Types of Digital Learning Solutions Most Used by Educators in 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.

Development of Education Field Student Digital Competences—Student and Stakeholders’ Perspective

“…For others it is a struggle to see digital solutions as part of their teaching arsenal and they would much rather stick to using methods better known and understood by them. Furthermore, educators who do choose to use digital solutions, tend to replicate existing learning experiences, rather than choosing digital solutions that are more characteristic of the virtual learning environment [28,29] which could result in a less qualitative and engaging learning process for students [30][31][32]. Stressing that all teachers should be allowed the freedom of choice when it comes to learning methods they pick for organising their lessons, experts admit that the digitalization of education is not something that can or should be stopped at this point.…”

“…Research shows that educators feel safer using and are more interested in DS (digital solutions) that replicate existing learning experiences than those with which they are not yet familiar or those which strongly change teaching and learning dynamics [28,29]. In a digital medium this means stripping much of the possible interactivity offered by DS, making learning more frontal and less engaging, which is concerning, considering how important the engagement of students is, perhaps especially in digital learning [30][31][32].…”

Educators’ Perspectives on the Main Challenges and Opportunities for Implementing Digital Solutions in Learning and Teaching

“…The change is a complex process, and it undoubtedly comes with concerns and even resistance, as some educators seek to preserve traditional teaching settings and methods and view innovation as a replacement [6]. Educators often feel more comfortable using digital solutions that mimic traditional learning experiences rather than embracing more interactive and diverse solutions that would necessitate acquiring new skills [4,34,42,43,44]. A longitudinal study conducted between 2008 and 2012 by R. Holmgren, U. Haake, and T. Söderström [38] focused on the experiences of 40 firefighter training instructors in pedagogical training programs in Sweden.…”