä and distributed without a charge online.
International Journal of Virtual Communities and Social Networking, 2013
Virtual worlds provide an arena for children to express themselves and to interact with others. T... more Virtual worlds provide an arena for children to express themselves and to interact with others. They are a natural and frequent part of children's life today. However, there is not much research on what actually happens in the online worlds and what kind of opportunities those worlds could offer to children and thereby enhance their social participation. The aim in this study is to explore the potential of virtual worlds for children's social participation. The empirical part of the study consists of interviews with 21 Finnish children, aged 11-15 years. By interviewing children, the authors examined their social practices in virtual worlds. In the study, the authors found seven types of social practice that make it possible for children to socialize with others, learn new things and skills, express themselves publicly and play in virtual worlds. Virtual worlds provide an arena for children to overcome the limitations of the real world. However, the freedom also has side effects: misbehavior.
The aim of this case study was to explore the feasibility of the Quick Response (QR) codes and mo... more The aim of this case study was to explore the feasibility of the Quick Response (QR) codes and mobile devices in the context of Finnish basic education. The interest was especially to explore how mobile devices and QR codes can enhance and blend teaching and learning. The data were collected with a teacher interview and pupil surveys. The learning outcomes were measured with the test results after the experiment and with the pupil’s self-evaluation. From a learner’s point of view, the QR activity was motivating and brought much-wanted variation to the traditional school day. The QR problems encouraged the pupils to persevere with the problems, an effect which led to good learning outcomes.
The specific objective of this study was to better understand Nigerian university students’ perce... more The specific objective of this study was to better understand Nigerian university students’ perceptions and readiness towards mobile learning. Recently, the influence of mobile technology is seen to have infiltrated everyday life and the learning institutions. It is thus crucial for learning institutions to assess and understand the factors advancing the mobile learning adoption. This study offers some important insights into mobile learning adoption especially in developing countries like Nigeria. Data for this study were collected using a survey. Undergraduate students at two Nigerian universities (N = 135) were non-randomly allocated to respond to a survey. Overall, the results reveal the existence of the widespread use and ownership of a mobile phone by the Nigerian students. Also deduced, is that a good number of the courses require the use of internet for completion of course assignments. Therefore, we recommend that course resources should be designed for delivery through a m...
Information technology is providing opportunities to improve education and therefore, research is... more Information technology is providing opportunities to improve education and therefore, research is needed to identify what gaps exist and how these gaps can become opportunities for technology integration such as mobile learning. This paper suggests that successful integration of technology towards improving quality education should be driven by the existing challenges which are contextually peculiar for every country. The case of the Nigerian education was examined alongside practices and policies. The study used secondary data from Nigeria Education Data Survey (NEDS). This paper highlights three major problems that Nigeria faces in basic education, namely: large number of out of school children, high dropout rate, and low literacy rates. It also forms a basis for further research in advancing mobile learning.
Documentation and assessment are important elements in securing continuity, progress, and flexibi... more Documentation and assessment are important elements in securing continuity, progress, and flexibility in the teaching and learning of young children. This article explores the first year of portfolio assessment in a kindergarten in Finland, asking such questions as: (1) What are portfolios and why are Taija (one particular student), her peers, teachers, and parents so enthusiastic about them? (2) How do children's portfolios reflect their individual growth, development and learning? (3) What is their influence on the children's self-knowledge? (4) Do the portfolio activities enhance a holistic learning environment? The article begins by defining "portfolio," which is a purposeful documentation and selection of a child's work that demonstrates progress over time. It discusses the advantages of portfolios, including their flexibility and individuality, and then provides some examples of information which' may be included in a student's portfolio. It then ...
The aim of this research is to explore the positive user interface (UI) design of digital mental ... more The aim of this research is to explore the positive user interface (UI) design of digital mental health resources for children and youth. For this purpose, a heuristic model is introduced and heuristic evaluation is used as a method to systematically assess 49 digital mental health resources. In the assessment, the resources are evaluated by observing the prevalence of UI design strengths defined in the heuristic model. The results of the study indicate that the resources analyzed have strengths especially in the dimensions of visual design, content, reliability, engagement and functional design. Furthermore, all of the resources have at least four design strengths, creating a good basis for increasing positive design. However, further research is needed to establish how to incorporate positive design into digital mental health resources designed for children and youth.
Raising young people’s interest in studies and careers related to science, technology, engineerin... more Raising young people’s interest in studies and careers related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (i.e., STEM) is an important societal concern both at European and global level. We argue that the creation of attractive and engaging STEM learning environments necessitates involvement of learners, educators, parents, and STEM professionals in their design. In this paper, we will present a study in which primary, lower and upper secondary school students, teachers, school directors, parents, and STEM professionals in Finland (n = 27) and Greece (n = 24) were invited in the participatory co-design of a hybrid (virtual, physical, formal, and informal) STEM learning environment. The aim of this paper is to present, first, a method employed for the participatory co-design, and, second, display the results from Finland and Greece regarding participants’ shared wishes on teaching, learning, assessment, and motivation both in general and in relation to STEM subjects. In add...
It is generally agreed on that ICT can have a meaningful role in teaching and learning. However, ... more It is generally agreed on that ICT can have a meaningful role in teaching and learning. However, learners – children and young people – are still in an unequal position in regard of access to ICT and its pedagogically varied use in learning environments. There are also wide differences in how children use ICT at diverse life spheres, namely at school, home and with their friends. An essential concern is how well the existing ICT solutions apply to the personal needs and capabilities of learners as well as the teaching practices at the different levels of educational system. This paper presents a value network model for the implementation of learning solutions in close interaction between research, pedagogical experts and designers of technology-based learning solutions. The aim is to build research-based principles for the design and use of learning solutions. The design principles focus especially on user-driven design process and usability evaluation. The use principles determine ...
The purpose of this study is to explore the added value that bodily learning brings to the study ... more The purpose of this study is to explore the added value that bodily learning brings to the study of physics at lower secondary school and how pupils experience a new way of studying physics. The study compares how pupils who liked and disliked physics experienced the new teaching methods. Here we use unsupervised machine learning in order to discover new information from the inquiry, that was held after the workshop, where pupils were experimenting with new ways of studying physics. We find that unsupervised machine learning can be a helpful tool for teachers to detect students preferred learning styles and different types of personalities in the classroom.
World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, International Journal of Educational and Pedagogical Sciences, 2017
The purpose of this article is to explore and analyse teaching methods and processes that incorpo... more The purpose of this article is to explore and analyse teaching methods and processes that incorporate Quick Response (QR) codes and mobile devices into the classroom. Quick Response codes are two dimensional barcodes that are used to encode and decode information. QR codes can contain information such as text, URL links, automatic SMS messages, or just about any other information that can be embedded in a two-dimensional barcode. This encoded data can be decoded by scanning the barcode with a mobile device that is equipped with a camera and QR reader software. Although QR codes are very versatile and have been around for over fifteen years, their use in education is still in its infancy. This paper introduces the available implementations of QR codes in education. These implementations were developed with teachers to correspond to their needs and wishes. The students were very enthusiastic and motivated but the teachers’ attitude was more sceptical. The main feedback from the teache...
Using information and communication technology (ICT) for learning purposes has become more ingrai... more Using information and communication technology (ICT) for learning purposes has become more ingrained in curriculums and students’ lives over the past decades. Commonly, the lack of understanding about learning and pedagogy, and more specifically their contexts, will lead to creating learning software that utilize outdated pedagogy or are lacking in critical aspects of pedagogical design. This has created a need to find cost efficient ways to address the multidimensional usability issues found in learning technology. Creating an engaging and pedagogically robust learning product is a complicated task that requires easily accessible knowledge about both the technological and learning related aspects in creating learning software. The aim of this study is to explore and present the dimensions of learning technology even further, to provide a reinforced framework for creating and evaluating learning technology. For this purpose, we have developed the Learning Experience Technology Usabi...
This study explores student teachers' future design scenarios focusing on promoting children&... more This study explores student teachers' future design scenarios focusing on promoting children's mental health literacy through virtual reality (VR) environments. VR use is on the verge of many breakthroughs in several areas of lived experience. One such area pertains to educational contexts. Student teachers were chosen as the subjects of this study due to the likelihood that they will be the primary users and disseminators of these emerging technologies in educational contexts. The students created five types of future scenarios that contained different environments and activity modes, including those that are still not yet feasible to realize with current technological capabilities. The aims students set for the VR worlds were closely in-line with the transversal competences defined in the Finnish curriculum framework. They also reflected many topics of mental health learning.
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Papers by Marja Kankaanranta