Academic Centrehttps://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2022.15 | 211-226 | PDF
Types of Digital Learning Solutions Most Used by Educators in Latvia
Katrina Elizabete Purina-Bieza1, Edīte Sarva2
1 Riga Stradiņš University, Latvia
2 University of Latvia, Latvia
Abstract. Ongoing educational digitalization, as well as remote learning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, has significantly promoted the use of digital technologies in education. Consequently, questions regarding the use of different digital solutions (DSs) have arisen, such as which DSs are best suited for teaching and learning, what types of digital learning solutions (DLSs) are freely accessible and what kinds of solutions are still insufficiently available to educators.
The research questions were designed to answer (1) what kind of DSs educators are most interested in and (2) which DSs they have successfully implemented in their practice. To determine the answers to these questions, two separate data sets were combined. The first data set emerged from analysing site traffic data from the educational platform DigiKlase.lv, where DSs and educational resources that can be implemented in the teaching-learning process have been collected. The second data set was gathered during an educational technology mentor professional development course and from the Erasmus+ project “Network of technology INTEGRAtionists in pupils’ informal education” (INTEGRA) educators in Latvia, where 798 educators were surveyed about their success with implementing DSs in their educational practice.
The results demonstrate that educators are most interested in electronic and digital teaching resources that are types of digital solutions with limited interactivity. Furthermore, educators are interested to further explore DLS that are accessible without registration, are free of charge, and contain methodological recommendations for using them in an educational setting. Nevertheless, instructions on how to use a DLS have a negative impact on their opening rate. Educators also prefer resources that are in the national language, visibly dismissing and not further exploring solutions that are in other widely used languages in Latvia, for example Russian or English. The data reveal that DSs are, overall, significantly less used in preschool settings and in subject areas that are not directly related to the usage of technology including solutions that could be used in any subject area like digital educational games, co-working documents etc. Furthermore, educators report that they have more successfully implemented DSs that emulate the analogue learning process, and fewer choose solutions that are related to working in a digital environment.
Keywords: digital learning solutions, digital solutions, digital teaching materials, educator preferences, post-COVID education
Acknowledgements
The writing of this article was supported by the Erasmus+ project funding “INTEGRA – Network of technology INTEGRAtionists in pupils’ informal education” (No. 2020-1-LV01-KA201-077496).
In: Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2022. Proceedings of Scientific Papers = Cilvēks, tehnoloģijas un izglītības kvalitāte, 2022. Rakstu krājums
Riga, University of Latvia, 2022. 1135 p. Ed. L. Daniela
https://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2022
ISBN 978-9934-18-911-1